Page 3 of Destined to Fight

It was just past 10:00 as she got out of the car. She locked it and tucked the key in the inner pocket of her leggings. She began the mile-long trek to the skyscraper walking calmly to avoid drawing attention to herself. It would be at least a couple of hours before anyone would arrive, so she had plenty of time to get into position.

This could be her big break as a blogger.

She moved out of her apartment, sold nearly everything she had, and started her own blog. Now, six months later, she was happier than she’d ever been. She was writing real stories about real people. She’d uncovered truths that helped others instead of hurting them, and her work finally mattered. It just wasn’t making her any money. Yet.

This could be her big story, though, the one that got her noticed and brought more traffic to her blog. She had no idea what was going on in the skyscraper in the middle of the night. There wasn’t any logical reason for her to be so infatuated with it. There was just something deep in her bones that told her this was important. Her intuition was supported by the unusual decisions of the city council that always followed these meetings. She had to know more.

Kelly almost laughed out loud at the thought of telling her dad about all of this. He had always been her biggest supporter, and sometimes, her best friend. She still hadn’t told him she was living out of her car, and she sure as hell hadn’t told him her last few months had been primarily focused on getting into shape to follow some guy into the deep, dark depths of a building in the middle of the night. Hey Dad, how are you? So, I have a confession, I’ve been living out of my car, I’m in the best shape of my life, and I’m sneaking into a building to follow this weird guy and see what he’s up to just because my gut is telling me to.

She did laugh then. She couldn’t help it. Her dad would probably have a heart attack or a stroke. He had always been so understanding and supportive, even when she told him as a teenager that she didn’t want to live any more. He’d sat down and talked with her through the night. Well, he’d listened more. But he never got upset or irrational. He just told Kelly he loved her and he stayed by her side to hear her thoughts. He was older now, though. Life had hardened him too, and Kelly just knew her dad would not want to know that his beloved daughter had let her life come to this.

Breathe, she thought, and pulled in a deep breath. The oxygen reached her mind and centered her. Whatever happened tonight would lead to something better. Kelly’s dad would never have to know she’d quit her job and was living in her car. He’d never have a reason to be ashamed.

She turned onto Elm Street at 10:15. When she was about a block from the building, Kelly stopped and acted like she was tying her shoe as she surveyed the area. A couple of cars passed by as she remained bent down on one knee. No one was walking the streets, though. It was a weeknight, and people had to be back in their offices the next day.

She stood up and continued her walk to the Star Plaza. She didn’t go up to the sliding glass doors of the entrance but stayed across the street, passing by the building. At the next light, she crossed the street and circled back. She turned left on the sidewalk that went down the east side of the building. There was a large balcony on the third floor that was supported by pillars. An architect had clearly worked with a landscaper and had a heyday with the pillars. They looked like giant strawberry jars with openings that scooped out in a spiral pattern and wound up each pillar. Every opening was its own pot and housed a different plant.

Kelly had come to scope out the building one day and sat under the cover of the balcony to eat a sandwich. She’d been captivated by the plants in the pillars. They truly were works of art. She wondered how the gardeners got up so high to plant them and didn’t envy the workers with that job one bit.

Not only were the pillars beautiful, they also made things easy for her. She’d be able to climb up the pillars using the openings as grips. About two stories up, the planters slowly got smaller and then disappeared, leaving only decorated pillars for the next twelve feet or so. Her plan was to wrap herself around the pillar and slowly shimmy up to the floor of the balcony.

A rock wall about four feet high surrounded the balcony and provided great holds for her to pull herself the rest of the way up.

She walked to the last pillar and slid behind it. She checked her surroundings and focused her breathing. She patted the pockets of her leggings to confirm her lock-picking kit and her scarf were safely tucked away.

Reaching her right hand up to the opening above her head, she gripped the edge. Lifting her feet from the ground, she gave all her weight to the pocket in the column and was relieved that it didn’t crack or give as she put weight on it. She then put her right foot on an opening about a foot off the ground and carefully lifted herself up.

Kelly made quick work of the first section of the pillar. When the pots became less frequent, she tried to wrap her arms completely around the pillar, but it was too large, so she took her scarf from her pocket and tossed it around the pillar. She wrapped the ends of the scarf around her hands and used it as a brace to crawl up the pillar with her feet flat to its surface, stopping every foot or so to move the scarf farther up.

Kelly felt her heart rate rising and fatigue kicking in as she approached the lower edge of the balcony. Her grip felt like it would start failing at any moment, and the lactic acid building up in her muscles had them screaming in agony.

