Page 14 of Deadly Rescue
She didn’t have to be told twice, disappearing quickly into the sea of patrons exiting the building.
“The stairwell is this way.” Celina led the way to the end of the carpeted hall, stopping just before going through the side door that lead into the hotel’s parking lot. “Hold on a minute, I have got to get out of this thing.”
She ditched the suit, breathing a sigh of relief when it hit the floor.
“Better?” he smiled, enjoying the view of her long sleeved t-shirt and cargo pants even better.
She winked. “Much.”
Leo pushed the door to the stairwell open, and they all peered inside. “Looks like the steps are still intact down here.”
“Good.” Cooper tightened his vest, wincing when pain lanced through his injured shoulder.Fuck, that hurts.Celina was right, he probably should have had someone take a look at his injuries.
Too late now.
“What’s wrong with you?” Polly asked, having zeroed in on his pained expression.
“When the bomb went off, he pretended to be a human shield to protect me from falling debris,” Celina said dryly. “He got a couple of pretty good gashes.”
A quick sweep of Leo’s trained eyes confirmed Celina’s earlier prediction. “Looks like stitches are in your near future.”
Cooper shrugged it off, stepping into the stairwell. “I can get it checked out later. Right now, Sophie is our concern. Let’s see how far we can get before we hit a roadblock. Doc, have you ever done any mountain climbing?”
“You bet.” Leo grinned. “I appreciate a good adrenaline rush.”
“Of course you do,” Polly scowled, “Ugh. Adrenaline junkies.”
They started up the staircase, Cooper in the lead, the women in the middle, and Leo taking up the rear. For the most part the stairs were clear, save for some crumbling drywall and dust. It wasn’t until they neared the third floor that they hit their first barrier.
“It looks like the stairs have shifted.” Cooper assessed the stairwell overhead, taking in the large cracks spidering their way up the walls and beneath the braces that held the steps in place.
“Not just the stairs,” Celina pointed up. “The wall shifted too.”
Taking her lead, Cooper’s eyes swept over the surface, landing on the shafts of light that shone through several cracks in the wall. Shit. That wasn’t good. If the foundation was compromised, who knew how much weight that staircase could even hold. From this vantage point, it looked like the landing between the stairwells appeared stable. That would be their midpoint. If they could get to there and have it hold their weight, they stood a better chance of making it the rest of the way.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll go up first and test the weight of the stairs. Once I’m safely on that landing,” he pointed to the landing in between the third and fourth floor staircase, “Celina, you’ll be next, followed by Polly, then Leo. Everyone got it?”
Leo held up the first aid kit. “What do we do with this? Toss is up?”
“The ace wraps.” Taking the kit from his hands, Polly spread it out on the floor, pulling one of the ace wraps out and unrolling it. “Strap it on me like a papoose, my tablet too. Then I can bring it all up hands-free.”
Leo lifted an eyebrow, confused. “Like a what?”
“It’s one of those baby carrying things women like to wear, it straps the kid to their chest or back,” Cooper was quick to explain. When all eyes turned to him, he shrugged. “What? I have two kids. I know what it is.” In addition to their daughter, Cooper also had a son from a previous marriage who stayed with them on occasion. Admitting his knowledge of a papoose probably wasn’t the manliest thing he could have said, but he highly doubted his man card would get revoked for it.
“Nice.” Leo chuckled. While Polly layered the tablet and kit over her chest, Leo wrapped the ace wrap around her shoulders and upper body, securing it.
“That’ll work.” Cooper nodded approvingly.
“For not having any kids, I would say so,” Leo agreed. “Guess this means I won’t be a complete failure when I become a father. I can improvise.”
Some mixed emotions flashed across Polly’s face that Cooper couldn’t read. Women and babies. Celina winked at him and he wasn’t sure what that insinuated either, but he would no doubt find out later.
Right now, he needed to test the staircase and pray like hell it would hold their weight. His eyes found Celina’s, and he brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “You good?”
She smiled, but he easily read the worry in her eyes. “I’m good. Let’s do this.” Rising on tiptoe, she brushed her lips over his once, then twice more, before drawing back. “For good luck. Don’t get hurt.”
Cooper’s body ached to draw her back against him and put a little fire into that kiss, but he didn’t. Instead, he put a booted foot on the first step. “Here goes nothing.”
