You get a crazy idea.

You call Natali again and watch as she answers her phone. "I should have listened to you. I should have brought a bodyguard."

She was near hysterical, but holding it together. "Calm down, it wouldn't have helped. Don't look around, but I am here. I can see you. Be ready to run, okay. When I give the word you be ready to run for the door." You hang up.

What the hell are you going to do? You look around desperately, nothing in the stairwell but a floorplan and a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. Shit.

You might be able to get behind the bar? It's glass and metal modern design didn't look very concealing from the edge you could see of it. Perhaps there was an entrance to the kitchen nearby? No way to know. You were flying blind here. Your eyes focus on the closet door against the only bit of actual solid wall. It was your only real option, assuming the exterior wall is as hard as it looked from the outside. Doing some calculations you figured that if he was focused on Natali you could probably get across the foyer once if you flat out ran, but there was no way you'd make it back again. What could you do?

4 minutes.

The metallic taste of adrenaline mixes with the tobacco flavor still in your mouth.

Tobacco...cigars...lighter...fire...smoke... The fresh memory of Murray's worldweary face disappearing behind a cloud of cigar smoke surfaces in your mind. Your eyes open wide, snapping your head to the left you look at the fire extinguisher.

3 minutes.

Your phone began to ring but you ignore it. Probably the bastard calling to bait you some more. You run to the floor below you and grab the fire extinguisher, then bolt back up and grab the one from the third floor. Undoing the safety tabs on each you ready yourself. Looking through you see the foyer is empty. If this was going to work you were going to have to just go for it, as quick as possible.

2 minutes.

You rush through the stairwell door, a fire extinguisher gripped in each hand. You sprint straight past the closet and burst open the glass door into the Le Bisou tea room. The room stops as all the wealthy patrons look in your direction. "RUN!" You shout as you let loose with both barrels, a ballooning white cloud of concealing fire retardant fills the front half of the restaurant. Chaos ensues.

You feel Natali run by you and you follow her, spraying the thick white mist everywhere. By the time the two of you were hitting the closet area the extinguishers were already giving out, sputtering their final spurts. There was no way you were making back across the foyer to the stairwell.

"In there!" You say forcefully but just loud enough for Natali to hear.

Thankfully the door is unlocked. Natali opens it and you rush in behind her, she slams the door shut behind you as you enter. A split second later you hear two sharp cracks pound against the outer wall of what is a utility closet. The wall withstood the bullets, thank God!

You drop the extinguishers to your sides. It was crowded in here, just enough room for a large sink, cleaning supplies, and you and Natali.

Outside the door you heard the havoc you had left in your wake. People were shouting and coughing. The confused and angry voices of the staff and patrons. "What the hell?" "What happened?" "Who was that?" "Is everyone okay?" "Where did he go?" "Down the stairs I think" "What a crazy man!" "Do you know who that was?" "That's a hell of a way to get out of paying your bill." "Should we call the cops?" "Nah, we'd be here all day." "No. If that was who I think it was we better not." "Clean those tables up." "Sorry ladies and gentlemen."

You and Natali are squeezed together face to face. The strands from a dry mop tickling your neck and the handle to something else sticking into your back. The room is dimly lit by a tiny light on the wall that must always be left on. She is shivering. You take her in your arms.