Chapter 22
Heather didn’t know how Scott was still moving. She didn’t have a watch, but knew it had to have been hours since he’d started filing down the piece of metal in his hand. Every now and then he’d attempt to insert it in the lock of the cuff, but it wasn’t the right size yet. And he wasn’t saying it, but she had a feeling he wasn’t even sure if it would ever be able to open the lock.
The chatter she’d been providing had dwindled as time moved on. Lack of food was making her weak, though the fact she was standing with her arms above her head for close to, what, maybe ten hours, might have something to do with it too. But damned if she’d complain. Scott had been doing far more.
They’d been using the flashlight on and off, trying to save the batteries. The light kept growing dimmer and dimmer, though. There was a perfectly good industrial-strength flashlight sitting in between them, but it wasn’t close enough for either one of them to get.
“Do you need a break?”
His grunt let her know the metal wasn’t the right size yet. “I need this fucking piece of shit to actually fit in the lock.”
Before she could apologize, she bit her lip. It wasn’t either of their faults, certainly not more so than the other. If only she could do more. Scott’s hands were covered in blood and it wasn’t difficult to figure out why. Every now and then he’d wince as he rubbed the metal, and his hands, against the wall. They must be scraped raw.
“When we get out of this, I want to take you to this amazing steak house in New York. My treat. The meat literally melts in your mouth and you can cut it with a butter knife.”
“God, that sounds wonderful right about now. I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Then it’s a date.” Didn’t she wish it could be a date? Not some silly dream cooked up to keep their spirits from disintegrating.
“Holy shit, it fits,” he yelled. She turned the light onto his hand. The sharpened piece of metal did indeed slide into the cuff lock. It had taken forever to get this to work.
“Now you simply need to pick the lock. You said you knew how.”
“I do, but each lock is different and my hands are at a weird angle. It might take a while.”
“I think we still have a few hours. No rush.” She tried to sound casual, but the fact was even if they got the manacles off they still needed to get through the wall. How long did brick mortar take to dry? Where was Google when you needed it?
“Okay, yeah, I think I’ve…yes, I did it.”
Scott’s left hand suddenly swung free and he turned to face the wall. Shaking his arm, he clenched and unclenched his fist then dropped his forehead to the brick. “Give me a minute. My shoulder feels like it’s been dislocated.”
“I know the feeling,” she whined, impatient to be out of these torture devices.
“Sorry, yeah, let me get this other one undone.”
Luckily that took less than a minute. In another second he was in front of her and she could have kissed him. Desperately wanted to kiss him. And so many other things that couldn’t be thought of while they were running down the clock.
Lifting his hands to hers, he suddenly stopped. She looked at him quizzically.
“You know I always had a fantasy of you chained to a wall and me having my way with you.” A smirk grew on his face as his body pressed into hers and a hand skimmed her neck.
Grabbing the bolt, she hauled her legs up, wrapping them around his waist. His eyebrows went up and the grin grew larger.
“Guess now might not be the right time, huh?” Still he pushed closer, his growing erection apparent.
“Get us out of here and I promise you can chain me up and do whatever you want with me.”
“Promise? I might need a kiss to seal the deal.”
She pulled him closer with her legs, their mouths clinging to each other. Squeezing him tighter, she ordered, “Now get these undone.”
Efficient as always, he had her hands free in no time and she practically fell into his arms. The strength in her legs had disappeared, so Scott held her and lowered to the ground with her. As they leaned against the wall, he kissed her hair.
“Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said, skimming his lips over her cheek. “We still aren’t out of the woods.”
Resting against him, she felt safer than she had in a while. His heart beat quickly and she wondered if hers was matching his beat for beat. Because of their situation or because of their proximity to each other?
“Let’s get a little more light in here,” he said and reached shaky hands for the industrial flashlight then clicked it on.
“It was nice of Judge Stokinger to leave us that,” she snapped, her sarcasm in overdrive. “Too bad he didn’t leave my phone.”
As she leaned closer, Scott shivered and his arms tightened.
“Are you all right? You’ve been going this whole time. You’re allowed to take a break for a while.”
His gaze wandered around the room, flitting from surface to surface, almost like he was afraid of something. Who wouldn’t be with a bunch of dead people in boxes covered with explosives in a room you couldn’t get out of?
“Tired.” His muscles shook and she reached up to cup his face. The stubble on his cheeks had grown since this morning and scratched her fingers. It felt good. Her hands had been too immobile for too long.
“I guess you deserve to know.”
“Know what?” Please don’t let him tell her there was no way they’d get out. Hope was the only thing keeping her from a total freak-out.
“I have this little problem. I’ve been trying to hold it together all day, and with the frustration of trying to get my boot off and the metal filed down, it’s been bearable.”
“What problem? Anything I can help you with?”
