Dr. Brian Murphy looked through the peephole of his apartment door. The hall appeared to be clear. As far as he could tell his neighbors doors, at least the ones he could see, were closed.
He checked his watch. 2:30am. He was going to have to chance it.
Slowly and carefully he undid the latch and the deadbolt, opened the door, and stepped into the quiet hallway. His best chance of avoiding running into anybody was the stairs.
He opened the stairway door and listened intently. Not a sound. He quickly entered and practically ran down the stairs.
Jake the night doorman was on duty. Not a problem.
Murphy steeled himself to sound nonchalant as he spoke to Jake.
"Hey Jake," Murphy said with the faintest of quiver in his voice. "Listen. Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure Mr. Murphy," Jake answered. "Anything wrong? You look a bit under-the-weather."
"No Jake. Everything's fine." Murphy lied, hopefully convincingly. "A girl from my office has been stalking me and its' got me a bit unraveled is all. Can you take a look outside and let me know if you see anyone hanging about?"
"Sure Mr. Murphy," Jake said as he headed towards the doors. "You wait right here."
Murphy wasn't happy lying to Jake but Jake would never understand the problem anyway. This was going to be something he was going to have to work out himself.
A few minutes later Jake came back inside.
"The coast is clear Mr. Murphy," Jake smiled hoping the good news would increase his tip. "I didn't see nobody for two blocks in any direction."
"Thanks," Murphy sighed in relief as he slipped a twenty into Jake's outstretched hand. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
Murphy stepped out into the cool night air and took several deep breaths. It had been almost three days since he had left his apartment and it felt good to stretch his legs and fill his lungs with fresh air.
Despite Jake's assurances that no one was on the street, Murphy quickly surveyed the area himself.
Satisfied that no one was around in the early morning, he headed for the corner convenience store.
If he was lucky, Eddie would be working the night shift at the Lucky 7 Grocery. If Eddie's wife Ming was behind the counter, he was in trouble.
Hopefully he could see who was working through the door before he entered.
Murphy made his way to the store and looked inside. He could see the counter but he couldn't see anybody there.
Entering the store without knowing who was working, or for that matter who might be shopping, was not an option.
He walked to the edge of the store and looked down the trucker's alleyway.
A truck was parked alongside the store but it was dark and the motor wasn't running. Most likely waiting for morning so that Eddie could let them unload groceries in the relative safety of daylight.
Murphy walked slowly down the alleyway towards the back door. He figured he could look through the storage room window and see if Eddie or Ming were in the back.