Men like Shawn, who have no self-restraint, make it far too easy for people like me.
Pawns on a chess board.
Shawn skips behind Bailey into the elevator when the doors open. My signal weakens.
Oops.
I need to tap into the elevator’s control system—which is a different interface entirely.
My fingers clack on the keyboard, moving swiftly as I open a new tab.
When I get visuals again, I see Bailey getting a phone call.“What? She’s going into shock? No, I gave her the right dose! Okay. Okay, I’ll be right there.”
Bailey rushes out of the elevator just as the doors close on Shawn.
Bailey is bailing.
The irony.
I smile as I focus on my next task—getting control of the elevator system. It won’t take me long.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
“J.” Kelly’s voice startles me out of my thoughts.
She’s standing in front of me in the empty hallway. I retreated here after my transaction with Bailey.
“Kelly.” My voice is breathless with surprise. “W-what are you doing here?”
“I’m about to be discharged, but I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to you.”
“Oh.” My attention skitters to the laptop that has the elevator code sprawled out like an open book. Kelly doesn’t know code, but I still feel exposed. I twist the laptop away from her. “D-do you have to leave now? Did the doctor say it’s okay?”
“Shawn needs me.”
My lips turn down.He’s the one who put you in here. Screw him.But I can’t say any of that because I, technically, shouldn’t know what I know.
Plus there’s that very annoying statistic about battered women returning to their abusers at least seven times before they leave for good.
I don’t know if Kelly’s ever tried to get away from that scumbag, but I do know that her returning to Shawn now means she needs more strength to break free.
It’s a good thing I’m her friend and will be that strength for her.
“Kelly, you don’t have to go,” I say, keeping an eye on one specific piece of code—the elevator numbers.
As long as that keeps moving, Shawn is still inside the elevator.
But if it stops…
I have no idea how long he’ll be able to hold out with his claustrophobia. There’s a good chance he’ll exit the elevator soon, and I’ll miss my window.
“My husband can’t function without me.” Kelly tries to pass it off as a joke, but her lip’s too busted to laugh properly, and I know too much about her life to force a laugh out of pity.