“Claustrophobia. Never had it as a kid but something that happened in Afghanistan kind of brought it on. I can usually do elevators because it’s only a short ride but any length of time and it starts sneaking in. Like when I was locked up at the county jail.”
“What can I do to help?” Picking up his hand, she kissed the bloody, scraped knuckles.
“Just let me hold you right now. We’ll get to working on that wall soon enough.”
“Yeah, my legs need a break anyway.”
With his arms around her and her head resting on his chest, she actually nodded off. Scott shifting under her woke her up.
“Oh, sorry. I guess I was tired.”
“No worries. Gave me a little time to rest. I’m going to try and get through that wall. It’s been a while but maybe that concrete hasn’t solidified yet.”
“How long does it usually take?
“Depends on what kind he used. If he used fast-setting we’ll have our work cut out for us. It’s already been…” He glanced at his watch. “Over thirteen hours.”
“No wonder I nodded off. I didn’t sleep well the last few days.”
Getting to his feet, he mumbled, “Me neither.”
As he flashed the light around and picked up the crowbar, she thought about why he hadn’t slept. Could she surmise that it was their break-up or was she being self-centered? He could have been worried about getting the building renovations going again.
Scott moved to the offending wall and prodded in between the new bricks. The crowbar scratched the material, but it didn’t look like it was easily scraping away.
“Must have used Quickrete. That sets pretty fast.”
“So we can’t get through?”
Lowering the crowbar, he touched her face and kissed her softly on the lips. She wanted to stay there forever.
“I never said that. It’ll simply take us a bit longer to get through. We’ve still got five hours. Piece of cake.”
“Cake, sure. I’ll make you one of those too, when we get out of here. Notice I’m saying when not if.”
“Good girl.” He kissed her again then went back to the wall, this time jabbing the end of the tool harder into the wall.
“Can I do anything to help?”
Looking around, Scott focused on the piece of metal he’d used for the cuffs. “You can take that and run it back and forth over the brick seams. It might loosen the new mortar. And can you set up the large flashlight on one of the coffins so it shines over here?”
“Sure.” Picking up the flashlight, she walked toward the coffins. She wasn’t sure which was scarier, the bodies in them or the large amounts of explosives all around them.
“This isn’t going to go off if I accidentally trip over it, is it?”
Scott stopped and stepped toward her, reaching for the clay. “No, C-4 is a stable explosive. It only goes off with extreme heat and a shock wave from a detonator.” He pulled the mechanical device from the one on top of the wooden boxes and she covered her head then ducked.
Doing the same thing to the rest, he chuckled. “I’m disarming them. They can’t go off if they don’t have the detonator.”
“That’s all you need to do? Take that thing out?”
He nodded, set the flashlight so the beam was toward the wall, and walked back to attack it again.
Feeling foolish, she took up her metal piece and dug in. Her mind whirred with so many things. Didn’t they say your life flashed before your eyes when you were about to die? It was all swirling past, the good and the bad.
“I know my mom said things to you at the party.” She had to get this off her chest before they…got out. Yeah, got out. She wouldn’t think it would end any other way.
“Your mom is always quite pleasant and the perfect hostess.”
“Of course she is. That doesn’t mean she didn’t say anything that was cruel or inappropriate in a veiled sort of way. Right?”
The crowbar dug into the wall more viciously than before. Yup, Mom had said something to him. “What’d she say?”
Pausing for a moment, he glanced at her then went back to hacking. “She simply pointed out that you expected a certain quality of life, and that a mere carpenter would never be able to provide it for you. I could hardly disagree with her. Thousands of dollars for a dress or shoes is a little beyond my budget.”
“That hag. She didn’t tell you I borrowed the dress and shoes. Which I did because spending that kind of money is ridiculous when I’m trying to build a new house. And I sure as hell am not going to let her buy me anything. That would be selling my soul. It’s not worth the price.”
“What would she expect in return?”
“My complete obedience. Mostly in marrying someone of her choosing. She honestly means well and hopes I’ll find someone like my Dad, but she doesn’t understand that all of the guys she picks out are complete jerks.”
“Like Clif?” The crowbar worked violently now.
“I told you Clif was an ass.”
“Hm, yes, he certainly did like yours, Sugar Tush.”
Brandishing the sharp metal close to his face, she shook her head. “Don’t ever call me that. Or I will cut you.”
“Welcome back, Xena.”
“You have nothing to worry about with Clif. The whole time I dated him I was bored and annoyed. The man is so into himself it isn’t funny.”
“Apparently he’s into the freckle you have on your inner thigh too. Gave me some good advice if I wanted to use it.”
“You discussed having sex with Cliff?” How could he?
“No, I have no desire to have sex with Clif. But Clif still obviously thinks about having it with you.” He tilted his head. “Or with your sister, even though she’s skinny.”
“Ew, Charlotte wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole.”
