“Let’s get a little more light in here,” he said and reached shaky hands for the industrial flashlight thenclicked it on.
“It was nice of Judge Stokinger to leave us that,” she snapped, her sarcasm in overdrive. “Too bad he didn’t leave my phone.”
As she leaned closer, Scott shivered and hisarms tightened.
“Are you all right? You’ve been going this whole time. You’re allowed to take a break for a while.”
His gaze wandered around the room, flitting from surface to surface, almost like he was afraid of something. Who wouldn’t be with a bunch of dead people in boxes covered with explosives in a room you couldn’t get out of?
“Tired.” His muscles shook and she reached up to cup his face. The stubble on his cheeks had grown since this morning and scratched her fingers. It felt good. Her hands had been too immobile for too long.
“I guess you deserve to know.”
“Know what?” Please don’t let him tell her there was no way they’d get out. Hope was the only thing keeping her from a total freak-out.
“I have this little problem. I’ve been trying to hold it together all day, and with the frustration of trying to get my boot off and the metal filed down, it’sbeen bearable.”
“What problem? Anything I canhelp you with?”
“Claustrophobia. Never had it as a kid but something that happened in Afghanistan kind of brought it on. I can usually do elevators because it’s only a short ride but any length of time and it starts sneaking in. Like when I was locked up at the county jail.”
“What can I do to help?” Picking up his hand, she kissed the bloody, scraped knuckles.
“Just let me hold you right now. We’ll get to working on that wall soon enough.”
“Yeah, my legs need abreak anyway.”
With his arms around her and her head resting on his chest, she actually nodded off. Scott shifting under her woke her up.
“Oh, sorry. I guess I was tired.”
“No worries. Gave me a little time to rest. I’m going to try and get through that wall. It’s been a while but maybe that concrete hasn’t solidified yet.”
“How long does it usually take?
“Depends on what kind he used. If he used fast-setting we’ll have our work cut out for us. It’s already been…” He glanced at his watch. “Over thirteen hours.”
“No wonder I nodded off. I didn’t sleep well thelast few days.”
Getting to his feet, he mumbled, “Me neither.”
As he flashed the light around and picked up the crowbar, she thought about why he hadn’t slept. Could she surmise that it was their break-up or was she being self-centered? He could have been worried about getting the building renovations going again.
Scott moved to the offending wall and prodded in between the new bricks. The crowbar scratched the material, but it didn’t look like it was easilyscraping away.
“Must have used Quickrete. That sets pretty fast.”
“So we can’t get through?”
Lowering the crowbar, he touched her face and kissed her softly on the lips. She wanted to staythere forever.
“I never said that. It’ll simply take us a bit longer to get through. We’ve still got five hours.Piece of cake.”
“Cake, sure. I’ll make you one of those too, when we get out of here. Notice I’m sayingwhennotif.”
“Good girl.” He kissed her again then went back to the wall, this time jabbing the end of the tool harderinto the wall.
“Can I do anything to help?”
