else."
"Mr Lafitte! Mr Teach!" the voice said, growing firmer. "We know you're in there. Please open up!"
"Can't we just hide until they go away?" asked Bill.
"Do you really think that's going to work?"
I heard a key card slip into the lock, which clicked open. A regular key went into the deadbolt and threw it back too.
"We have to go," I said. "Now." I glanced around the room, hoping we'd grabbed everything we needed. There would be no coming back.
"Mr Lafitte! Mr Teach!" the voice said. "We are armed, and we are coming in!"
"Damn it," Bill said. "I can't believe this. It wasn't supposed to work out like this."
I grabbed him by the shoulder. Something heavy hit the door. The chair under the door held, but I heard it start to splinter. It wouldn't last much longer.
I leaned down so I could peer up into Bill's eyes as he stared at the floor below us. "Ready, brother?" I asked. "You gotta be ready now."
Sweat dripped from his brow. He didn't look at me. He just nodded.
Something heavy hit the door again. The chair broke into kindling, and the security chain popped off its mooring.
The man who'd shouldered down the door came stumbling through and landed on his knees. The two other men stormed through behind them, their guns leveled straight at us.
"Freeze!" they said together.
"Now!" I said. With a thought, the floor beneath us felt as substantial as the wind, and we fell straight through it, bullets blasting through the air where we had just been.
The room we landed in was dark, but the lights of the Strip poured in through the open curtains. Bill had fallen to his knees. I pulled him back up.
"We made it," I said. "You all right?"
He gulped and nodded. "That was too close."
"Get ready," I said. "We got to do it again."
He clutched my arm. "No! Why can't we just run to the end of the hallway and take the stairs?"
"They're going to be down here in just a few seconds. They have keys to every room in the entire complex, and there are cameras in every part of the place except inside the rooms." I glanced around. "And I'm not even so sure about that."
I pulled Bill off my arm. "We need to take the most direct way down. That's straight through the floors until we reach the lobby. Then we run like hell."
"All right," Bill said, wiping the sweat from his face. "It worked just fine. I'm starting to get used to this. We'll make it. We can do this."
Someone pounded on the door.
I grabbed Bill, and we slipped through the floor into the room below. It was dark and empty too.
"How the hell did they get down there so fast?" Bill said, staring up at the ceiling. "Are they cheating?"
"We're not just running from three guys." I ignored Bill's unspoken question: were the people chasing us using magic too? "It's the hotel's entire security staff. Their whole system."
Bill shuddered. "I'm sorry, Jackson. I'm sorry I ever got us into this."
"Don't even start." I grabbed his shoulder again. "I'm a big boy. I make my own decisions, and I went along with it. Now, let's get out of it."
Bill took a moment to steady himself, then nodded. We fell through the floor again.
At that time of night, most of the rooms were empty. Either the hotel hadn't been able to fill them or the people who were staying there were out on the town, hitting the tables, restaurants, shows, or clubs.
Fearing I'd lose track of where we were, I started counting the floor numbers out loud every time we reached a new one. As I remembered from the elevator buttons, there wasn't a second floor in this part of the complex. The ceilings on the first floor had to be twenty feet high, and I didn't want to fall that far and wind up breaking my legs in the lobby.
Everything went perfectly most of the way.
"Thirteen!" I shouted as we slipped down from the fourteenth floor.
The room wasn't empty. As my head slipped through the
"Mr Lafitte! Mr Teach!" the voice said, growing firmer. "We know you're in there. Please open up!"
"Can't we just hide until they go away?" asked Bill.
"Do you really think that's going to work?"
I heard a key card slip into the lock, which clicked open. A regular key went into the deadbolt and threw it back too.
"We have to go," I said. "Now." I glanced around the room, hoping we'd grabbed everything we needed. There would be no coming back.
"Mr Lafitte! Mr Teach!" the voice said. "We are armed, and we are coming in!"
"Damn it," Bill said. "I can't believe this. It wasn't supposed to work out like this."
I grabbed him by the shoulder. Something heavy hit the door. The chair under the door held, but I heard it start to splinter. It wouldn't last much longer.
I leaned down so I could peer up into Bill's eyes as he stared at the floor below us. "Ready, brother?" I asked. "You gotta be ready now."
Sweat dripped from his brow. He didn't look at me. He just nodded.
Something heavy hit the door again. The chair broke into kindling, and the security chain popped off its mooring.
The man who'd shouldered down the door came stumbling through and landed on his knees. The two other men stormed through behind them, their guns leveled straight at us.
"Freeze!" they said together.
"Now!" I said. With a thought, the floor beneath us felt as substantial as the wind, and we fell straight through it, bullets blasting through the air where we had just been.
The room we landed in was dark, but the lights of the Strip poured in through the open curtains. Bill had fallen to his knees. I pulled him back up.
"We made it," I said. "You all right?"
He gulped and nodded. "That was too close."
"Get ready," I said. "We got to do it again."
He clutched my arm. "No! Why can't we just run to the end of the hallway and take the stairs?"
"They're going to be down here in just a few seconds. They have keys to every room in the entire complex, and there are cameras in every part of the place except inside the rooms." I glanced around. "And I'm not even so sure about that."
I pulled Bill off my arm. "We need to take the most direct way down. That's straight through the floors until we reach the lobby. Then we run like hell."
"All right," Bill said, wiping the sweat from his face. "It worked just fine. I'm starting to get used to this. We'll make it. We can do this."
Someone pounded on the door.
I grabbed Bill, and we slipped through the floor into the room below. It was dark and empty too.
"How the hell did they get down there so fast?" Bill said, staring up at the ceiling. "Are they cheating?"
"We're not just running from three guys." I ignored Bill's unspoken question: were the people chasing us using magic too? "It's the hotel's entire security staff. Their whole system."
Bill shuddered. "I'm sorry, Jackson. I'm sorry I ever got us into this."
"Don't even start." I grabbed his shoulder again. "I'm a big boy. I make my own decisions, and I went along with it. Now, let's get out of it."
Bill took a moment to steady himself, then nodded. We fell through the floor again.
At that time of night, most of the rooms were empty. Either the hotel hadn't been able to fill them or the people who were staying there were out on the town, hitting the tables, restaurants, shows, or clubs.
Fearing I'd lose track of where we were, I started counting the floor numbers out loud every time we reached a new one. As I remembered from the elevator buttons, there wasn't a second floor in this part of the complex. The ceilings on the first floor had to be twenty feet high, and I didn't want to fall that far and wind up breaking my legs in the lobby.
Everything went perfectly most of the way.
"Thirteen!" I shouted as we slipped down from the fourteenth floor.
The room wasn't empty. As my head slipped through the
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