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“No. Do you?”
Uneasy laughter bursts from my throat. “I wish.”
“We’re not going that way,” he states and leads me to a big, round hole in the floor. “Look for these holes. They’re our escape hatches and we’re going to make our way back down.”
I give a shaky nod.
“Okay, hurry. I’m going to lower you down first.” He grabs my hips, yanks me forward and presses a quick, hard kiss against my lips. “You got this, sweetness.”
If we had more time, I’d kiss him back, but I’m too damn scared. Eric double checks the rope around my waist and gives it a tug.
“Just step down. I’ve got you.”
There’s no time to waste, so I close my eyes and step off the edge into thin air. I’m clinging to the rope and it goes taut, tightening around my middle, as Eric lowers me down to the level below. My feet hit the dirty floor and I look up to see Eric moving over the side, fingers gripping the edge, long body dropping through the hole and then letting go. He lands beside me in a crouch like some kind of superhero.
“C’mon,” he says, gaze scanning the floor for another hole. “Over there.”
We repeat the same stunt and I feel like I’m in an action movie. When my feet hit the floor below, I wait for Eric to drop down beside me. The elevator is up on the top floor, but it’s not going to take them long to figure out what happened.
After dropping down to the next floor, the elevator starts up again, now lowering, and there’s no way we can move faster. They’re onto us, and Eric hesitates before lowering me again. “Hold on,” he murmurs and we crouch down, waiting to see where they stop.
Watching through the skeleton of steel girders, we stay as low as possible, hiding behind a large drum. When the elevator stops at our floor, my stomach drops into my ass. “Shit,” I hiss. A quick glance over at Eric and I see a muscle flex in his jaw.How did they know we’re here?I wonder.
“Stay put,” Eric murmurs.
“What?” I grab his arm, panic flaring up inside of me.
“I’ll be right back.”
Do you trust me?His words echo in my head and I know he’s asking me to trust him again, right now at this very moment. And I do. With every fiber of my being.
With a soft sigh, I reluctantly let go and watch him sneak forward, circling the brutes that are headed straight toward me. I’m not feeling good about this at all and I know he told me to stay here, but I’m on the verge of bolting as the men keep drawing closer, seemingly focused on the big drum I’m hiding behind.
What should I do?I feel like a rat trapped in a maze, and I take a step back, gathering up the rope still tied around my waist. My foot snags on a bag of cement and I stumble, dropping some of it.Dammit!I just revealed my hiding spot.
“Over there!”
They’ve spotted me and I take off running, dragging rope behind me and darting around equipment. I’m trying to dodge back and forth to make a smaller target of myself, but I’m moving further and further away from the elevator with no actual plan or destination in mind. And that’s terrifying as the edge is coming closer and closer.
A scuffle erupts behind me and I skid to a halt and look over my shoulder to see Eric fighting with one of the men. As they throw punches, the other thug doesn’t even stop. He keeps charging straight toward me like I’m a red freaking cape and he’s a big, angry bull.
Spinning back around, I haul ass, determined to escape, and I forget about the rope trailing behind me until I’m yanked to a sharp stop and my legs go flying out from beneath me. With a yelp, I land hard on my ass and twist around as I’m suddenly being pulled backward.Ohmygod.
Fumbling with the knot around my waist, I tug hard, struggling to untie it as Raging Bull pulls me to him.No, no, no.Hand over hand, he drags me closer. The good news is his gun is holstered. The bad news is he’s way stronger and I can’t stop myself despite digging my heels in.
At the very last second, the knot around my waist loosens and unravels. Raging Bull goes flying backward with a curse, the rope flying with him, and I scramble up and race over to what looks like a partially-completed elevator shaft.
On the other side of the shaft, I spot a ladder that extends almost all the way down to the first floor. It’s not complete, but that’s my escape. Only problem is I need to jump across the shaft and I’m not sure if I can make it. And then when I reach the final rung, I’m not exactly sure what I’ll do, but this is my only option.
Sucking in a deep breath, I look back and Raging Bull is running toward me.Do it,I tell myself. Gritting my teeth, I take a couple of steps back then make a running leap into thin air.
Focused on the metal rungs of the ladder and not on the bottom of the shaft seven or so floors below, I fly across the gap, arms reaching out, praying I can grab onto a rung. My jump is a bit too short, though, and I start to fall.
Luckily, my momentum is still traveling forward and, even though I drop a floor lower than I planned, my long fingers on the end of my long-ass arms manage to grab hold of a rung and I slam into the ladder with an oomph. The wind is knocked from my lungs and I gasp as the entire thing shakes and vibrates.
Holy shit, I actually made it!Just like John McClane inDie Hard.Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!
But there’s no time to congratulate myself and I start moving down the ladder as quickly as possible. Up above me, Raging Bull doesn’t follow. Instead, he pulls out his gun and starts shooting.
