Turning, I quickly find the closet. "We can hide in here," I whisper.
Jackson enters the room. Two armed guards walk beside him, but he also wields a pistol for protection.
"I want to thank you both for securing the cargo," he says. "With the missing statue intact, it won't be long before we can finally restore order."
The men salute. Jackson loosely salutes back, but he looks uninterested.
I hold my breath and continue watching.
"Sir, where would you like us to patrol?” one of the guards asks.
Jackson opens the drawer to his desk, pulls out a bottle of whiskey. "I can take care of myself, thank you. A helicopter will pick you up shortly."
"Thank you, sir."
The men leave. Jackson takes a long swig and sighs. "The things I do for money," he whispers to himself before chuckling under his breath. "Then again, it's obvious people need leaders like me. The rule of law is an important one."
Standing, he faces the closet. He loosens the collar to his suit and stretches his neck. "This outfit is suffocating. Need to find something more comfortable."
He's walking closer and closer to the closet. It won't be long until he finds us and alerts the guards.
He reaches out to open the closet door...
The telephone cuts through the eerie sounds of silence. He turns sharply and makes an angered sound. "That better be him."
I take out my pistol. The red is glowing, and heat emanates from the barrel. He must be close, but where?
Jackson pulls out his cellphone and faces the other direction. Slowly, he walks into the hallway.
Raven pulls on my shoulder.
"That's it. I'm going out there," Raven says.
"Are you crazy? He’ll turn around and see you," I say.
"So we blast him, Loki says.
She shakes her head. "As fulfilling as it may be to watch him get blasted, he also has a gun, and I'd rather not risk it. I can do this without killing him."
"If anything happens, we got your back," Loki says.
"Please, be safe," I say. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
She looks at me for a few seconds. She has a look in her eyes that doesn't make me feel so great. I pray she still loves me.
This is gut wrenching.
"Give me the stones. If I find it, I'll need them," she says.
Reluctantly, I hand her the stones. This all feels like such a bad idea.
"Godspeed," Heimdall says.
She nods and carefully slithers out of the closet. She crawls through the room and carefully sits against his desk.
Jackson is too busy on the phone to sense her presence. He turns and walks back inside, placing the pistol on his desk. He takes another sip of whiskey.
She is right underneath his nose, holding her breath.