Hand of Fate Read Online Free PDF Page B

Makayla? Her parents? They were nearly as old as Mrs. Lofland and starting to show it. Her brothers? They didn't always see eye-to-eye with Nic.
    They rounded a corner. Already there were bottlenecks. An overweight woman in a blue muumuu inched her way down sideways, stepping down with one foot, and then slowly putting her other foot on the same step. Nic wanted to yell out that they had to hurry, but she knew it might only cause a panic. Mrs. Lofland would be the first to be hurt.
    People pressed closer together, not talking, concentrating on getting down. The stairway was at times now coming to a complete halt. When Nic looked over the edge, she saw dozens of hands lined up on the handrail.
    People kept trying their cell phones, but it was clear they couldn't get through. A few others with BlackBerrys were offering to send e-mails for those around them.
    Suddenly Mrs. Lofland's arm jerked out of Nic's grasp, and the older lady pitched forward. Nic grabbed the woman's shoulders with both hands and yanked her upright, ignoring the pain from the healing bullet wound in her own upper right arm.
    "I'm sorry, dear. I tripped."
    Nic looked down. Some stupid woman had just abandoned a pair of black, very high heels on the stairs, and the old lady had stumbled over one. Nic picked up one and then a few steps later, th e o ther. Not knowing what else to do with them, she shoved them into her bag. The shoes looked expensive. Maybe, if she was lucky, they were her size. Nic realized she was getting giddy. The air seemed stale and close, inhaled and exhaled by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people before them. But did she really want to smell fresh air if it might also carry the invisible scent of death?
    Mrs. Lofland's lips were moving. Was she in pain?
    "Are you all right?" Nic asked. "Do you need to stop?"
    "No, dear, I'm just praying."
    "You don't need to worry. I'll get you out of here, I promise." "I'm not worried about myself, dear. If it's my time, it's my time. I'm just praying for you and the others."
    Normally, Nic would have had to stifle a retort. Mumble to God or mumble to yourself--what difference did it make? But for some reason, Mrs. Lofland's words made her feel better.
    They passed an abandoned black wheelchair left in the stairwell. Where was its owner? Nic's eyes strained ahead until she caught sight of a woman being slowly carried down the stairs by four men--young, old, black, white--all united in their common goal of saving another human being.
    "Leave me behind," the woman was saying. "Go on without me. The firemen can help me."
    Nic didn't hear their answers, just saw them shake their heads.
    They had just reached the ninth-floor stairwell when all hell broke loose. Someone below them must have gotten the same message Nic had earlier.
    "It's poisonous gas," a man below them shouted, his voice cracking in panic. "They're evacuating all of downtown!"
    His words were answered by screams, shouts, and shoves. The crowd had been slowly pushing forward like a herd of cattle. Now i t b ecame a stampede. A man in front of Nic fell. She reached out her hand, but in a second he was gone, rolling down, trampled by panicked people. A woman behind them screamed, "I don't want to die here!" before clawing her way past Nic.
    Nic grabbed the handrail on either side of Mrs. Lofland. The cane was gone, lost in the chaos. She flattened herself and the older woman against the wall as the crazed crowd surged forward. If she were alone, she thought she could make it all the way down to the exit. But Mrs. Lofland? She would be crushed. The next time she tripped, Nic probably wouldn't be able to pull her back up.
    Time slowed down, the way it had at other times Nic had faced death. She saw people's open mouths, but their screams were oddly muffled. All of her attention was focused on finding a way to keep them both alive.
    It was clear they weren't going to be able to make it to the exit. But was that really so bad? Leif's e-mail had said