Covert Intents: A Branson Family Novella Read Free Page A

blocked?
    Someone was deliberately sabotaging this elevator.
    Had the perp figured out he was investigating them? Had his cover been blown and they were trying to take him out? That seemed extreme. Plus, killing an undercover cop near where you’d be committing a crime would bring more law enforcement, not less. Not a good plan. Regardless, he had to get himself and Rachel out of here.
    The elevator lurched slightly again and Rachel gave a little screech. She was keeping it together, but just barely.
    He had to get them ou t right no w . If this thing was about to fall then every second counted. He needed something to pry the door open with.
    “What do we do?” she whispered through clenched teeth.
    “Do you have anything in your bag that is thin enough to fit between these doors? If I can get something wedged in there to get it started, I should be able to pry the doors open.”
    He shined his light in her bag as she searched through it. “You need something strong, right? I have pens, notebooks, a clipboard…”
    “Let’s try the clipboard.” It wasn’t perfect but it might be strong enough.
    The elevator lurched slightly again when Seth took a step toward the door. He pulled Rachel with him. He slid the hard plastic clipboard into the crack and twisted it slowly, not wanting to break it.
    “Let me twist it so you can grab the doors once they open,” Rachel murmured. She shifted her weight slowly —neither of them wanting to experience the sickening jolt of the elevator falling again— and moved so she stood in front of him.
    Seth had to push his body all the way against Rachel’s, with his arms around her, in order to get the leverage that he needed. She shifted her weight, bringing her luscious curves more heavily in contact with him, to turn the clipboard.
    Was he really getting turned on when they were in an elevator where they both may fall to their deaths any minute ? Get a grip, Harrington.
    “Turn on three, okay?” He placed his fingers at the edge of the door.
    “Will it crush your fingers?”
    “No, once I can get them in there, there shouldn’t be any pressure pushing the doors back together.”
    He hoped.
    “Okay, one, two, three.”
    Rachel turned the clipboard as hard as she could, twisting both the top and bottom sides. It was enough. The doors slid open a crack and Seth was able to get his fingers in.
    “Got it,” he told her through gritting teeth, using all of his forearm strength to pry the doors apart. Good thing his arms had been getting a pretty sizable workout over the past few weeks with his custodial duties.
    Instead of slipping under his arm like he expected her to do, Rachel slipped her fingers into the crack also and added her strength, as limited as it was, to his efforts. The door cracked a few more inches.
    “Okay, good,” he told her. “Let me get in here and use other muscle groups.”
    He guided Rachel to the side and wedged his shoulder through the door. Putting his back and legs into it, he was able to get the door open another foot. Enough for them to be able to fit through.
    The elevator had dropped far enough that the floor of the level where they’d entered was now up to his chest.
    “Hand me the clipboard.”
    She did so quickly, gasping as the elevator lurched again. Seth placed it in the crack of the outer door attached to the building, not the elevator. Thankfully this door opened without so much effort.
    The easiest way to get them both out would be to climb up himself then hoist Rachel up afterwards. He didn’t waste any time. Without jumping —not wanting to cause the elevator to fall any further, which at best would trap them, at worst would crush him— Seth used just his upper-body strength to pull himself up and onto the floor outside the elevator.
    Immediately he turned and stuck his arm back down to Rachel.
    “Give me your hand,” he said.
    She hesitated. “I’m too heavy for you to pull up.”
    Seth rolled his eyes. “Honey, trust me, I