CHAPTER TWO
It was after seven before Everest finally looked up from her computer screen. The rest of the floor was dark, doors locked and no one paying any attention to the fact that she was still there. She was invisible.
At sixty-one, she was one of the ‘old-timers’ in the organization, although she prided herself on looking years younger.
She always dressed professionally, her hair fell below her shoulders in soft, brown waves, her lips were still full and pink, and thanks to a lot of expensive skincare, her skin was still void of wrinkles for the most part.
Lately, it seemed all the organization hired were kids right out of college who looked beautiful but could barely find their way to the bathroom and demanded unreasonable things.
Some were smart and learned fast. She’d admit that much. But like Colt and Jordan today, it was clear they had no job-related skills. Skills? Yes. Job-related? Not hardly.
She shoved her laptop in her bag, tossing it over her shoulder. Her feet were killing her. She’d worn a pair of navy pin-striped pants today with a classic white cotton button down. Around her neck was a paisley scarf, tied neatly to the side. She was professional and didn’t expose a damn thing.
It seemed to take forever for the elevator to get to floor ten and when it did, she stepped inside and felt the jump. Shaking her head she pushed the button for the main floor and rested her head against the back wall.
When it suddenly stopped, she waited for the doors to open and someone to enter but nothing happened.
“No,” she muttered. “Not today. Please not today.”
She pressed a few buttons and nothing, then the elevator lurched again. Grabbing her stomach, she gasped, shaking her head.
“Shit!” She pushed the alarm button and then took the emergency phone to call for help.
“Security.”
“John? It’s Everest from floor ten. I’m stuck in elevator three.”
“Oh, crap. Sorry, Everest. Let me call the elevator company and see what we can do. Just sit tight.”
Right, she thought. What else was she supposed to do? Fifteen minutes later the phone rang.
“John?”
“Hey, Everest, the elevator company can’t fix it remotely and don’t know when they can get here. We’ve got the fire department coming down here to get you out, hun. Just hold tight.”
“Okay. Okay, thanks John.”
It was another ten minutes before she heard voices outside the door.
“Miss? Everest? This is Captain Mike Bennett with the New Orleans Fire Department. Are you okay?” His voice was deep and thick with a New Orleans drawl.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Embarrassed but fine.”
“No need for you to be embarrassed. We’re going try to pry the door open and you’ll have to crawl through the opening. It’s not elegant but it works.”
“That’s fine,” she called back.
As they began to pry open the door, Everest felt a sudden shift in the car. She let out an involuntary squeal and then heard the men speaking rapidly, talking about going through the elevator shaft to tie off the car.
“Hey? Hey, is everything okay?”
“Little glitch, Everest. I’m coming down through the top. Hold tight, hun.” Normally Everest would tell a strange man she wasn’t his ‘hun’ but right now she didn’t give a damn.
When the elevator lurched again, the low murmurs got louder.
“Move it! Get this fucking thing tied off,” yelled the voice of the man she’d spoken to. “Carpenter? Make sure we’ve got EMS on the way.”
EMS? God, did they think she would be hurt?
Suddenly the panel above her opened and a handsome face with big blue eyes smiled down at her.
“Everest, I assume?” he grinned.
“Please tell me you’re Captain Bennett.”
“I am,” he said sliding into the elevator. He had a harness around his thighs and bottom, and an extra clip and harness ready for her.
“Wh-why are we doing this?” she asked.
“There’s a little problem,” he said holding the harness for her step into. “Don’t worry, we’re going to get you out of here.”
The elevator began to lurch one more time, the drop making her grab her stomach and gasp.
“Cap! Now!” yelled a man from above.
“Let’s go hun, we gotta move.”
He hooked her to his harness and yanked the cable as someone began pulling them upward. Just as they cleared the opening, there was a thunderous sound of gears and metal scraping as the elevator fell to the bottom floor.
“Oh, my God,” whispered Everest.
“All good,” smiled the handsome firefighter. “No problems at all.”
They continued to pull them up via the cable, finally reaching the doors to the floor above them. Everest didn’t even realize they were only on the seventh floor. With the three levels below for garage parking, she would have never survived had she been in that elevator.
When the team pulled them through the open doors, he gently settled her on her feet. Everest’s knees immediately gave way.
“Whoa, whoa,” he smiled. “Let’s take it slow. That was a lot even for me.”
“I could have, I could have…”
“But you didn’t,” he said calmly brushing back her dark hair. She looked up at him and nodded with a soft smile.
“Thank you. Thank you, so much,” she said hugging him. He laughed, patting her back.
“My pleasure. Let’s rest here a minute and then we’ll walk down.”
He sat with her on the cold marble floor for almost twenty minutes, then stood, taking her hand.
“We’re taking the stairs,” he smiled. “Use me as support.”
She couldn’t do anything except nod at him. In one hand she held her heels, in the other, his fingers held so tightly she thought she might break them. When the door to the bottom floor opened, she’d never been so happy to see John in all her life.
“Miss Everest! Are you okay?” he asked.
“I am, John. Thanks to all these wonderful men.”
“Have a seat for a minute,” said the fireman. “The EMT’s are just going to make sure you’re okay.” He walked toward his team and frowned, giving a nod to them.
“The cable was tampered with. It wasn’t frayed, someone cut that shit. It was hanging by a thread. They would have had to have known she was the last one here or they didn’t give a damn who they killed,” said one of his men.
“Okay,” he nodded. “Investigators and NOPD on their way?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m sorry,” said Everest walking toward them. “Is it okay if I call a taxi or an Uber?”
“No,” he smiled. “I’ll take you back to your house.”
“In that?” she frowned pointing to the fire truck.
“Smoothest ride in town,” he laughed. “Come on.”
Once she was settled in, he made sure she had a headset in order to be able to hear him. Their normal comms were on radio frequency five but he switched hers to two so she could only hear him.
She gave the driver the address and leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes. Then it started. She began to shake violently and he moved closer to her.
“Hey. It’s okay. Look at me. Look up at me, Everest. It’s all okay. You’ve had quite a shock. This is normal.”
“I-I heard the man. The cable was cut,” she said sniffling.
“We’ll worry about that later. For now, just relax and lay your head on my shoulder.”
It was the last thing she remembered before they woke her in front of her home.
“I can’t believe I fell asleep,” she said wiping her face.
“Adrenalin. It does it every time. Are you going to be okay?” She nodded, smiling at him. “Take a few days off. You’ll need it.”
“Thank you. All of you,” she said nodding. “I mean it.”
She opened the door to her small home, the timers for her lights already illuminating the living room. They watched until they heard the locks engage, then looked at their captain.
“Shut the fuck up,” he mumbled.
“She’s beautiful, Cap,” smirked one of the men. “And if we’re right. She’s in danger.”