by Dee J. Adams
“Thanks. I needed that.”
She hiccupped a sob, but smiled through it as she continued to dig him out, now holding a small pen light in her mouth as she worked, her honey blond bob swinging against her shoulders. It took a few minutes, but once they got his arms free he was able to climb out of what would have surely been his grave. The dirt filled in his place in the driver’s seat like a quicksand pit.
Vibrations warned of another jolt and they froze. The noise got louder and everything started shaking again. They’d have more space in the body of the car. “In the back. Hurry.” Bill pushed Elena over the seat and scrambled behind her as the aftershock bounced them like popcorn in a microwave. Bill wasn’t all the way through the opening when something crashed onto the roof. He moved faster and his leg grazed something sharp. Pain burned up his leg like fire.
He landed with a thud on the floor next to Elena as the shaking stopped. Her penlight had gone out and together they lay breathing hard in the dimness. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She shifted next to him. “I think so. Except for being scared out of my mind. What about you?”
He could be honest or…not. He didn’t want to worry her, but he’d never been a fan of lying. “I was fine until about three seconds ago when something sliced into my leg. Not sure how bad it is, but I’d better take a look.”
Elena didn’t say anything, but he heard her moving around. “I dropped my stupid light. Give me a second to find it. We’ll need it to see your leg.” She shuffled a little more. “Ha! Got it.” The light flicked on and they looked at each other. The only clean parts of her dress were now as filthy as the rest. The fear in her eyes killed him. He didn’t want her scared. The worst was over. God, he sure as hell hoped so anyway.
He wanted to pull her close and tell her everything was going to be all right, but trapped as they were, he honestly didn’t know what might happen. His front seat grave might very well become their backseat grave.
“Sit back. Let me take a look,” she said.
Bill leaned back against the mound of dirt and held his leg off the floor. He felt the moisture dripping down his leg. “Maybe I should do this and you should look away.”
She lifted the Fraser eyebrow. Her daughter was famous for that look. “Do I look like the skittish type?”
He shook his head. “Nope.” Not at all.
“Then let me take a look and figure out what to do.” She rolled his pant leg with both hands as she once again held the penlight between her front teeth. Her eyebrows puckered together and Bill finally looked at his leg.
“Shit,” he mumbled again. Something had sliced his shin almost to the bone. Blood ran freely from the three-inch gash.
Elena didn’t bat an eye. “Eh. I did this to myself the first time I shaved. Piece of cake.” She met his gaze. “First aid kit?”
“There’s a small one in the glove compartment.” He tipped his head over his shoulder toward the buried front seat. “Up there.” At Elena’s crinkled nose he continued. “There’s a bigger one in the trunk.”
“Bingo. Is there an easy way to the trunk?” She barely took a breath as she powered on. “Except we can’t open the trunk without the release or the key which are also both buried in the front. And although we can eventually get to both, we need something now.” Without hesitation, she reached into the carry-on bag she’d kept with her and fished around for something. She came up with a dark slinky scarf. A second later, she tied that sucker around his leg and knotted it tight.
Bill gritted his teeth at the stab of pain that arced up his leg. Had she been serious about cutting herself this badly or was she just trying to make him feel better?
“Hurt?” she asked.
He didn’t really care if she thought this was a piece of cake. “Like a motherfucking son of a bitch. And yes, I just cussed again.”
Her lips twitched. “Don’t make me smile. I’m too scared to smile.” She coughed and tried to wave away the dust in the air. No chance of that. She gestured to the front. “What happened anyway? How did you manage to get buried under all that?”
“A chunk of the freeway landed right on the back hatch of that truck. It crumbled like toothpicks and down she came.”
“All over you.” Elena shook her head. “Lovely. Okay,” she said. “We need to get out of here. I have never wanted to be a sardine.” She tried to open the door behind her, nearest the cement side of the underpass, but it only cracked an inch. “Well, shit,” she murmured, using her body against the door to give it some extra weight.
“Sounds like I’m contagious,” Bill murmured. “Did you just swear? I don’t think I’ve ever heard a foul word come out of your mouth. Here let me try,” he said, shifting positions with her. It was easier to joke like this incident was only a minor setback, than to face the scary reality they might be buried alive.
She gave way and Bill put his muscle into the door. No give. They were trapped in tight on this side with a solid wall of cement against the limo. “The car must have bounced next to the wall during the shaking. We’re pinned in on this side.”
“I’ll try the other side.” Elena said, already in motion. Her long skirt got in the way. “Crap. Need to fix this first.” She hiked up the skirt again and knotted the edges high on her legs, exposing gorgeous thighs and sweetly curved calves. He’d enjoyed many daydreams thinking about those legs wrapped around his hips.
Bill had already respected her. He’d seen her in action when it came to taking charge and being level headed, but he’d never been this close to her. He’d carried her luggage, opened her doors and on occasion stood next to her as they waited for Julie, but every interaction had been business or a few minutes of small talk. His customary glances were mostly through the rearview mirror, not up close and personal.