“Charlotte has good taste.” He went back to pounding on the wall.
“Charlotte can be a little snobby at times, like my mom. But she also means well. And she likes to buck authority, in this case what my mom wants. It takes a lot of the pressure off me.”
“Your dad seems like a good guy.”
“Yeah, he’s awesome and he loves my mom, warts and all. He doesn’t care how much money someone has or what their last name is. If a person has a good work ethic and integrity, he’s okay. That’s why he likes you.”
Scott shook out his hand and looked at her. “He does, huh? Enough to go head to head with your mom?”
“Maybe.”
The only sound out of his mouth was a slight hum as he hammered away at the wall. It didn’t look like anything was happening. Of course it had taken hours to get out of the chains, but they had finally done it.
They stopped to rest alternately, each using the crowbar because it seemed to do a better job. At about two in the morning they’d managed to clear out a few of the new bricks. Still nowhere near large enough for either of them to fit through. And it had taken hours to get that far.
As Scott took his turn and she leaned against the wall, she blurted out, “I wanted you to fight for me.”
“What? I’m fighting pretty darned hard right now, don’t you think?”
She ran her hand down his arm as he stopped pummeling the wall. “I mean at the party. Or in general. It seems like you gave up too easily. I know Clif was an ass and my mom was hardly subtle in her thoughts on blue-collar workers, but I wanted to be wanted and fought for. I figured if you wanted me enough, you’d fight for me.”
Gazing down at the floor, his shoulders rose and fell. When he looked up, his face held regret. “You’re right, I should have. I was letting my experience with Patrice color this relationship. It hurt when she blew me off so easily and I didn’t want to let it get that far so it would hurt even more when you finally left me.”
“And what if I never did?”
“Good question. One I should have asked myself.”
Lifting her hands to his shoulders, she said, “And I should have made it more apparent how I felt. That you were an important part of my life, and not only as a business partner or friend. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”
He shrugged, sliding his thumb down the side of her face. “Maybe you didn’t know how I felt. We both should have been more open. Talked about it.”
“But our relationship is still fairly new, so I guess you were waiting to see how it panned out. Like I was.”
Nodding, he kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave back all he was giving her. This was what she needed. His touch, his desire, his imminent need for her.
“As much as I’d love to continue this, we’ve got a bit of a time crunch,” he said, easing her back. One last quick kiss and he picked up the crowbar and began hacking away again.
“I didn’t fight for you at the party, princess, but I’ll do my damned best right now.”
She rested a bit more then got back to scraping cement. When three-thirty rolled around, she dropped the metal she was working with and whimpered. “This is no use. We’ve only got a few more bricks out and there isn’t much time left. It won’t work.”
“We’ve got half an hour. If we both keep at it we should be able to get a few more out. Enough to squeeze you through.”
“Squeeze me through? Then what happens to you? I simply leave you here to blow up?”
His eyes clouded over and he grasped her arms. “You go and get help.”
“And what if we only have a few minutes? I run for help and you blow up with the rest of the bodies.”
“I already disarmed the C-4 down here. It won’t explode.”
“But the rest of the building will. Then it all rains down on you and it takes us three weeks to dig you out. Oh, but you’ll be crushed by the building falling on top of you.”
“I promised I’d get you out of here, princess. And I will.” He went back to whacking away at the wall with a vengeance.
“I’m not leaving you here, Scott. I won’t do it.” Moving up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his back. “Why don’t we have some wild, amazing sex and then we can really go out with a bang?”
He chuckled and turned around.
After kissing him a few more times, she said, “Could you knock me over the head, though, so I don’t actually feel the explosion?”
“You’re too much. I love that about you.”
How much should she read into that? He loved it about her. Did he love her? They hadn’t ever said the words. Was it too early to say them? They’d known each other for years.
“You know once the explosion goes off, this wall will all come down. Too bad it’ll blow us up.”
Scott froze and stared at her. “Oh, God, you are brilliant.”
His eyes darted around the room and he moved toward the wooden boxes.
“I’m glad you’re finally acknowledging my brilliance, but what did I say to convince you of this?”
Picking up a block of the claylike substance he said, “Why didn’t I think of this before? I can use this to blow a hole in the wall.”
* * * *
Heather stared at him like he had six heads. “Won’t that kill us too?”
Scott ripped the paper off the explosive and began to pull it apart. He needed the right amount.
“Not if I don’t use the whole thing. A smaller amount might punch a hole in the wall large enough for both of us to get through.”
“And the explosion won’t hurt us?” Her expression was doubtful. She had a right to be concerned. He had doubts as well.
Moving toward the coffins, he began to shove them toward the back wall. Luckily, the judge had already stacked them into a few neat piles. Hoping to get the most bang for his buck?
“What are you doing?” she asked, but began helping him push anyway.
