24. Zoe #2
“I’m pretty sure that’s not true,” Quinn answered, seemingly lost in thought. “You know what I miss right now?”
“Hmm?”
“The sound of my parents arguing. Isn’t that weird?”
“Considering they sound like the Costanzas? Absolutely.” Her parents had the most annoying voices on the face of the planet, yet there was an odd comfort in hearing them argue.
“Maybe I should stop moving around so much,” she added thoughtfully. “You know, Scottie puts up with a lot. Maybe it’s time for me to stop.”
I sat up on my elbows, looking over at her admonishingly. “Are you kidding? Scottie leaves all the time on jobs. He risks his life every time he flies that plane. How many crashes has he been in now?”
She shrugged. “I know, but chasing volcanoes and studying rocks…I’m not as much in love with it as I used to be. And let’s face it, the time for running is long over.”
“You could become a professor at the university. It’s not that far away.”
“I suppose. But then I’d have to deal with students. I’m not sure I could handle that.”
“I think if I get out of here, I want to open my own film studio. I’m tired of making movies for other people, doing what they want instead of what I want.”
Sarah snorted in amusement. “Don’t tell the guys. You’ll never have control over your films again.”
“True. Oh God, Dash and FNG would take over. They’d ruin everything.”
“And you know they would want to be in them. You remember how bad Brock was in the last film you made? His good looks couldn’t make up for his lack of talent.”
“And Thumper would try to make every scene an emotional conflict,” I laughed. “What’s my character’s thought process?” I mocked.
“Well, if I get out of here, I’m having a Chicago dog,” Sarah sighed. “It’s been so long since I’ve had one. I miss them so much.”
I pushed up on my elbows again and glared at her. “That’s your big revelation? We’re stuck in an elevator, about to die, and you want a Chicago dog?”
“Hey, they’re really good, and we can’t all have amazing dreams to take over the world. Some of us have to settle for the simple things in life.”
“Like Chicago dogs,” I laughed.
“Well, they’re really good, and you can’t get them just anywhere. A lot of people screw them up,” she argued.
That was true. Maybe I needed to focus on the simple things. Like getting out of here and being able to see my kids again. “If I get out, I’m installing a huge tub in my bathroom and taking an hour-long bath every night.”
“Ooh, me too.” Sarah rolled to face me, her eyes lit up despite the darkness settling around us. “And locks on the doors so the kids can’t burst in and ask me where the ketchup is.”
“Right? And I’m going to schedule a spa day. My vagina is turning into a hairy beast.”
Quinn smacked me as she laughed. “Watch it. You’re still on camera.”
“Like anyone’s actually watching. Besides, it’s the truth. Maybe what we need is a little honesty for the people out there who lie about everything to seem perfect.”
“Like our supposed friends who seem to have the perfect life on social media?” Sarah laughed.
“Yes! How about this for an honest truth?” she said, sitting up to look directly into the camera.
“Women do not appreciate being groped every second of the day. Yes, we love for our husbands to let us know they love us, but geez, if I’m putting away the dishes, that is not the time to walk up behind me and grab my boobs! ”
“Or how about when you walk up to them to ask them a question?” I added. “It’s like they see you and automatically assume you’re there to get felt up. The hands go right to the boobs.”
“Or my vagina!” Quinn shouted. “Seriously, is there a sign on my forehead that says, If I walk up to you, grab my vagina? ”
“And just because I tell my husband I’m going to take a shower, that does not mean it was an invitation,” I huffed. “I swear, I tell Red that I’m going to take a shower, and he asks if I need help. Seriously? I’ve been taking a shower my entire life. I think I can handle this!”
“Yet, if you ask him to take out the garbage, he looks at you like that’s asking too much,” Quinn snorted. “But there is nothing worse than going to bed when you’re exhausted and he starts feeling you up.”
“Ugh! Yes! When I’m tired, the last thing I want is sex!
I mean, he always gets me worked up, but he wants to draw it out and make it all exhilarating, and the whole time, I’m thinking, I could get out BOB and take care of this in five minutes, and be asleep long before actual sex would have started for us! ”
The girls laughed along with me, but hey, it was the truth.
Sometimes, it was just faster to take care of it yourself.
A noise from above was barely audible over the laughter from my friends, but when I heard it, I silenced them, wondering if someone was here to rescue us or if the Shadow Government was here to finish us.
“Listen,” I hissed, straining to hear who was up there.
Muffled voices drew closer before a loud thump rattled the elevator. We all squealed as the box swung precariously, unsettling our former calm demeanors.
“This is it!” Harry laughed. “The big finale!”
I didn’t have the same enthusiasm as him. In fact, I was downright shaking, worried this was all about to come to a head for us. Two thumps sounded on the elevator and then a grate at the top shifted, revealing the darkness above.
I held my breath, terrified a gun was going to appear, killing us all instantly.
“Ladies,” a smooth voice said from above, one I didn’t recognize.
