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

turning back
towards the doors.
    I had never heard such a charming English
accent. It wasn’t cockney; his enunciations were too smooth. I
wondered what part of England he came from.
    And then the world turned black. The lights
went out. It took about two hot seconds before I realized what was
happening. “No, no, no!”
    My senses charged into overdrive and muddled
together before I could think of what to do. My mind went blank
like the slate of coal surrounding me. Anxiety reared up as I
dragged my phone from my pocket.
    “No signal,” the cruel screen read.
    I hated the confined space. There wasn’t
enough air.
    Taking several deep breaths, I tried to calm
down. Telling myself that all this was temporary, and I could
handle this. But nothing mattered more than getting to the opposite
side of the metal doors that refused to open. To be safe, I sent a
text to Noah. If I could just let the kids know what was going on,
check on them somehow, then everything would be okay. But the
possibility was slim. Again, my breath faltered, and I gasped for
air.
    The dim screen gave little promise on the
prospect of communication. I moved the phone up and down, as high
as my arms could take it and as low as the floor allowed, searching
for any microscopic space that might offer a bar of hope. All I
needed was one bar, one half of one measly bar! The icon in the
corner of the screen said I was out of luck, but still I tried,
stepping forward and sideways.
    The man just moved, doing his best to dodge
my chaos. Occasionally, he was too slow. If the contact upset him,
he wasn’t saying it. I supposed my panicky reaction said
enough.
    I was still breathing too quickly and tried
to concentrate on slowing down. Long, deep breaths: in the nose,
out the mouth. It kept me from getting lightheaded, but I couldn’t
relax. My heart still hammered, pumping adrenaline through me. Too
bad it wasn’t enough to create the mysterious super strength you
sometimes hear about. The type that helped a mother pull a car off
the ground to get to her child underneath. Despite the relaxation
exercise, I felt myself tensing again.
    I couldn’t be the first person to get stuck
in an elevator. There had to be some sort of safety measure in
place.
    “Don’t tell me you’re claustrophobic.” His
voice sounded through the dark beyond my pale shaft of light. “What
are you doing?”
    “I have no bars.”
    “Care for a smoke? It may help calm
you.”
    “What?” The word was more of a bite than a
response and I regretted it immediately, but his question was so
far away from where my thoughts were—he sounded ludicrous. In an
effort to remain coherent, I concentrated on his words. Once I
recognized he was trying to help, a reasonable response was
managed.
    “No. Thank you.”
    Sudden hope seized me when I remembered that
Sol’s old phone—my phone—was an outdated piece of junk! If this
guy’s expensive clothes were any indication, I’d bet his phone was
expensive, too. Newer cell phone equaled better reception.
    “What about your phone?”
    I turned the dim light of my screen in his
direction. He pulled a large smart phone from his jacket pocket and
looked for a second, tapping the screen. “Sorry, no signal,
either.”
    I whimpered.
    My children, all alone in the car, wondering
after me. My imagination ran wild.
    I pictured Noah, irritated that I was taking
so long. Would he get out and go look for me once he realized he
couldn’t call? Would he take Caleb? He wouldn’t leave him alone and
vulnerable in the car, would he? Any stranger could come along and
snatch him or steal my car with my baby asleep in the back seat.
God knows what they would do to him!
    My heart raced as I thought of how
frightened Caleb would be. I tried to block the images of him being
dragged away by a dangerous escapee from a mental hospital for the
criminally insane.
    No , I told
myself. Noah would never leave Caleb alone. He knows the rules.
They stick together. And odds