“Building a little wall to protect us when this stuff blows.”
“We’ll be safe behind these? They’re only made of wood. And bones.”
“If I use the right amount, sure, we should be.” Once the coffins were in place, he ripped into the C-4, trying to remember blast waves and velocity and shit.
“And do you know the right amount?’
“Well, Keith was the explosives expert. He’d be able to get it right, no problem. I might not have paid as close attention to all that. My job was transportation. Confident I can blow a hole in that wall.”
“So, too much, we still blow up. Or too little and the wall doesn’t move.”
“Yeah, that sums it up well enough. If I remember right, a block the size of a potato could bring down a typical house. And you’d be fine if you were standing fifty feet away.”
“Um, Einstein, do I need to point out to you this room is barely twelve feet long?”
“I know, I know. If I place it on the outside of the wall we might not get hit with as much of the blast or shrapnel.” Pulling more of the clay substance off, he stuck it through the small opening they’d managed. “Maybe.”
Now to set the time correctly. Moving toward the flashlight they’d set up, he pressed the buttons and decided on one minute. It would give him enough time to get behind the caskets and cover Heather. He needed to protect her at all costs.
“I think I’ve got it. Get behind the boxes and crouch down in a ball with your back toward this wall.”
“You’re coming back here too, right?”
Turning his head, he raised an eyebrow. “No, I thought I’d stand in front of the blast wave. Of course I’m coming back there. Go.”
She did as told and for once didn’t argue. God, he hoped this worked.
“If anything happens to me but you’re fine, you need to go get help. Don’t sit around here trying to get me out. Do you understand?”
Her head poked up from behind the coffins. “What are you saying? Why would something happen to you and not me?”
“It won’t. We’ll both be fine. But if I set this thing wrong it could go off before I get back there. It won’t, but it could.”
“Scott.” Her eyes filled with tears and her lower lip trembled as she took a step toward him.
Meeting her halfway, he kissed her beautiful lips. “I’ll be fine. Just promise me.”
“Okay. Leave you to rot and go get help.”
Damn, she was something else. As soon as she was down, he set the timer, shoved it into the C-4 and hightailed it behind the boxes. Wrapping his body around hers, he waited. Had he used too much? Not enough? No, he definitely used enough. Only a few more seconds. Did he have any last things he wanted to say in case he didn’t make it?
“Princess?”
“Mm,” the sound came out muffled. Almost time.
“God, I love you.”
“You—”
The explosion roared through the small space, the sound echoing in his ears. Debris rained down around them. Bits of wood and bone and probably parts of the wall filled the air, swirling and choking him with dust. He curled closer around Heather as his back was pummeled, protecting her from the backlash of the explosion. As the soot and grime settled, he slowly released his grip on her. They were still alive.
Easing back, he pulled Heather up. “Everything still attached?”
“I think so. You said—aah!” She pointed to a detached foot that rested near her thigh. A skeletal foot.
“Come on, let’s check how we did.” Kicking aside the debris, his breath released when he saw a much larger hole in the wall than had been there. Larger than when they’d first gotten here too. Perfect. Glancing at his watch, his heart tripped.
“Ten minutes until the rest of them go off. Let’s get out of here.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her along and half-shoved her through the hole. He picked up the flashlight then followed.
“Up the stairs and outside. Get away from the building and see if you can find someone with a phone to call the cops.”
As they got to the basement level, she whirled around. “Why are you telling me to do this? Where are you going to be?”
“I’m not letting this building go without a fight. I’ve got ten minutes and if I can disarm any of these bombs, then I plan to do that. Now go.”
He ran along the basement flinging aside wood and soon found the first bomb. Ripping the detonator out and tossing it aside, he raced on. Heather blocked his way.
“Why the hell aren’t you gone yet?”
“This is my building too. No way I’m letting you risk your life for it if I’m not willing to.”
“I don’t want you to risk your life, princess. I want you to be safe.”
“Too bad. You pull out the detonator. That’s all?”
God, this woman was insufferable and so damn stubborn. Wasn’t that what he loved about her though?
“Holy shit. Fine.”
They ran around the basement finding only three bombs then sprinted up to the first floor.
“I’ll head up to three and four while you do one and two. But don’t take too long. We only have a few minutes left.”
Nodding, she sprinted off and he dashed up the stairs. He found three bombs on that floor, but the time was almost gone. His concern for Heather was far more than his concern for the building, so he rushed past the second floor, briefly checking if she was still there. Nothing. Not on the first either, and his glance out the window didn’t show her out there. Damn, had she gone up to the fourth?
He sped back up the stairs, the two bombs on this floor sitting out in the open. There was nothing to hide them behind up here. Pulling out the first, he started for the second when flashing lights in the detonator caught his attention.
Shit. Out of time. He turned to run but the explosion threw him across the room and then everything went black.