Page 43 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

He turned back and looked at me, a sad look on his face.

“Please,” I whispered. It may have been quiet, but the plea in my voice was evident.

Sighing, he bent down and shoved his hand through the opening.

“What are you doing, man?”

“I’m not going to leave her in the elevator,” Seth said over his shoulder.

When he turned back to me, I knew something else was going on, but I wasn’t about to question it when I finally had a way out. After I escaped this death trap, I’d walk away and leave them to their business.

I reached up and clasped my hand with his. I wasn’t expecting him to suddenly lift me so easily. I scrambled to grab onto something, relieved when I laid my elbow on the top of the elevator. But the pressure was too much for my injured shoulder and I cried out, nearly blacking out from the pain.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he pulled me the rest of the way out.

I nodded, biting down on my lip to keep from crying. I knew with time the pain would ease. “Let’s just get out of here.”

I looked up where the elevator doors were open just a few feet above us. In the darkness stood the other three men, and they were staring at me like they needed to get rid of me. I found myself pressing my body closer to Seth’s. Better the devil you know, and all that. His hand rested on my lower back, then shifted to my hip as he gave a slight squeeze. I didn’t normally like men touching me so freely, but in the presence of the rest of these men, it was a comfort more than anything else.

“Let’s get moving. We have shit to do,” the other man on the elevator said.

He was the first out as he easily hauled himself up through the doors. Seth guided me over, but I couldn’t go up to those other men alone. I needed Seth there first. Maybe that was insane, but I felt more comfortable with him, and the rest of them seemed…harder and more dangerous.

“I’ll go up first,” he said, as if sensing my unease. “I’ll pull you up.”

I nodded in the harsh light of the flashlights and waited for him to get up there. When he turned back to me, I had a creepy feeling that this might not end well for me. None of these men were friendly, and I got the distinct impression that they would like nothing more than to get rid of me, whether that meant leaving me in the elevator or disposing of my body.

“Give me your hand.”

I walked forward, but realized at the last minute how useless I was. With my shoulder injured, I was going to have a hell of a time getting out. “Um…my shoulder…”

“It’s okay. I’ll be careful.”

Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand to meet his and allowed him to start pulling up my dead weight. I winced at the pulling on my shoulder, even though it was just dangling there. One of the other men reached for me, his arms wrapping around my arm to help. I cried out as he barely touched me, and he immediately backed off. When I was finally on my knees outside the elevator, I scrambled away from them, shoving myself against the wall as I cradled my injured arm.

They all stared at me strangely, but it was Seth who finally walked over. “We just need to grab a few things. After that, we can get you out of here.”

“I can take the stairs,” I said numbly, just wanting to get away from them.

They all exchanged looks, then stared at me again. “It’s best if you come with us,” one of them said. “If something happened to you, no one would know it.”

I didn’t want to go with, but it didn’t seem like they were giving me a choice. I swallowed hard and shoved to my feet. If I complied, I should be fine. And Seth seemed to genuinely care about me in some way, so as long as I stuck by him, I should be fine.

The leader walked down the hall, leaving us all to follow. They went to a research lab, opening the doors with no problem since the power was out. Seth stayed with me outside while the others went in. I studied his badge a little more closely now that he was holding a flashlight. It looked exactly like mine.

“You said you work in the Chicago office?”

“Research division,” he clarified. “We came specifically to pick up a project, but our flight arrived later than expected, and we’re supposed to return on the midnight flight,” he said smoothly.

I nodded and glanced to the window at the end of the hall. That’s when I noticed the whole city was dark. It wasn’t just our building. “I don’t think you’re going anywhere. Look,” I pointed outside.

He looked out the window and cursed. “Well, that’s going to make it difficult to leave.”

“What will you do?” I asked.

He thought about it a moment. “Maybe drive to another city. Whatever caused this blackout, I have no idea how long it will take for them to restore power. And our project is time sensitive.”

I nodded, feeling more at ease by the moment. Maybe I had them all wrong. If they were working on a time sensitive project, it could be that it was classified, and they were worried about me knowing. I wouldn’t say a word. I wasn’t about to draw more attention to myself.

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