The backup lights finally flickered on, illuminating the man grinning down at us. “Sinner?” I gasped, relieved it was a friendly face. “What are you doing here?”
“Did someone call for a rescue party?” another person asked, shoving him aside.
My smile widened when I saw Cap staring down at us. “Oh, thank God!”
“Seriously? I didn’t get a welcome like that,” Sinner muttered.
“That’s because your name isn’t Cap. You’re not the captain, hence why you got the less-than-flattering welcome.”
“Hey, I just risked my life to come down here and get them out of an elevator shaft after hearing their desperate pleas online. If it weren’t for me, we wouldn’t even be here.”
“I’ll give you a medal when this is over,” Cap snapped.
“Sure, you’ll give me a medal after the fact,” Sinner grumbled. “But in the meantime, who’s the hero? It certainly isn’t me.”
“Can we focus on the job at hand?” Cap argued.
“Yes, like getting us out of here!” I shouted.
“I’ll have you know that if Freckles was with me, she would have given me credit.”
“What is it with you and my wife? Can I make it through one fucking job without you dragging her into shit?”
“You’re lucky I didn’t bring her with.”
“You’d be a dead man.”
“Hey!” Sarah shouted. “People are dangling above a dark, cavernous hole! Can we leave the arguing for later?”
“Why?” Sinner continued. “Because she likes going on adventures more with me?”
“That’s only because you let her blow up everything in sight.”
“Because blowing stuff up is more fun than being told to stay behind in the car!” Sinner yelled.
“Like anyone could ever tell Freckles to stay behind.”
“Well, you sure try hard enough to relegate her to the safety bus.”
“There is no safety bus!” Cap shouted at his friend.
Meanwhile, the rest of us were watching the argument like a ping-pong match, and Harry was chuckling at the banter. Someone had to put a stop to this if we had any hopes of getting out of here alive.
I let out a piercing whistle, holding my breath as the elevator groaned suddenly. We all sat stock-still until everything went silent.
“Will someone get us out of here before we plummet to our deaths!” Quinn demanded.
Cap and Sinner finally turned their attention back to us.
“Don’t worry. We’ve hooked up new cables. It’ll hold until we get you out,” Cap informed us.
“Where are we?”
“About two floors beneath the panic room. We’ll hoist you up there.”
“Ooh!” Sarah shouted, jumping to her feet. “Me first!”
She was holding out her hand, ready to move before the rest of us could even contemplate that we were about to get out of here.
Quinn and I made a step for her, shoving her up into the waiting arms of our rescuers, and then I did the same for Quinn while our cameraman and Harry, who was about to be fired, kept rolling.
“You know, this isn’t really the ending I was hoping for,” Harry muttered. “The last one ended with a bang.”
“Well, if you’re lucky, the cables will snap and you’ll get the ending you want. You just won’t be alive to watch it.”
He chuckled, pinching my cheek like I was a little kid. “You’re such a tease. You have something else planned, don’t you?”
Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Cap. “Get me the hell out of here.”
Jumping as high as my little body would go, I snatched Cap’s hand and let him haul me out of the elevator. I stumbled into Sinner’s arms, squeezing him tight. It felt so good to be held by strong arms.
“Alright, Zoe. Just remember, I’m taken.”
I slapped him on the chest, grinning at him. “Just get me out of here.”
“Right away.” He whistled to whoever was at the top, and then a harness was lowered for me. After getting me hooked up, I was hoisted up to the panic room where nearly everyone was waiting.
Cotton shoved through the crowd, and the moment I saw him, relief flooded me. “Oh, thank God. You’re down here!”
“Where else would I be?”
“I wasn’t sure if you would make it. Red would have killed me if anything had happened to you.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” he said matter-of-factly. “Red doesn’t hurt women.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you say it?”
There was no point in telling him it was just a saying. He didn’t understand things like that.
“I wouldn’t have gone down there. I don’t like heights. You would have died.”
I nodded with a smile. God, I loved this man. “It’s fine, Cotton.”
He frowned. “Not if you were dead. Then Red would have to bury you and your kids would be without a mother. Nothing would be fine.”
“You’re right,” I smiled. “But it’s all good now.”
I turned as the cameraman came up, followed by Harry. “Is that it?” Harry asked. “We’re rescued and it’s over?”
“Harry, we’re done filming.”
“But we can’t be! It’s not over! There are viewers waiting out there for an explosive ending!”
“Then I’m going to have to disappoint them. I left all my grenades behind.”
Frustrated, he turned away from me. “This is a horrible movie!”
Sarah tapped him on the shoulder, drawing his ire once more. “Um…here’s your wallet. I sort of took it while we were stuck down there.”
Harry stared at the wallet in his hands, confusion marring his face as he looked back at Sarah. “Why would you do that?”
She shrugged. “It’s a thing I do. By the way, you should get a new driver’s license photo. That one is horrible. Oh, and uh…I took ten dollars.” She turned, but then stopped and sighed, reaching into her pocket. “It was actually a hundred.”