TA - Exit Finding

After years of riding the bureaucratic bull, Brett had one key rule: better to ask forgiveness than to seek permission. Which is why he was relieved to see a door to the stairs on the other end of the hallway. And fortunately, he was on the second floor.

He turned his back on the suit and walked toward the door. He heard the padding steps behind him, opened the door, closed it, and then took the stairs half a flight at a time, his knees throbbing. Behind him, he heard the door slam open, and then the man’s voice: “He’s running. We’ll grab him in the lobby.”

Brett had no such intention.

Instead of exiting at the lobby level, he continued sprinting down into the basement area. He’d planned for this eventuality ever since he arrived at the hotel; in Afghanistan he’d acquired the useful habit of locating exits and scoping out his location. He knew the maze of hallways and doors in the hotel basement, and he quickly navigated them, waiting long enough to ensure he’d lost his pursuers. When he emerged onto the street, he found himself alone.

Nice try, suckers, Brett thought with a grim smile.

- True Allegiance, Part 3: Brett