Panic Room: the Novel
Chapter Three
Meg sat bolt upright in bed and rubbed her eyes groggily. She reached for her bottle of water and gulped it thirstily.
On the floor above, the man had pushed open the door to Sarah's bedroom. He looked in and saw Sarah lying in her bed, facing the door, her eyes shut, obviously asleep. Silently he pulled the door closed and walked slowly and quietly down the stairs to the third floor.
Meg lay back down. She rolled onto her side, and stared out of the window. A black shadow appeared in the doorway behind her, but, as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared. The instant it vanished, Meg turned over, settling back to sleep.
The man, the nametag on his boiler suit read 'Burnham', had made it to the ground floor without any more problems. He walked to the door and unlocked it; pulling open, allowing a younger man to enter. His hair was braided and he wore a long brown coat. He staggered in carrying two holdalls, and dumped them on the floor.
Another man knocked on the window. The braided guy signalled for him to come in.
Burnham looked at him, "And who the hell is that, Junior?" He pointed at the newcomer.
Junior stayed calm, "That, is Raoul." He walked to the door to let Raoul in.
Burnham didn't like to be left out of the picture. "Who the fuck is Raoul?" He demanded.
Junior ignored his tone, "Raoul is okay, Raoul is an expert, and Raoul has experience."
"Where d'you get him?" Burnham wanted to know.
"Through some people." Junior answered, and pulled open the door, revealing a tall, sturdy built man, wearing a black woollen balaclava.
Junior was distracted from his introductions by a pile of cardboard boxes labelled 'Altman'. He walked to the middle of the room, setting eyes upon more boxes and two mountain bikes.
"What the fuck is this!" He turned to face Burnham, anger displayed across his features.
Burnham was quick to explain. "There's a little girl on the top floor, and a woman on the third. They're both asleep."
Junior pointed at him, whispering urgently, "Now, they're not supposed to be here."
"That's your department."
"But they are NOT supposed to be here." Junior repeated, in disbelief.
Burnham was the quick thinker. "We're on video tape. We are all on video tape. This place has cameras that cover almost every square inch!"
Junior interrupted him; he still couldn't believe his eyes. "Fourteen day escrow."
"What the fuck do you mean?"
"They had a fourteen day escrow. That's almost three weeks. They are not supposed to be in here for another week."
Burnham was confused, "Exactly how is fourteen days, three weeks?" He asked.
"Business days," Junior replied almost instantly. "Escrow is always business days, five day weeks always!"
Burnham walked to where Junior had left the holdalls; he bent down to pick them up. "I'm outta here." He straightened up, a holdall in each hand.
"Wait! Wait! Wait a minute!" Junior sounded desperate. "We can handle this. We can handle this!" He turned to Raoul, who was leaning against a wall, smirking. "Can we still handle this?"
"There's just a woman and a kid." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Raoul's way of talking.
"Unless daddy comes home." Burnham argued.
Junior whipped around to face him. "Daddy's not coming home. They're in the middle of a divorce; it's just her, and the kid." He turned back to Raoul. "Now can we do this?"
"Yeah, we can do it."
Junior grinned at Raoul in triumph.
"You mean YOU can do it. I'm gone." Burnham walked to the door.
Upstairs Meg was paying for her alcohol consumption. She'd woken up, again. She heaved herself out of bed, totally oblivious to the argument that was going on below her.
Burnham was voicing yet more reasons why they should call off the job. "Suppose she wakes up, suppose she…"
"Yeah, well we'll keep an eye on her. Raoul can totally administrate that part."
"He's not even supposed to BE here."
Meg yawned; drinking all that water had taken its toll on her. She walked to the nearest doorway and switched on the light. Wrong room. The panic room. She left the light on and went in search of the bathroom. She didn't notice the three people arguing on one of the monitors.
"Nobody gets hurt." Junior reassured Burnham.
"And what about us? What if she has a gun?"
Raoul reached a hand under his coat, pulling a gun from a holster under his arm.
Burnham looked at him. "Who are you?"
"I'm Raoul." Was the only answer he got.
Burnham walked to the door.
Junior carried on talking. "You know we can't do this without you! This is still a good plan. Fuck that, this is a great plan. This is just a minor set back."
Burnham put down the holdalls. "Oh yeah! And just how long would we get inside for this?"
Junior avoided the question. "Think of all the promises you made. Promises to me, promises to your kids."
"Don't bring family into this."
