Page 43 of Shielding Maya

Jasiah nodded, "That's a good guess."

"Let's take the back stairs."

They turned and ran down the hall in the opposite direction. Few people were around, a few nurses began yelling as they ran in the halls.

They whipped open the door to the stairs and hustled down the steps as fast as their feet would take them. At the basement door, Maya held her hand up and whispered. "Don't say anything."

She pulled a gun from her waistband, and eased the door open. She listened for movement but motioned for him to follow her.

They moved down a hallway, dimly lit by bulbs in fixtures and yellow lines of reflective paint running both sides of the hall. Maya pointed above her, to a sign that read, Morgue.

She turned the knob on the door and slipped in, nodding for him to follow. A man sitting at a desk jumped when she rounded the corner. "What are..."

"Shh." She held up her hand and whispered to the man. "Has anyone else come in here?"

He shook his head vigorously. Maya whispered, "Go to safety. Now."

He hesitated a moment and Jasiah felt sorry for him. With his thumb, Jasiah motioned toward the door and the man moved on shaky legs to the door.

Maya took a deep breath and stepped into a cold room behind the man's desk. Rows of square doors lined three walls. Maya glanced back at him. "The senator is in here somewhere and I'll bet this is where Malibu Man is coming in case there's something on him."

"Something like what?" He whispered.

"A zip drive, thumb drive, or other code or location where the files might be. He told his killer the recording was with someone making changes. That’s you. Or, that’s him."

He wasn't sure what a zip drive or thumb drive was, but codes and files, he knew about.

Maya moved to an alcove behind the door and motioned for him to follow her. They could see the outer office via the window from this location. The light changed and he saw the black hoodie Malibu Man had been wearing.

He motioned to Maya and she nodded. Jasiah mouthed "Gun" and Maya nodded again. Slowly she reached down and pulled a second gun from her ankle holster and handed it to him. "Shoot only if necessary," she whispered.

He nodded and held the pistol down for safety. The door opened slowly and his body tensed. They were met with only silence for a few moments, then he moved into the room and began opening and closing the square doors on the wall nearest the door.

They stepped from the alcove as Malibu Man frantically opened locker after locker. He turned quickly when he saw them and raised his gun. His shots were erratic and Jasiah pulled the trigger. The man slid down the wall of lockers and sat on the ground. A small red dot near his heart was the only sign anything was wrong with him. Maya trained her gun on him, stepped closer and kicked his gun away from him.

"What's your name?"

"Fuck you," he mumbled.

"I get that a lot."

The blue eyes that stared back at them began to fade.

Maya tried once again. "What was King's plan as to the senator? He couldn't find the recording, so what did he think would happen?"

Malibu Man shook his head side to side. "He wanted the world to know the senator was dead. No one to give evidence."

"We have the evidence and a recording of the senator verifying it."

Malibu Man shook his head slowly. "He wants everyone dead."

"How did you know the senator?"

All he did was shake his head. His eyes closed halfway and his head stopped shaking. His hands relaxed and his shoulders slumped forward.

26

Maya secured her weapon in her holster, then took Jasiah's hand in hers. Slowly she spoke to her colleagues.

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