Elena got her shoulder against the frame and forced the door open less than a foot. Not nearly enough room for him to squeeze through. “I think I can make it,” she said, struggling for a few more inches.
Bill moved to help her and his leg throbbed harder. “Let’s see what we can do together.” Positioning himself next to her, they both shoved against the door and heard the scrape of cement on the outside as they gained another few inches before the door stopped. Elena’s flowery scent drifted up his nostrils and made him want to breathe her in long and deep.
“I’ll go see if there’s a way out.” She started through the slim opening.
“Hey! Wait a minute.” He didn’t like her going out there on her own. “I’ll do it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t fit through here and you’re hurt. I’ll go. If I can find a way out and get help, I will.” She started out and Bill grabbed her arm. “What?” She sounded breathless from pushing against the door, and a layer of perspiration made her smooth skin shine in the dim light.
Bill was close enough to kiss her, close enough to feel the heat of her body alongside his. His breath tangled in his throat as all the words he wanted to say got trapped. “Just be careful. We don’t know how stable any of this is and another jolt could bring down more.”
Elena scowled at him. “Bill, I had no idea you were a pessimist.”
“I’m not a pessimist. I’m a realist. It’s the truth. If you don’t see an immediate way out then come back. Promise me.” Her pretty blue eyes regarded him and he watched the gears shift in her head.
“A little early in our relationship to be asking for promises, don’t you think?”
Just the word relationship coming from her mouth got his pulse spiking. How long had he dreamed about that happening? How many times had he thought about actually asking her out only to chicken out at the last minute? But he knew she wasn’t speaking in the literal sense and he kept his answer concise. “Not in this case, no.”
“Fine,” she said, caving before he said another word. “I’ll go fast and be stealthy and be back with my report, Captain.”
“I had no idea you were such a smart ass.” He grinned because he’d never se
en this sassy side of her. She’d always been the calm voice of reason for her daughter, always the mother or manager. Julie was more like her than he thought.
“Well, the apple doesn’t far from the tree,” she said, voicing his thought. “Besides, I’m a big girl and I make smart decisions. I thought you at least knew that much about me.”
“Learning as we go, right.” He wanted to touch her, to feel the softness of her skin before he let her go, but instead he patted her arm awkwardly. “Just be careful. Don’t stay out long. More aftershocks will hit. That’s a given. I want you in here with me.”
“I always knew you were a macho stud.” She squeezed out the tiny space and left him with his jaw hanging wide open.
What had she just said? Elena felt a wave of heat rise from her neck all the way up her cheeks. Stressful situations always brought out her uncensored side, the side that spoke before she thought. Usually she doled out sage advice in a very motherly fashion, but being around Bill totally discombobulated her senses. The man threw her off balance. He always had. She’d been fascinated by his gray-blue eyes and steel gray hair for years. She still hadn’t managed to peg his age. His trim, muscular body said mid-thirties, but the color of his hair said late forties or older. She figured he had to be younger than her, which immediately put him off limits.
Yes, she was fit and took care of herself, but being the mother of a world famous movie star meant she had to make careful choices. They’d both worked too hard to get Julie to this point to blow it by choosing the wrong man. The last thing she wanted was a repeat of her first husband. Of course, it wasn’t as if they were lined up around the block to be with her. Seriously, they lived in Hollywood, where men her age dated women half her age. Her chances of getting struck by lightning were better than finding a man who might fall in love with her.
Elena shook off the depressing thought and shone her small penlight into the darkness. Streaks of light cut through various spots between the giant slab of cement over them. The low ceiling reminded her of her elementary school. It had seemed so big as a child, but returning to speak at the school as an adult had given her another perspective. The main part of the overpass had collapsed and rested on the Hummer next to them and truck in front of them. Somehow the limo’s hood had ended up beneath the back of the truck. It explained why the dirt load had spilled onto Bill’s lap. Another chunk of cement had broken off on top of the limo and behind them. Rubble closed up the spaces. They were completely buried. Of course that didn’t mean they were going to stay that way. Maybe she could find a spot with smaller pieces of rubble that she could shove aside. If she could create a big enough hole, they could walk out of here.
“Hello,” she called. “Can anyone hear me?” She listened, but got no response. Hard to believe they were the only ones trapped, but there was so much rubble around it was possible others were stuck in their own pockets, or in their cars. She chose to think that like them, people were safe and waiting to be rescued.
Yes, she was an optimist. Even when she’d been lying in a hospital bed with a head injury from a stupid car bomb, she’d been positive about her recovery. She moved toward the rear of the limo. They’d just driven underneath the overpass when the quake hit so there’d be less rubble behind them. Ah…no wonder Bill had rammed the car behind him. He’d been trying to get out from beneath all that concrete.
Carefully, Elena made her way through the debris. Jagged pieces of cement made the going slow. One piece slid beneath her foot and she nearly took a header, but caught herself against the limo just in time. Sweat coated her skin as she stopped to catch her breath. Thick with dirt, the air hung heavy around her. She used the sleeve of her light sweater to cover her nose and mouth. Breathing in this garbage couldn’t be good for the lungs.