He lowered his voice so that Burnham could just about hear him, "Okay, okay. But the fact of the matter is, there is still three million dollars in this house, and you and I are the only people that know it's here. I want that money. I want it. And you, you need that money, or have you forgotten why you're here?" Burnham didn't answer. "So let's just quit fucking around and get on with it. Okay?"
"Kill the phones." Was all that Burnham said.
Upstairs Meg had found the ensuite and was shaking bottles of pills until she found the correct one. She tipped two into her hand and re-screwed the cap. Swallowing the tablets with water from the tap. She sat on the toilet…
The three men, Junior, Burnham and Raoul made their way, slowly up the stairs, taking each step at a time, treading carefully.
Meg stood up from the toilet and reached for the flush. She couldn't find it in the dark, and it took her a second to realise where it was. She pulled it, water gurgling loudly through the pipes. Out on the staircase, the burglars froze. They heard a cistern flushing and then muffled footsteps as Meg made her way back to bed. She lay down, just about to shut her eyes when she realised she'd left the panic room light on. Grudgingly she got back out of bed, and walked across the cold floor to switch off the light. Just as she was about to turn and go back to bed, she noticed three figures on the stairway monitor…
Junior started to walk slowly up the next flight of stairs. His quiet approach was ruined when he kicked Sarah's basketball, which she had left out on the stairs the night before. It bounced down the steps and rolled into the living room, coming to rest against the sofa.
Meg breathed in sharply, her head whipping around. Panic registered on her features and her breath came shallowly.
The burglars continued on up the stairs.
Meg ran, her bare feet pounding on the wooden floor, from her room, up the next flight of stairs to Sarah's room.
Junior started barking orders. "Raoul, top floor, the little girl. I'll get the mother. Give me the gun!" He snatched it form Raoul's hands. He pointed it at Burnham, "You stay here, and nobody gets past." Then Raoul and Junior sprinted up the stairs, Meg was already at the top of the next flight.
The men slowed to push open doors and check rooms as they passed. Meg ran to Sarah's room and shook her daughter, roughly.
"Sarah! Sarah wake up!" But Sarah just moaned in her sleep and rolled over. Meg was getting desperate, the footsteps were getting louder. She grabbed the Evian bottle and tipped the contents over Sarah's face. She sat up, instantly awake.
"What did you do that for!" She exclaimed. Meg put her finger to her lips and grabbed Sarah's hand, pulling her out of bed. They ran for the stairs but Raoul was at the end of the hall, blocking them off. They were trapped.
"Where are you going? Huh!" He asked. Mother and daughter froze, hand's still linked. Then a thought struck Meg, she pulled Sarah back, and bundled her into the elevator. Then she dived in, and yanked the cage shut. Raoul ran for the door, but he was too late. He ran back to the stairs.
Inside the elevator, Sarah wanted to know what was happening. "What's going on?" She asked her mother, as they caught their breath.
"People. In the house." Meg said and hugged her daughter close.
"They're coming down!" Raoul called down to Junior over the banisters, "In the elevator, head 'em off."
Junior wrenched at the handle of the elevator door, but it wouldn't open. Through the glass panel he saw Meg and Sarah huddled together as the elevator kept on going down.
"They're comin' down to you!" He called to Burnham.
"Hey, I told you, I don't hurt people."
Junior sighed in exasperation and flew down the last flight of stairs, waving the gun erratically.
In the elevator, Meg realised what was happening. "They're coming down!" She exclaimed.
Sarah thought, "That room." She said slowly.
"What?"
"PANIC ROOM!"
Meg jabbed at the up button on the elevator panel. Nothing happened.
Sarah elbowed her out of the way. "No, you have to press emergency stop." She hit the button, and the elevator stopped. Meg sighed. I gotta love that kid. She thought to herself.
Junior realised that they weren't coming down. "Fuck." He swore, and ran back up the stairs. "They're coming back up!" But he wasn't quick enough.
The elevator reached the third floor, and Meg threw open the cage and pushed open the door, pulling Sarah after her. They dived through an open door, running and running. Junior and Raoul gave chase, but they weren't quick enough. Raoul had taken the wrong door, Junior ran full pelt at the end door, but it wouldn't open, cardboard moving boxes were blocking the way.
Meg and Sarah dived for the safety of the Panic Room, Meg scrabbling on the floor, pulling the cushions out of the way of the beam. "GO!" She screamed at Sarah. Sarah whacked the red button and the doors rocketed shut, just as Junior ran into the room, screaming and cursing at the top of his voice. He pummelled the door with the flat of his hands. "Fuck. FUCK FUCK FUCK!"
