June 2007, Three Weeks

[ellectrical]

After three weeks, everything had finally come into place. It had rained until late into the previous night, but the sky was clear by morning, and Elle had packed her bag (a large black purse) with what she'd borrowed from X, her map, her gun, even another plastic bag of Girl Scout cookies, before locking the door to her room and heading out to the street.

She gets an early start, making her way to the alley a couple hours before she thinks he'll show up. After double-checking that the employees of the club have really cleared out, Elle checks her surroundings, then moves to the double doors, and sets her purse down on the wet pavement.

About ten minutes later, with the aid of a torsion wrench and bump key, the padlock on the door has slid open. She leaves it hanging on the chain, puts her tools back into her purse, and moves away.

There's a space on the other side of the alley - it gives her cover in the form of the hair salon's dumpster and is kept dry by a short, striped awning that juts out from the wall, over the dumpster and the door on the other side. Elle positions herself, and waits.

Patience is not one of her virtues.

But sometimes, when she wants something bad enough, it doesn't really matter.

Comments

[walksthebounds]

. . . there is very little that makes Jamie more malleable than the prospect of being bought food.

"All right," he says, brightening. "Must be lunchtime by now."

[ellectrical]

Elle doesn't check her watch again to see. She glances back one more time at whoever Claude Rains is, and then leads the way back to the stairs. The lights are switched off once more as they pass the wall - this time, her hands free for it, Elle creates a small, blue electric sphere over her right palm when the room goes dark once more.

They leave the same way they came - Elle makes them stop in the alley so she can pull the chain around the doors and put the padlock back in place. She's mildly hoping Claude won't make a mess when he wakes up. Either way, he'll probably be out of the city by night. Like she should be.

But Elle doesn't say any of that to Jamie. They step out from the alley into the street, now a little busier in the early afternoon, and head for the nearest underground entrance.