Elevator, The (17 page)

She feels like shouting when a rush of fresh air invades the car.

“Everybody all right in there?” The clear, vibrant sound of Eddie’s voice pebbles her skin while a circular light dances over the plastic panels overhead.

“We’re fine,” Michelle calls, an unexpected catch in her voice. “And thank you for coming. We weren’t sure you’d follow through.”

“Lady, I think you could talk Mahatma Gandhi into joining the NRA.”

Though Michelle searches the ceiling, she can’t see the hero who’s come to rescue them. But she’d bet her last dollar he has a nice face.

Gina grips the side railing as if she’s afraid Eddie’s weight will overload the car. “Do you really think you can manage this by yourself?”

Their unseen rescuer laughs. “I’m not alone. I brought my dog.”

“That’s no comfort at all.” Gina tightens her hold on the rail. “And why are you on the roof?”

“Because the car-top exit is in the rear right corner of the ceiling.” Eddie’s voice is crisp now, and direct. “I need one of you ladies to slide the light panel away. Can you help me with that?”

“I’ll try.” Michelle stretches up on her tiptoes, but she can’t reach the sheets of Plexiglas. “I’m not tall enough.” She crosses her arms and frowns, then looks at Gina. “Did you ever build a pyramid in gym class?”

One corner of the redhead’s mouth dips in a frown. “I was never the athletic type.”

“You don’t have to be athletic. You only have to keep still a few minutes. If you and Isabel will get on your hands and knees, I can step onto your backs and reach that panel.”

The cleaning woman’s forehead knits with puzzlement, but Gina understands—and apparently doesn’t like the idea. “You think I’m going to kneel on this dusty floor?”

“You were sitting on it.”

“Yes, but—”

“Come on, it’ll only take a minute.”

The housekeeper hesitates, then crouches on the floor. “Move a little closer to the wall,” Michelle instructs her. “And, Gina? I really need you to help. My weight is too much for Isabel to handle alone.”

The redhead mutters under her breath, but she moves to the corner and bends, taking her place beside the girl.

“Closer, please.” Michelle bites back her irritation. “You have to be shoulder to shoulder.”

Gina sighs heavily, but moves closer to the cleaning woman. She’s still not close enough, though, so when Isabel looks up, Michelle gives her a move-over gesture.

Eddie’s voice floats down from overhead. “How’s it going in there?”

“Fine,” Michelle calls. “We’ll have that panel out of the way in a jiffy.”

Isabel sidles toward Gina until the two women’s shoulders are touching. Michelle chews on her lip, then pulls off her sneakers. “I’ll be quick, I promise.”

“What if you break my back?” Gina says, looking over her shoulder. “My bones aren’t as strong as they used to be.”

“I don’t think I can hurt you if I place my weight at the base of your spine. Try not to worry about it.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not down here on the floor.”

Michelle blows her bangs from her forehead. “You want to trade places? Just say the word.”

Gina hesitates, then lowers her head. “Just do it already.”

Michelle places one hand flat against the wall, then studies Isabel’s back. She can’t remember the last time she’s even thought about building a pyramid.

“Hurry up,” Gina calls, exasperation in her voice. “This dust is going to make me sneeze.”

Michelle catches her breath, then steps onto Isabel’s back, quickly balancing her weight by placing her other foot on Gina. Isabel grunts and the redhead breathes hard through her nose, but Michelle tries not to think about them as she looks up and reaches for the overhead panel. Almost instantly she is overcome by dizziness, so she returns one hand to the supporting wall and tries to keep her eyes straight ahead while she tugs at the plastic sheet.

“How is this thing attached, Eddie?” she calls, her frustration rising when the panel resists her probing fingertips. “It won’t slide, so how am I supposed to—”

“Push up first, then over,” Eddie answers. “You don’t have to take it down, just push it up a bit so I can grab the edge.”

She reaches for the panel again, feels it above her fingertips, then shoves it upward. The space brightens, and when she lifts her head she finds herself staring into the stubbled face of a man wearing a striped cotton work shirt. Below the words
Majestic Elevators
and the emblem of a crown, a name is embroidered on the pocket:
Eddie.

