Lethal Ladies #13 - Commentary

As always, please read the chapter first.

Chapter 12 ended in front of 41 2nd Avenue with Amber and Allison creating a distraction.  Chapter 13 opens with Elena and Rose making use of the distraction.  The top-down approach allows the older Ladies to search the building while still having an escape route.  It also allows Rose a chance to work out the pain in her knee.  Arthritis is a bitch at times, destroying joints and making it hard to move.  Rose's is mild enough to not stop her normally, but when it flares, she needs to take it easy.  The door smashing into the same leg isn't helping matters.  The trapped door is a backup to the electric eye.  If the eye isn't broken, whether through blind luck or actively avoiding it, the door still slams shut.  In a quiet building, the slam would be enough to alert a guard.  The door doesn't even need to be deliberately trapped; my own apartment door closes faster than it should because the hydraulic mechanism closing it is mis-set.

Rose's thinking works for most non-governmental and non-military offices.  Corner offices with views are perks to be earned.  In areas that are more sensitive, the more important you are, the further away from windows you get.  Lasers can read sound vibrations off glass.  People with binoculars can lip read.  Most of the time, it'll be office banter and gossip.  Rose's psychology studies pegs Sexton as someone who has bought into the "corner office as perk" idea.  She has a better read on him then he does on her.

I got to play with the running gag of Rose and Elena referring to past adventures by city and year.  Rose can't hear the the humming because of hearing damage at a Stones concert.  Once again, this is out of personal experience, except instead of the Rolling Stones, it was Pink Floyd during their A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour in 1987.  The music was ten times louder than inside a hangar with a jet engine going.  So, a low hum gets lost in the tinnitus.  Rose thought the concert was worth it.

The chapter ends with Rose moving from defense to offense.  She's tired of running and wants to turn everything around.  The plan will be revealed over the next few chapters.

Tomorrow, Rose needs to check her company's policy on sexual harassment.
Over at MuseHack, I'm on hiatus this week.
Coming up, NaNoWriMo updates as I keep writing and writing and writing.