Catalina was smart and quick on her feet. It wasone of the things he really loved about her. What she said made a lot of sense, except it felt impossible. “I mean, how are we going to do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we can get in a box or climb on the dolly.”
They tentatively peered from under the chair, gazing upward at the mammoth-sized skyscraper made up of a furniture dolly filled with equipment. At the very top of this overwhelming mountain was a cardboard box, its flaps propped open as though the movers were in the process of tossing things inside. Even if Catalina was able to pull out a set of professional mountain climbing equipment from the depths of her bag, there was no way this was going to be something they could manage in a short amount of time. The speed at which the movers worked meant Trey and Cat had a short window of opportunity. But his wife was determined, and he didn’t have any better suggestions despite his apprehension.
“You want to try to get up there?” He pointed to the pinnacle of the mountain above them.
She grimaced as if she was also calculating the probability of this plan working or if there was a greater chance they’d plummet to their death instead. “Yes?” she replied, not sounding the least bit confident about it.
“Cat—”
“Yes! We have to get as high as we can or at least a spot that’s secure. Going with the equipment is our best shot.”
They approached the dolly wheel as their firstobstacle. There were four wheels on the ground as the dolly was in the truck position. He studied the treading on the wheels, and maybe it was possible they would be able to climb it. At least he might have a shot. His wife was smaller, less physically strong than him, but if he had to pull both of them up, he was going to do it. Either they both made it or they didn’t. There was no third option in his mind. Cat, although determined, was rubbing her chest again.
“You’re going to have to leave the bag,” he told her.
“No. I’m not leaving it.”
“Are you worried about leaving your ID behind or something? Do you think there are tiny cops around to ask for it?”
“I’m not leaving it,” she reiterated through clenched teeth.
She was obviously attached to the bag, but climbing was going to be challenging enough even if she didn’t have to lug the heavy thing around. He reached out his hand. “Fine. Let me have it.”
“You’re not tossing it. The bag is coming with us.”
“I’m not going to toss it. I’ll carry it. This is going to be difficult, and you don’t need any extra challenges. I’d rather take the risk. You can trust me.”
She eyed him suspiciously. He missed having a wife who fully trusted him. To his great relief, there must have been a spark of that faith still alive, because she slipped it off her shoulder, handing it over.
He didn’t know how she managed this bagevery day. It must have weighed at least ten pounds. Maybe she was more muscly, at least on one side of her body, than he realized. Trey half expected her to ape-swing up the dolly wheel like Buddy and leave him behind to struggle. He should never underestimate her. He made sure the bag was zipped and undid the strap as much as he could before slipping his head and one arm through until the strap fit snuggly and diagonally across his torso.
“Okay, are you ready?” he asked her. They would have to move fast. Who knew how much time they had remaining? He kneeled to provide the first boost to Cat.
“Okay,” she replied, stepping into his cupped hands. He pushed her upward against the side of the dolly wheel. She clung to the edge of the wheel treads and inched her way up. No chimp-like swinging here.
Trey leaped upward as much as he could for his own boost, grabbing the edge of a tread with his fingers and finding footing for his feet. He encouraged his wife to climb, following her pace in order to help if necessary but his heart beat hard with the knowledge this had to be a long shot.
Unfortunately, they had only gone up a small amount when the wheel started turning. They had run out of time. They both screamed, hanging on as much as they could, but it didn’t stop them from losing their grip and tumbling to the ground.
“No! No, no, no, this isn’t happening,” his wife called out as soon as she got her footing on the carpet again, doing clumsy leaps across some of the carpettufts as though she’d get another chance if she caught up to them. “They can’t leave us here like this!”
The dolly traveled too fast for them to catch up, so there was no point in running after it. He stood there panting, his hands on his hips, watching after her. She only went a short distance before giving up, her shoulders dropping in defeat.
They were being left behind.
Chapter 9
Catalina
Watching the dolly roll away was the same as seeing her hopes crash and burn in real time. She might as well let her body sink into the carpet fibers and let ants feed on her carcass because surviving like this (as the world’s smallest woman) had to be impossible.
Right when she was about to do something wild, like seek comfort by throwing herself into Trey’s arms to weep against his chest, the dolly stopped. Her breath froze in her lungs as she stood waiting for something to happen, wishing the spark of hope wasn’t completely extinguished for them.
“Is that power strip ours or the resort’s?” A male voice echoed above her.
“That’s ours.”