“Hey there.” Eddie grins down at her, his blue eyes shining in a narrow face. “You ladies called for a cab?”

“Thank heaven you came,” Michelle says, unwilling to look away. She will name her children after this man; she may mention him in her will. “I was beginning to think we were the only people left in the county.”

“Are you done up there?” Gina’s strained voice rises from beneath Michelle’s feet.

“Sorry.” Her cheeks burning, Michelle steps back to the floor, careful not to jolt the elevator.

Gina stands and brushes dust from her hands. “Thank you for coming,” she says, her tone polite as she glances at the man on the roof. “I’m sure it’s rough out there on the streets.”

“Elevator jockeys live for danger,” Eddie says, grinning. “And I didn’t have anything else to do.”

Gina crosses her arms. “Still, we appreciate you coming. No one else around here seems interested in doing his job. You’d think that the security guard or the building manager would stick around to make sure everyone had been properly evacuated.”

Michelle listens in disbelief as she reties her sneakers. How can Gina complain to a man who has risked his own safety coming to rescue them?

Either Vaughn doesn’t notice Gina’s attitude, or he doesn’t mind her grousing. “Okay, ladies, it’s like this,” he says, glancing up. “Due to what looks like a power outage, you’ve stopped between the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth floors. Unless you want to take your chances and hope the power comes back on, you can let me get you out of here. But because I don’t have a ladder, this extraction might be a little tricky.”

Gina looks down and mutters under her breath. “I knew it. The man isn’t equipped to do the job.”

Michelle glances toward the elevator panel, where only the dim emergency light burns. “Do you think the power might come back on?”

The brightness of Eddie’s smile diminishes a degree. “Who knows? It could cut in and out all day, or it may stay out three weeks. But I don’t think you want to wait that long.”

“But—” Michelle points toward the roof “—if we’re up there and the power comes on, we could be knocked off. You might be some kind of elevator cowboy, but I’m not about to ride one of these things.”

Eddie laughs. “Don’t worry, even with power, the car won’t move if the door or the ceiling exit is open.”

Michelle nods slowly. “Okay.”

“Wait.” Gina steps forward again, her arms folded as tight as a gate. “What will happen if we stay put? Let’s suppose the power comes back on and the hatch is closed.”

“Well—” Eddie rubs his chin “—that all depends. If the car has lost touch with its controllers, it will probably return to the lobby. But since I didn’t program these cars, I’m not sure what they’ll do.”

Gina shoots Michelle a sharp look, then retreats to her corner.

“My plan,” Eddie continues, ignoring the redhead, “is to bring you up through this exit. From here we can step down to the landing and from there we can take the stairs. The stairs are situated in the interior of the building, so we’ll be sheltered from the impact of the wind. The stairwell, in fact, is probably the safest place to ride out the hurricane.”

Michelle cuts a quick glance at Isabel, who has retreated to the back wall and is hugging herself. She doesn’t look at all thrilled about climbing into the darkness of the elevator shaft.

Gina brings one hand to her hip. “Why can’t you open the elevator doors and let us step out? That would be so much safer.”

Eddie shifts his gaze to her face in an oddly keen look. “That’s not the best option in this situation.”

“Please, Mr. Vaughn, don’t patronize me. If you want to play George of the Jungle, that’s your affair, but I think I’d prefer to simply jump down onto the landing.”

Eddie looks away, showing his teeth in an expression that is not a smile. “The situation is not as simple as you think. Right now I’m sitting about eighteen inches above the twenty-eighth floor. You, ma’am, are standing about four feet above the twenty-seventh. You may think it’d be easy to jump onto that lower landing, but you’re not realizing that most people tilt backward after jumping from above. Ordinarily, I’d have a ladder in place to block the open shaft, but I’m fresh out of ladders and you’re fresh out of luck. Because I’d hate to see you fall into the hoistway you’re so desperate to escape, I’m recommending an exit through the roof. I don’t mean to seem disrespectful, ladies, but I doubt any of you want to go to the bottom all that quickly.”

