Page 14 of The Grave Robber

“Here!” Halle said, rushing past me and into the building asthe first drops of rain began to fall.

“How the hell—?”

“There’s an elevator!” She pointed and ran toward it.

As though a gift from the gods, the doors were already open.We tumbled inside, both of us struggling to fill our lungs, and then Iremembered. “That’s right. It was raining in his final moment.”

She cast me a startled expression and pushed the button forthe top floor. Our breaths synced, creating a rhythm in the quiet elevator.

“You’re fast,” I said between gasps.

She put a hand to her racing heart. “You’re faster. I couldhardly keep up.”

“But you did. I’m impressed.”

“Those four years of track must’ve paid off.”

Apparently.

We bolted out of the elevator the second the doors openedand rushed up a set of stairs to the roof access. The steel door wasn’t locked,and I thanked the powers that be for small favors. When we burst through thedoor with guns blazing—metaphorically—we almost took out a uniformed cop.

“Officer,” Halle said, stopping short in surprise.

I checked my watch and ran past him. Three minutes.

“Did you make the call?” he asked Halle.

I didn’t hear her reply. I sprinted to the middle of therooftop and did a three-sixty, but the only other person on the roof was aburly maintenance man, his gray shirt spotted with fresh raindrops.

“Are you Eric?” he asked as he walked toward me. Clearly, Jasonhad gotten ahold of Zachary’s dad.

“I am.”

“I’m Bobby.” He took my hand. “I don’t know what’s going on,but Zachary isn’t here.”

Fuck. Did he jump already? No way. He couldn’t have. Thetime thing was never wrong unless… Unless he jumped but didn’t die when helanded. If it took him a few minutes to pass, for his heart to stop beating, Iwouldn’t see the actual jump. I would only see when his soul left his body.

I turned back to Bobby. “Which side is the front of thebuilding?”

He pointed to my right. I rushed to the edge and lookedover. A ledge capped the sixth level of the historic brick building with justenough depth for a person to walk on. No Zachary. And no body on the ground. Ispun around, confused, then looked at my watch. Two minutes. What the hell?

The cop’s voice broke through my panicked thoughts. “I don’tknow what you saw, ma’am, but I have another call. Someone parked a pickup onthe sidewalk a couple of blocks away, and apparently, the world’s gonna end.”

Halle’s eyes rounded. She brushed a lock of damp blond hairoff her face and stuck a chewed fingernail between her teeth again. “That’s soweird. Why would someone do that?”

The cop handed her his card with a tip of his hat and afriendly smile. “If you need anything else, ma’am.” Too friendly.

Was he flirting? At a time like this?

Bobby looked over the edge, too, trying to figure out whatwas going on. “Did Zach say something to you? Jason didn’t really tell memuch.”

“Did you find him?” Halle asked. The cop left, and shewalked over to us.

I shook my head.

She frowned and glanced around. “You saw him jump fromhere?”

“Jump?” Bobby asked.

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