It didn’t take long to see they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. A giant slab of the freeway had crushed the very front of the Buick behind them. The crumpled fender and Buick’s hood piece lay strewn in the rubble. Bill had probably pushed the Buick back just far enough to save the driver from the full weight of the cement slab.
Next to them, the whole back end of the Hummer had been crushed. She caught the smell of gasoline, but didn’t see a spill.
She pounded on the short visible hood of the Buick. “Hello! Anyone in there?”
No response. Either the person got out or they were unconscious. She hoped they got out.
“Elena?” Bill shouted from the car.
She headed back. “Coming. You okay?” She peeked in the open door and directed her little light inside. The scowl on Bill’s face worried her. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like you out there, that’s what’s wrong. Did you see anything?”
“Not back there.” She gestured to the rear of the car. “A chunk of the freeway collapsed on the car behind us. I want to see the front. Maybe the size of the trucks kept some of the collapse from closing the whole space. Give me a sec and let me check.” She left before he could argue. Besides, she could call the shots. That’s what she usually did.
She went a little slower this time as she used her penlight directly in front of her since it was too small to see too far ahead. It only took four steps before she saw something weird. It took a full second to register the fingers. Then she screamed, a quick involuntary sound. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she held back the urge to be sick.
“Elena!” Bill’s voice rang loud in the quiet tomb.
“I’m okay, I’m okay. Give me a sec.” Usually she could handle gruesome. Maybe because of the Hollywood makeup jobs she’d seen. But the real deal freaked her out. She forced herself to shine the light farther ahead.
The fingers attached to a hand that attached to an arm and a shoulder and a body on its side. It must have been someone from the Hummer. He’d tried to get out the passenger side and had been crushed. A huge slab of cement had struck him and all but sliced him in two. His chest was still and his sightless eyes stared straight ahead.
Elena’s stomach did a slow backflip, and she held back another urge to vomit as she took in the blood pooling all around him.
Shining the light quickly in front of her, she saw no sign of any escape routes. They were locked up as tightly as caged animals.
Help had to be on the way, but who knew how long it would take before they were freed? Taking a breath to call out for help only resulted in swallowing a mouthful of crap. Coughing out some of the grit, Elena called out as she made her way back to the limo, “Hello, can any—” Another vibration started beneath her feet and her adrenaline ratcheted up a notch. Bill’s arm reached from the limo as she hurried to slide back through the door.
Granted, if a huge slab of cement fell on the limo they were as dead as the man a few feet away, but the car would likely protect them from debris.
Her entrance into the car was much faster than her exit as Bill yanked her hard at the same time she dove. She ended up right on top of him on the limo floor.
But as the noise and shaking escalated, Bill rolled them alongside the seat at the back of the car and covered her with his body. Chunks of cement from the slab over them slammed against the roof and Elena held him tight, waiting for something to break through, waiting for the end.
When she didn’t think they’d make it, when her every nerve stretched taught as the car bounced, the air crackled and her limbs shook with fear, the shaking stopped. They lay there, breathing hard, still holding each other tight.
“I’d like to go home now,” Elena whispered. She didn’t care about her shaky voice. Yes, she was scared. So be it.
“Me too.” Bill pulled away and she barely saw him in the overhead light of the limo. Hey, that hadn’t been on before. “You okay? You scared me when you screamed out there.”
God, her whole body trembled. “Sorry. There’s a man…” She shuddered harder remembering the horrifying picture. “Someone from the Hummer next to us. He tried to make a run for it and didn’t make it. It’s pretty gruesome.” A fresh
wave of chills prickled her skin and Bill pulled her tight.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” His muffled words got lost in her hair. “I knew I should’ve gone. Dammit.”
“We both know you can’t fit through that space. You’re lucky I still have my girlish figure.” This trait, her daughter got from her. She joked when she was scared.
The whites of Bill’s teeth shone bright in the dimness as he pulled back. “I won’t argue with that. In fact, I’ve admired your girlish figure for a lot of years now.” The way he looked down at her, the way his gaze drilled into hers, Elena got the feeling he meant what he said.
Chapter Three
Bill had never held Elena this close ever before. The urge to kiss her came over him like an unstoppable compulsion, but he didn’t want to screw up the relationship they already had. He liked her a lot. Always had, but that didn’t mean she felt the same way. How awkward would it be if she turned him down flat? What if she started using another limo service entirely and he never got to see her again?
“How come the lights came on?” she asked, gesturing to the ceiling and side of the car. A row of lights on the side panels put out a dim glow and highlighted just how much crap floated in the air.
“I turned on the interior lights. It’s temporary. When the battery wears out, so do the lights.” He pulled away from her since she wasn’t looking at him or giving any sign that she wanted him close. He scooted back to lean against the mound of dirt that had spilled over from the front seat. His leg throbbed, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle and it was way better than getting crushed by a ton of cement. “See anything else while you were out there? Like a way out?”
She shook her head. “Not only did I not see a way out, but I barely saw any daylight.” This time she looked at him. “It’s almost pitch black out there…and it’s getting hotter by the minute.”
