Prologue

“It's only 54 floors and at this time of day how long can it take?”  He thought the elevator car would reach the ground in plenty of time.  The pain was bad and his hand was throbbing, yes,  but he was nowhere near passing out.  A man in Everett's profession managed to deal with pain and he learned how to hide it so as not to attract attention when strolling through a crowd after an event that didn't go exactly as planned.  No, Everett was more concerned with avoiding notice and the leather gloves would only prevent blood from dripping on the elevator floor for so long.

“Breathe man, breathe”, he whispered trying to return his visible vitals to normal before any other passengers joined him on his ride to the ground.  With any luck, the car would be there on Market Street waiting just as they had planned.   The floor indicator released a dry electronic beep giving warning that he would have company at the 46th floor.

The black leather gloves were tight enough to slow the flow of blood but with this kind of injury there was no chance of stemming the flow completely.  The heel of his left hand was on fire and all of his digits were throbbing.  It was the kind of pain that made you feel like you were going to piss your pants but this worked in Everett's favour.  The sensations that he felt made him very aware of his situation and snapped his mind into a state of incredible clarity.  This was not something he had learned, it was a something he was born with.  Luckily, he still had feeling in his hand and fingers.  He needed that now.  He needed to be able to feel the blood drip it's way down to his fingers.  Carefully tilting his hand, he could manipulate the blood so that it would flow throughout the glove evenly.  This would buy him the time he needed to get to the street but he had to keep his focus.  “That stupid fuck had better get this one right.” he mumbled.  “If I find him waiting on Kennedy Blvd. I'll kick his ass.”

The elevator slowed and he could feel the inertia pulling blood from the wound toward the fingers tips of the glove.  He knew that it was just his heightened awareness that allowed him to feel this pull but it was an unsettling feeling regardless.  The elevator halted it's descent and in the moment just before the doors opened, Everett felt that familiar fear grip him, the fear of the unknown.  Not knowing who would be standing there when the doors opened was almost enough to make his heart skip a beat.  At least that would be one less beat to pump life juice from the gash in his hand.