by Misty Evans
“Harris,” Nelson called, stopping Cooper from pushing end on the phone. “Just don’t tell her about my leg. I don’t want her to worry.”
“Hang tight, we’ve got this.” Cooper hit end and shoved the phone into his pocket.
Getting to the rear entrance of the hotel was impossible, thanks to the flames and debris. They took the opposite direction, heading around the arena’s landscaped grounds to get to the front.
As they ran, silence stretched between them. His face was unreadable, but Celina knew him well enough to know the rigid set of his shoulders meant his emotions were running high. Hers matched, ratcheting up from where they’d already been.
“You shouldn’t have gone without backup.” It wasn’t so much the anger in his voice as the disappointment that made her step falter.
“There wasn’t time,” she defended, weak as it was. She had no leg to stand on. He was right. She should have reported the guy and let someone else handle his disappearance, or at the very least, taken backup with her when she followed him. Things could have been a whole lot worse than what they already were. Her stomach hurt at the possibilities.
“You’re right,” she softly admitted, smiling when he lifted an eyebrow in surprise. “Yes, I do admit it when you’re right from time to time.”
“I never would have thought.” The corner of his mouth lifted in a small smirk.
“That’s because it doesn’t happen often,” she teased, then grew serious. “I shouldn’t have taken a risk like that, especially now that we have Via. I guess there’s still a part of me that thinks I can just charge into danger whenever I want and damn the consequences.”
“And now?”
“And now I have a family to think about.” She stopped, putting a hand on his arm. “From now on, I promise to think before I charge, okay?”
“Okay.” He covered her hand with his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Now let’s get to Sophie before Nelson decides to dig through the rubble with a broken leg and find her himself.”
They wound their way to the front of the arena where they found Polly pacing on the sidewalk. One look at them and she practically bowled Celina over in an attempt to give her a hug. “I’m so happy to see you guys!”
“How did you manage to get out?” Celina asked when she was finally able to disentangle herself.
“It was Leo, actually.” Tablet in hand, Polly glanced shyly at the doctor, who stood a few feet away. “We were on our way to grab a clean testing kit from the mobile lab out front when the explosion happened. He threw me in a storage closet until things settled down, then found us a way outside. If it hadn’t been for him, we’d still be trapped in there.”
“So there is a way out? Did you tell anyone where to find it?” Celina asked, hopeful.
Having heard the question, Leo walked over, shaking his head. “We were well outside the gymnasium and training areas when it happened, and there was no way back in. The sample kits that were brought in were contaminated, and we were authorized to get new ones from the mobile lab. If we had been inside…I don’t know what might have happened.”
The spark of hope snuffed out. “Still, there has to be another way in. You can’t tell me a sports arena of this size doesn’t have a million entrances and exits.”
“I’m sure they do, but whether or not they’re passable is yet to be determined. News is scattered and the rescue crews are doing everything they can to get to those trapped. They’re biggest concern at the moment is extinguishing the fires in the outer levels to keep the smoke from infiltrating the air vents.” Leo wiped a hand down his grimy face. Up close, Celina could make out the tawny skin beneath the grime, and a sheen of intelligence in his blue eyes. He seemed likeable enough and scored big points for taking care of Polly. She wondered if Polly thought the same.
“Have you seen Roman or Nelson? I don’t think they made it out. Roman isn’t answering my calls.” Polly kept her tone neutral, but the tremor in her voice gave her away. That and the way she drummed her fingers nervously on her tablet.
“We just spoke to them. They’re still inside, but doing okay.” Cooper paused as if remembering something. “Well, as okay as you can be. Sounds like Cruz has a broken leg.”
“Yeesh,” Polly grimaced. “Sophie is not going to like that when she hears it. Oh my God, Sophie!! Has anyone checked on her? She’s probably worried sick.”
“We can’t raise her by phone. We’re on our way to the hotel now.” Celina watched as Polly’s eyes flitted between the hotel and Leo, uncertainty in her gaze. Celina knew that look. She wants to check on Sophie but doesn’t want to leave Leo behind. “You guys should come with us. We should stick together.”
Cooper nodded in agreement.
Polly’s face brightened, and Leo looked somewhat relieved. There was safety in numbers, and right now they needed as many helping hands as they could get. Especially as chaos reigned around them.
“I’m happy to help in anyway needed,” Leo admitted. “There may be people in the hotel who have injuries.”
“Good deal,” Cooper said. “Let’s go then. The hotel definitely took some of the damage from the blast, so we best be prepared for anything.”
4
People trickled out of the hotel, shell-shocked. Cooper’s trained eye scoured the crowd as they pushed their way inside, but came up empty. Sophie was nowhere to be seen and Celina kept dialing her phone, hoping for an answer. “She must still be inside.”
Celina nodded, stepping around a woman with a small child to fall into step beside him. She pocketed her phone. “Their room is on the fourth floor. Even if she did attempt to get out, in her state, she couldn’t have gotten far.”
“Any chance the elevators are working?” Cooper asked the girl behind the front desk, not exactly relishing the thought of climbing four flights of stairs.
Amanda, her name tag read. Eyes wide, the girl shook her head. She looked to be in her early twenties, with short, dark hair and slightly skewed glasses perched on the end of her nose. Her hands shook as she flattened her uniform, a deer in headlights. “The power’s been completely knocked out and parts of the stairwell from the third floor to the sixth have been damaged. A few people were able to get through on the stairs, but they said…” She swallowed, eyes growing glassy with tears. “There are still people trapped, and we’ve been ordered to evacuate the building. I don’t…I don’t know what to do.”
Damn. Cooper ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. Too many people. They needed more resources, and fast.
