The Fall

Chapter Seventeen

Janet ran out of the room, tears streaming from her eyes for the first time in a while. What had she done? Travis was right about her, she was no good for anyone. She ran to a lower floor, hearing footsteps somewhere. Peter? Men? She didn't know, and she didn't want to know. With a well-aimed kick, she broke a nearby window and backed up. The roof of another building was close enough to jump to, although the fall looked a little far.

Janet got a running start and jumped, scratching herself on the broken glass, but that was the least of her problems. She fell a good twenty feet, landing upright but toppling over immediately, wincing at her pained ankles. She scooted behind an AC unit or something, into the shadows. She could see people running around in the stairwell where she'd just jumped from, looking for Travis, probably. Her blood ran cold again as she remembered what she'd done. Was he going to be okay? Oh God...

She cradled her broken wrist next to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut, staying hidden. What was she going to do now? Where would she go?

She remembered what she told Peter, just earlier that day. Maybe she'd go to France, start over like she'd planned. Maybe, just maybe, he would come looking for her...

Janet stayed where she was for twenty minutes, maybe thirty, listening to the sounds of the night. After a while, she shakily stood up, brushed herself off, then looked for a way down.

The hotel room was still empty still, as the others were probably still looking for her. Janet entered her room quietly and started packing up the few things that she'd brought. Maybe she'd make one last trip to Seattle, to pack up, then head to France. She couldn't help but remember her cat, which she'd left behind. She would be okay... Peter's mother would take good care of her-

The phone rang.

Janet froze, and looked at the phone. She wasn't imagining it, it was actually ringing.

She almost didn't pick it up, but her curiosity eventually got the better of her. She reached out and picked up the phone, raising it to her ear. "...Hello?"

"Janet?"

The voice was immediately recognizable: Peter.

"Peter?" she asked quietly. "What do you want?"

"Help! We've been kidnapped, they have us at-"

His voice had become panicked, fearful. Janet's blood ran cold. "Wait, where are you, who's got you?"

"I've got them now, Janet."

She would know that voice anywhere...

"Mr. Kwan," she whispered the name of her old boss, back when she worked for none other than the Chinese Triad. 

A cackle came through. "Good to know you remember me! Anyway, no time for catching up."

"What do you want?" Janet cut him off, balling her fist again but quickly releasing it when her injured wrist stung. 

"Smart girl. Come to the address we left on your bedside table... I hope you have the information we need."

The line went dead. Janet dropped the phone and looked down at the notepad that the hotel provided for guests. The address was written clearly in Chinese characters, a language she had learned long ago. Janet picked up the pad and stared at it for a moment. She knew that there was no way she would remember the long blueprint code that they wanted; she had forgotten it, along with so many things forgotten after her drowning. What was the point of even going? She wanted to run far away, and disappear. 

She couldn't face him again...

"She betrayed you!"

Mr. Kwan yelled at Janet, who shrunk back against the wall. Her eyes went back to Seo-Yeon, beaten badly, hanging limply.