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A huge chunk of cement hit the floor beside her. The chunk sent awhooshof air into her face, and she choked on particles of debris. A cough exploded from her. She lurched forward another foot, battling to reach the door and escape. Or to get to her bedroom window and her fire escape. But that was farther than the front door. And the way those balconies were falling off the side of the building, she didn’t hold out hope that the fire escape was still standing.
Photos she’d lovingly framed fell off the walls and crashed to the floor. Glass shattered and crunched underfoot.
Finally, she fumbled her phone out of her pocket. The entire apartment shifted violently to the side and she dropped it.
She dived for it, ignoring the pain in her side from her injury. Just then, the screen lit up, and she realized her phone was silenced. She might have missed a bunch of calls, but now she saw clearly those two little letters on the screen.
AJ
She scrambled across the floor that was breaking apart underneath her. Her knees scraped over the splintered hardwood floor.
Then another enormous crack deafened her and the ceiling buckled.
She threw her hands over her head to protect herself.
She couldn’t hear a thing. Her ears felt as if they were stuffed with cotton. Her head too. Her brain was sinking in a fog as she pieced together what happened.
Her building was collapsing. Caving in. She and how many others were trapped inside? And…
Something heavy was sitting on her legs. She couldn’t move at all.
But several feet away, out of reach, her phone screen lit up again and again.
AJ was trying to reach her. And he might be too late to help.
The air was heavy with debris and soot. From all around her, the building continued to creak and groan. A low groaning sound from the opposite side of the building warned her something big was about to go, but she was stuck in place, unable to budge an inch.
Terror blackened her mind. Spots burst behind her closed eyelids, but they faded to show her AJ’s face.
Her mind grasped at that image, but it vanished just as fast as it’d popped up.
Please don’t let us lose each other again. Neither of us are strong enough for that.
How she knew that, she couldn’t tell. AJ had never voiced that brand of desperate need to have her in his life—she just knew with a soul-deep feeling.
Her mind whirled. Tried to black out a few times. She dug her mental fingertips into the ledge and clung to consciousness, even as her mind tried to protect her from the fear and pain.
Well, not pain exactly. Pressure. She opened her eyes but couldn’t see more than an inch in front of her face. Even looking down at her lower body, she couldn’t make out what had her pinned down.
She raised a hand and felt gingerly along the edge, aware there could be sharp edges of metal and concrete to cut her. Part of the ceiling had her pinned down.
Her phone screen lit up again from a few feet away.
With it silenced, she couldn’t even give it a voice command to call 911 or AJ.
Oh, why did she ever get in the habit of silencing her phone in the first place? She started it when she began working with ICE after realizing some coworkers didn’t sleep and continued pummeling her for information that could easily wait until morning. And she’d never had an issue with it being silenced—until now.
She’d forgotten to click that tiny little button and now look where she was at. Trapped. Alone.
She might not make it through this.
I love you, AJ. If you can hear me…I love you.
* * * * *
Apollo slapped at his phone, and Oz’s voice filled the car. “What’s your position?” Oz demanded.
“I’m stuck in traffic. I can’t even make a turn onto a side street. And Indika’s not answering her phone.What the fuck ishappening, Oz?”
