“Tim? What’s—”

Marcus stared in disbelief as Tim suddenly bolted from the fire escape’s edge and down the stairs, knocking over his sandwich and spilling his iced tea as he went. Moving at breakneck speed, Tim reached the bottom level just as the woman turned the corner ahead. His hands fumbled for the latch, desperately trying to unhook the ladder.

With a primal grunt of frustration, he slammed his fist against the rusted hook, releasing it and causing the ladder to slide down its rollers with a bang. He descended rapidly, barely feeling the wrought iron in his hands as he went. Fearing that he would once again lose the strange beauty, and knowing that the opportunity to confront her was slowly slipping away, he dropped the remaining six feet to the ground, landing in a squat...

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