Angels and Operators: Ring, Ring
Installment Fifty-Nine
Previous Installments (In Reverse Order)
Putting your head down, you move to the stairs, toward Pierce’s friends. Judy knows about your hand, so maybe they do, too. Accordingly, you try to hold angled away from them, so they won’t see the bandages.
The friend you’ve seen before, Dom, makes an annoyed sound as you push between the two men. Your heart rate accelerates. Has he recognized you? He has to turn his box sideways to get past you. He and his pal thump on down the stairs after you. You mutter an inaudible apology.
“This building is full of braindead mopes,” you hear him say, as he continues on.
You move quickly toward Judy’s apartment. The door has been propped open, with a cardboard box marked “TOASTER ETC” in looping block letters. You step over the threshold.
“Judy?” you ask, to no response. You check the other rooms; no sign of her. This seems odd. What woman would let two guys move her stuff without her being there to make sure they were careful with it?
A cell phone ring tone chirps out from a coat laid on top of a stack of cardboard boxes. Is it her, calling one of the guys? First, you stop to listen. Are they coming back up the stairs already? You don’t hear them, but it shouldn’t take them long to start their return trip.
You remove the phone from the coat pocket. The display identifies the caller: P. VERNESS.
Pierce.
Now what do you do?
Under the hood
39% of respondents chose to push past Dom and his friend into Judy’s apt. 23% wanted to offer to help; 21% opted for pressing up against a wall to avoid being seen, while 12% wanted to duck out of the building entirely. Only 5% wanted to ask them where Judy is.