“I get it,” Michelle says, a flood of gooseflesh rippling up each arm. “Say no more.”

“Believe me—” Eddie meets her gaze “—this rooftop hatch is the safest way out. And I’m here to lend a hand.”

Michelle looks at Isabel, whose eyes have gone darker and rounder. “Do you understand?”

The girl nods without speaking.

Michelle tips her head back. “So—without a ladder, how are we supposed to get up to you?”

Eddie leans into the car and points to the silver rail on the back wall. “You can help each other up like you did before, with the pyramid. If necessary, use that railing to support your weight as I pull you out.”

“Wait a minute.” Gina steps under the opening and glares up at the technician. “I understand how two of us could lift someone up and out. I can even see how Isabel here could lift me up—I’m not that heavy. But I don’t see how the last woman can get out without a ladder. Your arms aren’t that long, Mr. Vaughn.”

One of Eddie’s hands locks around a thick nylon strap across his chest. “See this? It’s my safety harness. I can take it off and pass it down to the last woman. It’s hooked to a lanyard, which is attached to a brace. I can pull the last woman up.”

Gina’s face remains locked in neutral for a moment, then she arches a brow. “I suggest you send the harness down now,” she says, iron in her voice. “After all, you’re used to elevators. We’re not.”

Michelle feels a sudden wave of pity for the man. If he’d known he was braving rising winds and crashing waves to rescue a shrew, he might have refused to leave home.

Eddie blinks, then focuses his gaze on Michelle. “You want the harness, too?”

She cuts a look to Gina, whose gaze remains resolute. “Um…well, I’d probably feel more secure with it on.”

“I would like the harness.” Isabel’s soft comment slips into the silence. “The lady is right. I would be scared and I might fall. But if I can wear the straps, I will be brave enough.” The cleaning woman steps up and peers at the rectangular opening in the ceiling. “For Rafael,” she whispers, “I will go first.”

Without another word, Eddie unsnaps the clasp at his chest and wriggles out of the contraption. “Don’t ever let it be said that we don’t aim to please.”

A moment later, a tangle of blue nylon drops into the elevator car. Isabel stoops to pick it up, then frowns at the jumbled mess.

“Step into it,” Eddie calls. “Circular straps around the legs, one strap across the lower back, buckle across the chest. Adjust to fit.”

Gina steps aside and chews on a fingernail as Michelle helps Isabel into the contraption, then holds up the remaining loose end.

“That piece,” Eddie says, dropping a line through the opening, “hooks to this lanyard, which is attached to the crosshead. Anything connected to that piece isn’t going anywhere the elevator’s not going.”

“Whatever you say,” Michelle says, reaching for the line. She snaps the carabiner at the end of the lead to the D-ring of the harness, then gives Isabel a reassuring smile. “Snug as a bug in a rug.”

“¿Qué?”

“Never mind.” Michelle steps back, then turns to Gina. “Going to help me boost her up?”

Gina shrugs. “Might as well.”

“Okay.” Michelle links her hands and bends her knees, bracing herself for the young woman’s weight. “Do you remember doing this when you were a kid? You step into my hands—”

Isabel snorts softly. “I know how to do this.” She places one crepe-soled shoe into Michelle’s locked fingers.

“That’s good,” Eddie calls. “Now put your other foot in the other lady’s hands.”

After Gina laces her fingers together, Isabel brings her right foot up. Slowly, as the trembling housekeeper clings to their shoulders, Michelle and Gina straighten their knees and lift Isabel toward the technician’s outstretched hand…

A tumult of breaking glass and growling wind shatters Michelle’s concentration. From somewhere close the dog barks while a roar echoes through the shaft, trembling the car. Isabel recoils from the hatch and Eddie pulls his hand from the opening. “Hang on, will ya? I think a window shattered. I’ve got the doors propped open, so it’ll take me a minute to check things out….”