Page 74 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

Red nodded again. “Do you remember what floor you got out on?”

“Three. We were stopped just below it. His…friends pried the doors open.”

“Not friends,” I muttered. “She was scared of them.”

“Which should tell you she’s innocent,” Fox retorted.

“Unless she was working with them because she had to.”

“I know that night was scary for you, so I won’t drag you through too much of it. I’ve been stuck in an elevator before, so I know what it’s like.”

“Again,” I said to Fox, “he’s sympathizing with her.”

“No, that’s a true story, man. I was there. Of course, he was hanging from the cables and I was laughing my ass off at him, but same shit.”

“That’s not at all like being stuck in the elevator,” I snapped.

“For this purpose, it is.”

“Which is why I said he was sympathizing with her,” I practically yelled, getting frustrated with the man. Then I heard something and leaned forward. It sounded like music was playing somewhere. “What is that?”

“Oh, I had the soundtrack fromOklahomaplay on repeat in the room since before she walked in.”

“For what purpose?”

He sat up, his chair settling flat on the ground. “To put her at ease, of course. I laid the groundwork for you. I got her comfortable and found something that would make her feel relaxed. She’s more likely to tell us what’s going on if she’s not ready to shit her pants.”

I tuned in again to Red. “So, just so I have an approximate on how hard the power outage hit, about what time was it when you got in the elevator?”

“Um…maybe ten o’clock?”

“Ten o’clock,” he muttered, going over his notes. “And how many floors did you go up?”

She frowned, not understanding the leading question. “Almost three.”

“So, you were in the basement when you got on the elevator.”

“Yes, I had just filled up my cart.”

He slowly looked up at her. Fox and I both leaned forward, finally getting somewhere with this woman.

“So, the man got on the elevator with you from the basement.”

Her mouth opened, but she didn’t say anything.

“Beth, there’s no entrance down there besides a fire exit. So, why were five men down there with you?”

“I didn’t say—”

“The man got on the elevator with you. You went up three floors. If he had joined you on a different level, you would have said the elevator stopped and he got on. Why were you hiding that from us?”

“I wasn’t,” she said quickly. “I just didn’t remember. I was scared and—”

“Because of the power outage, or because a large man got on the elevator with you, purposely leaving the rest of his group behind?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” I said quietly. “Still think she’s innocent?”

“Beth, you let those men into the building, didn’t you?”

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