“How can we help?” Leo stepped up, determination in his eyes. It was obvious he was a man of action, which is exactly what Cooper needed right now.
Cooper turned to Leo and Polly. “Celina and I will take the staircase to assess the damage and see if we can get through. I need you two to gather as many first aid supplies as you can and follow us up.”
“We have a first aid kit in the office,” the girl behind the desk announced, hurrying away. She returned moments later carrying a large white box with a red cross on the side. They all peered over Leo’s shoulder as he flipped the lid open to survey the contents. Cooper caught sight of gauze pads, bandages and ace wraps as Leo dug through it before closing the lid once more.
“This will do,” Leo nodded, thanking the girl.
Cooper tapped the desk. “Now, why don’t you go ahead and evacuate with everyone else?” he told the girl. “There are police and rescue crews outside, stay with them until they’ve said it’s safe.”
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.”
The staircase groaned beneath him as he moved slowly up the steps, though he didn’t feel anything shift. That was good. By his guesstimate, he was the heaviest person here. If it held him, then it stood to reason it would hold the rest of them. Of course, he didn’t breathe normally until he had both feet on the landing, and he turned to glance back at the rest of the group.
“Just take it slow and steady and you’ll be fine.” He nodded to give Celina the go ahead, and she eased onto the first step, then the next. Once she was safely standing next to him, Polly began to make her way up, then Leo followed shortly behind her.
“Well, that was easy.” Polly turned to the next flight of stairs, her face falling. “Easier than this looks, anyway.”
The next flight of stairs was in far worse shape. The wall had been pushed inward and caused the stairway to shift, as it now sat at a ninety degree angle, the upper edged corner wedged against the wall, while the lower railing pressed into the railing from the staircase below. Cooper didn’t like the looks of it, but what choice did they have? For the time being, this was their only way upstairs.
What I wouldn’t give for some climbing gear right about now.
“What do you think?” Celina asked.
He tested the strength of the staircase by first setting one foot on the stair, then the other, slowly adding his full weight. The concrete groaned beneath his feet and shifted, the sound of metal sliding against metal briefly filling the air before stopping. Everyone froze, hardly daring to even breathe.
“Maybe we should find another way.” Celina worriedly chewed her bottom lip.
“There isn’t another way.” Cooper lifted his foot and put it higher this time, hoping that by putting his weight on the elevated side of the staircase it would offset the balance enough to stay in place. When the concrete didn’t shift, he moved up again. “Stay to this side. We do it like we did the last one by going up one at a time. Once I’m up, you all follow the same path.”
“Well, at any rate, if it falls we don’t have very far to go,” Polly offered, peering over the side of the staircase to the steps below.
The woman was all heart. Cooper pretended not to hear her as he inched his way up the stairs. Sweat beaded his brow, and the muscles in his arms and legs burned with the effort it took to position each careful footing. Slow and steady, one foot in front of the other. After what seemed like hours but was probably only a matter of minutes, he finally pulled himself onto the next landing. He breathed a sigh of relief and rolled onto his back. “I think we’re good—”
The landing beneath him began to shift with his added weight and he cursed as Celina cried out, “Cooper!”
He shoved the door to the fourth floor open, his hand wrapping around the edge of the frame just as the landing beneath him gave way. Heart thundering in his chest, he hoisted his body up and onto the carpeted floor.
Below him, Leo pressed the women against the wall, his large frame shielding them from the concrete crumbling around them.
“Don’t move,” Cooper warned, a sense of helplessness washing over him. Half of the fourth floor staircase now covered the lower staircase, which meant there was no way they would be able to get back down that way.
They were trapped, unable to follow Cooper’s path and unable to turn back.
“More like don’t even breathe.” Celina tried to put on a brave face, but the quiver in her voice tore at his gut. If the staircase fell, it would take them with it, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
His eyes caught on a fire hose across from the stairwell entranc
e and he slowly pushed to his feet. “Hang tight, I have an idea.”
“Sure, we’ll just wait right here for you,” Polly called after him. He couldn’t tell if her chipper tone was sarcastic or not.
The hall was eerily quiet as he stepped up to the glass door. The silver lock on the door gleamed as he gave it a tug. Locked. Why in the hell would they put a fucking lock on a fire hose door? Did they really think a fireman was going to stop to unlock it during a fire?
Shrugging off his vest, Cooper wrapped it over his fist, drew in a sharp breath, then slammed his fist through the glass. A shard caught his forearm as he cleared the frame, though he ignored the burn and wrenched the hose out. He dragged it to the open doorway.
“Resourceful, I like it.” Leo nodded his approval.
With the hose anchored to the wall, Cooper wrapped another loop around his waist for secondary support before lowering the excess hose down to Leo’s outstretched hand. The doctor easily caught it, careful not to make any large movements as he drew it towards him.
“What’s the plan?” Leo asked, meeting Cooper’s solemn gaze. “You can’t hold all three of us.”
“No, but that landing isn’t going to hold your weight for much longer.” Cooper eyed the wall over their heads, not liking the looks of the fresh cracks in the paint. “Celina and Polly, take the rope and start climbing up to me.”
“That’s too much weight, you can’t take both of us at the same time.” Celina frowned, shaking her head.
Sensible as always, and, of course, she was right. The strain to his body alone would be a bitch, but Cooper would deal with it if it meant getting them on solid ground.
“It’ll work if I climb up and give him a hand.” Leo secured the fire hose around his waist, tightening the end with a quick jerk. “I’m a rock climber, remember? A mess like this is nothing compared to climbing Denali. Besides, losing my weight here will give the structure more stability until we can get the women up.”