Page 89 of Mountain Security

Alex

No.

No fucking way.

Tendrils of smoke wisped from under the door, making his eyes itch.

Yvette’s inside.

Panic filled him for a breath or two. It took all his training and concentration to force himself back.

He ran his hand along the side of the heavy wooden door. It was unfortunately solid-looking, but at least it swung away from him.

Alex had never been inside the women’s bathroom, but from its position and location, he imagined it was a mirror image of the one he’d been using on the other side.

A windowless bathroom.

A death trap in case of a fire.

He had to get her outnow.

He’d already fired off messages to his team to call the fire department. But he wasn’t about to wait. Already her voice had sounded much fainter than he liked.

He breathed a sigh of relief to know she was out of the way of the door.

Time to start kicking.

Alex aimed his foot at the spot right above the lock and kicked hard, slamming the heel of his boot onto the door.

He’d been hoping for a loud crack, but didn’t let the resulting dull thud faze him.

He raised his heel and struck again. Then again.

Inside, Yvette gave a loud whimper.

“Stay down, Yvette!” Alex shouted.

He breathed in, applying all his force to the next kick. Finally, he heard a cracking sound.

Yes.

His next kick resulted in a splintering sound.

The sound of a frame starting to break.

One more kick and the door fell open. Alex staggered back as the smoke hit him. He took a deep breath before running into the bathroom.

She said left.

Unable to see anything, he found her by touch, and pulled on her arms, dragging her towards the broken door.

Outside, he could breathe again. He picked her up clumsily and half-carried, half-dragged her down the corridor, to where the air was clean again. She hung limp and unmoving in his arms.

No.

God, no.

Alex’s phone rang. He dropped Yvette’s body down as gently as he could and picked it up.

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