Then he heard it.
A click and a grind.
The elevator! He ran to the stairs, thinking she'd snuck out behind him. But, no, the cage was empty. It was going down. So, she was coming home. He'd gotten there before her.
He ducked behind a half-height wall of cinder block, out of view of the stairway, and waited for her to come to him.
Rune was exactly eight feet away from Pretty Boy, standing in the steady stream of wind outside the loft, a hundred feet above the sidewalk.
Her boots perched on a thin ridge of metal that jutted out six inches from the lower edge of the building's facade. Most of her body was below the glass windows, and if she ducked, Pretty Boy couldn't see her.
Only she was compelled to look.
Because she'd heard the elevator start down. Somebody was coming up!
And Pretty Boy was going to kill them.
Her hands quivered, her legs were weak, as if her muscles were melting. The wind was cold up there, the smells different. Raw. She looked down again, at the cobblestone patches of the street coming through the asphalt. She closed her eyes and pressed her face against her arm for comfort.
Cobblestones--the final scene in Manhattan Is My Beat. Ruby Dahl, walking slowly down the wet street, crying for her tormented fiance gunned down in Greenwich Village.
Roy, Roy, I would have loved you even if you were poor!
Rune looked back into the loft and saw Pretty Boy shift slightly, then cock his ear toward the doorway.
Who was coming up in the elevator? Sandra? Some of the construction guys?
Please, let it be the police--Manelli or Dixon. Coming to arrest her for the shooting in Brooklyn. They had guns. They'd at least have a chance against the killer.
Suddenly, Pretty Boy crouched and held the gun's muzzle up, his right index finger on the trigger. He looked around him, turning his head as though listening.
Whoever was there was calling out some words. Yes, she could vaguely hear a voice, "Rune? Rune? Are you here?" It was a man.
Richard ran up the stairs, shouting something.
No, no, no! she cried silently. Oh, not him. Please, don't hurt him!
She closed her eyes and tried to send him a message of danger. But when she looked again she saw that he'd walked farther into the loft. "Rune?"
Pretty Boy couldn't see him from the other side of the wall. But he was following Richard's steps with the gun. Rune saw him cock it with his long thumb and point it to the spot where Richard was about to appear.
Oh, no ...
There was nothing else to do. She couldn't let anybody else get hurt because of her. She raised her right fist above the glass. She'd break the window, scream for Richard to run. Pretty Boy would panic and spin around, shoot her. But Richard might just have enough time to leap down the stairs and escape.
Okay, now! Do it.
But just as she started to bring her fist down on the window, Richard paused. He'd seen the note--the note she'd written to Sandra. He picked it up and read it. Then shook his head. He looked around the loft one more time and then started down the stairs.
Pretty Boy peeked out from behind the wall, slipped his gun into his belt. He stood.
Thank you, thank you...
Rune lowered her right arm and held on to the ledge again. Pretty Boy searched the loft again, looking for her, then started down the stairs. Rune's fingertips were numb, though her arm muscles ached and her legs were on fire with pain. But she stayed where she was until below her she saw Pretty Boy jog out of the building and disappear east.
She edged to the small access door and crawled inside. She lay on her bed for five minutes until the quivering in her muscles stopped.
Then she picked up the suitcase and purse and left the loft. Not even thinking to say good-bye to her castle in the sky.