Breathe, she thought. Mind over matter. You’re not tired; you’re not going to fail. You didn’t come all this way to give up. She took a few more deep breaths and then braced her legs around the pillar, using them to hold on as she unwrapped her right hand from the scarf and reached up to the rock of the balcony’s wall.

She tested her grip and when it was just right, she let go of the pillar with her legs and hung from the rock, one-handed. She raised her other arm and gripped another rock, then pulled herself up rock by rock until she reached the top. When she reached over the edge, she quickly swung her leg up before crawling over the ledge and landing in a heap on the balcony floor.

Kelly lay there for some time, catching her breath and questioning her sanity. Of all times, her conscience decided to make an appearance now. You’re better than this, it said. Your father would be so ashamed! A master’s degree and this is the best you can do?

She sat up abruptly and mentally talked herself up. Yes, this was the best she could do! This stupid, crazy, insane fuckery was going to get her somewhere, damn it! She huffed at herself and got to her feet to make her way toward the door to the building.

As she’d hoped, the lock was simple, and she easily picked it. She checked the border of the door for an alarm sensor and didn’t find one. This is why she’d decided to enter from the third floor. Fewer security measures.

Here goes nothing, she thought as she eased the door open. Her heart skipped a beat as she waited for the alarm to go off, but nothing happened. Deep breath number 998 for the night. She’d made it into the building without any issues. Now to figure out where to go.

Kelly stood in what appeared to be a cafeteria and looked around. This was way too fancy for a cafeteria in an office building, though. It was somewhere between a sports bar and one of those high-end evening lounges. Making it into the building was really nothing compared to figuring out which of the seventy-two floors these people were meeting on. This was the part that made her nervous. She needed to get back down to the first floor, then wait near the elevators to see what floor the suits went up to. Then she had to climb the stairs and somehow find the room they were meeting in. She just hoped she could catch someone to follow from the elevator to the meeting room.

She left the cafeteria and followed the emergency exit signs to the stairs. She checked for a keycard scanner before entering, not wanting to end up locked inside the stairwell. With no scanner in sight, she opened the stairwell door as quietly as possible and made her way to the first floor. She found the elevator lobby in the center of the first floor toward the front of the building. There were no security guards or cameras anywhere, which struck her as odd.

There were six elevators in the center of the building, separated into two sets of three that faced each other. Kelly went to the hall behind one of the sets and sat down with her back against the wall. She would wait here until people began to show up. A glance at her watch told her it was 10:40. She had a little over an hour before anyone should arrive and not a darn thing to do with her time. Great. She crossed her legs at the ankles, clasped her hands, and closed her eyes with the plan of calming her mind.

The ding of the elevator startled Kelly from a deep sleep, and she jerked her head back, slamming it against marble wall behind her. Her favorite curse word almost came out before she caught herself, realizing where she was. She cursed inwardly anyway and then got up as quietly as she could while holding the back of her head with her hand. As if her hand would magically heal it or make it feel better…

She heard the elevator doors slide open, a few footsteps as a person entered, and then the doors slid closed again. Kelly peeked her head around the corner to make sure no one was there, and then watched the floor counter above the elevator as it made its ascent. And she kept watching. And watched some more. For fuck’s sake, she thought, as the floor counter passed 65. Of course these assholes would meet toward the top of the building. The counter finally stopped at 72. She flipped it off and went back toward the stairway. Hours on the stair climber had prepared her for this moment.

Twenty minutes later, she was cursing herself for this entire plan and sucking wind like she’d never done before. Her lungs were on fire, and it felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the universe to give her body what it needed. She braced her hands on her knees and did the whole in-through-the-nose-out-through-the-mouth thing to bring her heart rate back to normal. When her breathing calmed, she gently opened the door to the seventy-second floor and exited the stairwell. The stairs were in the back corner of the building, so she wasn’t too worried about being caught. She just hoped that twenty minutes of climbing stairs hadn’t cost her the chance to find the meeting room and listen in.

She decided to go around the outer edge of the building and work her way in from there. Didn’t the important people always meet in rooms with lots of windows? Kelly had made it along one wall and was headed across the front of the building when she heard muffled voices coming from a room up ahead. She ducked into the nearest hallway to listen. The elevators were just up ahead to her left, and she figured the meeting room would be on the right.

The elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of another person. It was really happening; she was really here! Kelly could barely contain her excitement. What a crazy night; she’d felt nearly every emotion imaginable. Talk about a roller-coaster.

---