Between Octobers Bk 1, Savor The Days Series Read Online Free PDF Page A

are against an escaped lunatic or
anyone wanting to take my old ride.
    But, what if someone spotted them alone in
the car? A kind stranger, maybe the man in the SUV, was watching
over them, making sure they’re okay while I’m stuck in this dungeon
of an elevator. After awhile, the man might wonder where the
parents were. He’d be so critical of me. Would he think I abandoned
them? He didn’t see me walk in. Would he ask Noah or just call the
police? I couldn’t stop the heartbreak as I considered of the range
of possible repercussions.
    “Try to relax, please. You’ll hyperventilate
or something.”
    “What?” I snapped, again, as the sound of
his voice pulled me from the nightmare.
    He chuckled. “Uh, imagine you’re in an open
field. I’ve heard that works.”
    “ I’m not claustrophobic. I just—” what
was I going to say? That I left my children unattended in the
parking garage? “I need to get out of here. Are you sure you don’t
have service?” My quivering voice begged him to check
again.
    “No, I don’t.”
    “ God, help me. What am I going to
do?”
    “It will be alright.”
    “You don’t understand. My kids are in the
parking garage. All alone! They’re waiting and I’m stuck in here!”
I kicked at the doors, feeling the waterworks in freefall. When the
light on my screen went out one last time, I dropped the useless
thing in my purse and sank into the corner. A blubbering heap of
self-pity.
    “There’s an emergency phone. We could ring
maintenance.”
    My head snapped up, blind eyes following the
sound of his confidence. There was a light, much brighter than
mine, but plainly from a cell phone. He was using it like a
flashlight. Genius!
    “ The red phone.” I slapped my hands
together, clenching them fervently towards the hidden sky. “Oh!
Thank you, God!”
    There was a muffled clatter and his
voice. “It’s ringing . . . won’t be long, now.” A moment later he
spoke again, clearly not to me. “Yes, we seem to be stuck in the
lift.” Pause . “The one with
the doors that won’t open, hence my use of the word ‘stuck’. Could
you send someone round to fetch us out, please?” Pause . “We’re on parking level 2. But
the doors won’t open and the lights’ve gone out.”
    The pause was longer this time. He waited,
impatiently moving the light around the small space, flashing my
face. My pupils ached and shrank, shocked by the power of the tiny
spotlight.
    “What kind of maintenance?”
    My stomach tensed, waiting.
    “I’d prefer another method,” he said and
halted. “Yeah, I don’t care about that. Let’s go with that
one.”
    The commanding tone indicated he was in
control. Maybe he did work in the building. I listened while the
one-sided conversation continued. Some moments were calm, during
others he asked questions that implied he was running short on
patience. All the while, he remained courteous.
    “Another problem, sir, the woman in here—she
has children in her . . .” His tone changed as he asked me, “How
many children?”
    “Two boys,” I inched towards the lighted
screen.
    His voice changed again. “She has two
children in her . . .” he paused mid-sentence and cleared his
throat.
    I guessed that was directed towards me, too.
“1986 blue Jeep Cherokee.”
    “There are two children in a really old,
blue Cherokee. She’s worried about them, so if you could send
someone round to check on them, we’d be grateful.”
    “No, no, they need supervision,” I insisted,
moving closer to grab his arm. If I could’ve seen his hand, I
would’ve grabbed it to take the phone and stress the absolute
necessity for personal adult management. As much as I hated having
strangers around my children, the idea of them wandering off scared
and alone was worse. Odds were against any of these strangers being
escaped lunatics.
    He must have sensed my desperation because
his next words offered a solution. “Actually, I have a friend
waiting for me in the garage.