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“Not even close. But secure,” Gavin said. “You got anything metal on you?”
The Senator indicated his belt buckle and Gavin removed it, taking care not to jostle the wounded man. “Maybe that one, paired with mine,” his words drifted off as he approached the hole in the floor with the two metal buckles. Rachel shook her head at the futility but didn’t say anything, instead focusing on the Senator.
“We don’t have any water or anything, sir.”
He waved a hand and tried to take a breath before groaning again. He wrapped his arm around his middle and took a step toward Gavin. “What’s he working on?”
Rachel gave him her shoulder to lean on and they made their way to the back corner. Gavin was working in the edge of the wood, trying to pry the piece free of its mooring. She explained to the Senator then took off her jacket. "Turn your back, Senator." She said and turned away from him before removing the stretchy top she'd donned that morning. With long sleeves to combat the ever-colder air conditioning of the office building, it made a serviceable wrap. Once she'd donned her jacket and buttoned it, she turned back around to find Gavin watching her with a smile on his face. "Hey!"
“You didn’t tell me to turn around,” he said and started in on his work again.
She wrapped the Senator’s ribs as best she could and got him settled near their work. After he’d sat, he started talking.
“I saw Pritchard.” At Rachel’s look of surprise, he nodded. “He tried to stay out of sight but the warehouse has a couple of offices with plate glass and I saw him duck out of the room as I was being brought into an office.”
“Did they drug you?” she said.
“Yeah. I woke up in a room stacked with boxes. They must have had someone watching cause I was pulled out of that room pretty quickly.”
“So if you had the same shot we had, that means they had several hours to question you.” Gavin continued to work.
“And to beat you up,” Rachel added as she looked worriedly at Mitchell. He was pale and his face tight with pain. She prayed he didn’t have internal bleeding or a punctured lung.
He waved slightly at the remark then continued. “They wanted the names I’d mentioned but obviously I didn’t tell them.” When Rachel opened her mouth to say because they didn’t have them, he cut her off. “I’m not telling them anything. Our information was bought at too high a price.”
Gavin glanced up at him with a question in his eyes. The Senator tilted his head toward the doors and Gavin nodded then went back to his work. Rachel, at a loss, frowned then looked at the door. “Oh.”
The guards would be listening, of course, and the walls of the container, while strong, wouldn't obscure all conversation, especially as it echoed nicely in the empty enclosure.
Gavin stood and stomped on the floor as he cursed loudly. “Dammit, I’m tired of this! When are they going to let us out?”
His words hid the thunk of his feet, or at least gave reason for the stomping and he lowered to the floor again. This time he grinned and started pushing. Rachel joined him and held the wooden board until he could get it wedged between the steel lip of the container and the thick plywood floor. They pushed, she stood on the board and after what seemed like minutes, the wood wrenched. The Senator yelled something along the lines of don’t touch me to cover the sound and they stared at the gravel beneath them.
CHAPTER12
The container wasflat on the ground with less than an inch separating it from the gravel. Rachel let her head drop when she saw the space. “It’s no use. Unless we tunnel out, we’re stuck.”
“Maybe not,” Gavin said and held up the wooden board, now split into two pieces.
She stared at the board, then accepted the second piece, wicked with a long wooden screw protruding from the end. “So, we did all that work to break the wood?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I was hoping for more, but it’ll do in a pinch.” He turned to the Senator. “You’re looking pale, Senator.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, I think you may be in a lot of pain,” he said and Rachel understood.
“I think it’s worse than that. I think those ribs might have nicked something. Bleeding inside, perforated liver, it could be something really serious.” She shook her head mournfully at the older man as he frowned up at her.
“If they want you alive, they’re going to have to get you some help.” Gavin finished and nodded toward Rachel.
She went to the door, the wooden board behind her back. “Help, he’s passed out. I think he’s dead. Help!”
She continued for several minutes before a voice from the outside responded. "Move away from the door."
She did, retreating to the Senator’s side. He lay on the floor, his eyes closed, and for a moment she worried she might be telling the truth. He looked very pale.
One of the doors screeched open and a thin man armed with a rifle stepped inside. “He’s fine.”
