9½ Days. Mia Zachary

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      A voice in the darkness! It sounded like salvation. It sounded like hope. It sounded like a man.

      2

      DANNY NAVARRO HATED the dark.

      Hated it, not feared it. No, he couldn’t afford to fear it. He just hated it. The way it made his breathing shallow and his pulse race. He tightened his grip on the heavy aluminum flashlight he carried. Even with the intermittent glow of the emergency-exit lights, the eighth-floor hallway was still too damned obscure for his comfort.

      His boots sank into the plush carpeting as he strode past the paler darkness of the hotel-room doors. Danny shifted the weight of the toolbox in his other hand, wishing he could reach up to wipe the sweat from under his helmet. At least he wasn’t in full turnout gear, wearing the heavy Nomex coat and pants. It was hot enough without the hotel’s cooling ventilation.

      Beside him, firefighter Mike Cornwall huffed out a breath. “Phew. Weatherman said it’s one hundred five degrees with the heat index. You can’t tell me there’s nothing to this global-warming thing.”

      Danny chuckled. “Don’t blame me, I stopped using aerosol years ago. The problem is all those satellites cluttering the skies.”

      “Uh-huh. Seems to me you were right there enjoying my digital TV dish last Super Bowl Sunday.”

      “Yeah, and you still owe me twenty bucks, Stonewall.” He called him by the nickname Mike’s six-foot-four-frame and dedication to weight lifting had earned him. “I told you not to bet against the Ravens’ running game.”

      “Shame it’s too dark to get a look at all those underwear models downstairs. I’ll bet I’d leave with a pocketful of phone numbers.”

      Danny snickered. “I’ll take odds against that bet.” They reached the bank of elevators and set down their equipment. He rolled his shoulders.

      “Which one is she in, Lieutenant?”

      “I don’t know, Mike. We’ll have to open all three.”

      Danny pulled out a large ring of keys while Mike shone the flashlight on the call panel to find the manufacturer’s brand. “It’s an Otis Geared Elevonic model.”

      “Okay. Let’s start on the left.” As he turned the skeleton key to disengage the locks on the outer doors, he heard a high-pitched shriek coming from the middle elevator.

      “Hellllp!”

      “Hang on, ma’am! We’re coming to get you out.”

      Grabbing a Halligan, Danny pried open the outer doors and then Mike held them apart with a length of rebar in case the power suddenly came back on. A quick sweep with the flashlight revealed the concrete wall and thick cables inside the open shaft. The elevator itself was closer to the seventh floor than the eighth. Only the top two and a half feet of the car were visible.

      “Looks like you’ll have to slide in and get her, L.T.”

      Danny carefully controlled his reaction, refusing to let it show on his face. “Me? I’m the senior here.”

      “Yeah, but since L.T. stands for Lady Target as well as ‘lieutenant,’ you’re the man for the job.”

      He’d always wanted to be a fireman. Always. But he’d never consider himself a hero, despite the media calling him one. He was just a guy who cared about doing his job. Right now, though, it required heroic effort to control the chill of dread seeping into his limbs.

      “All right. Let’s get it done.”

      Danny took off his helmet then helped Mike get the inner doors open and propped. He grabbed the flashlight, got down to floor level and leaned his head over the edge. He shone the light around inside the elevator car and saw the red clad figure huddled in the corner.

      “Oh, thank God.”

      The woman’s voice quavered as she choked out the words. The gleam of the flashlight revealed a tear-streaked face beneath the hand she used to shield her eyes. Her lush scarlet mouth tilted in a little smile of embarrassed relief. “I wasn’t panicking, though.”

      Danny noticed that her voice still sounded weak and smiled a little himself. “I’m sure you weren’t, ma’am. Are you injured? Did you hit your head or anything?”

      “No. I’m just a bit s-scared.”

      “It’s going to be all right. The heat’s caused a rolling blackout. But I’m going to get you out.” He started to turn away when she called to him.

      “Don’t leave!”

      “I’m not leaving, ma’am. I was just talking to my partner. I’ll be right down to get you.”

      “Oh, okay. Not that I panicked.”

      “No, ma’am, of course not.” Danny had dealt with a lot of hysterics in his nine years on the job. People were often so relieved and grateful to be rescued that they simply broke down. He wasn’t about to make fun of her, since he didn’t feel that comfortable himself.

      He looked up at Mike. “I’ll go down and give her a lift. You help her the rest of the way. She says she’s not hurt, but I’ll check her out just the same.”

      “I’m sure you will, L.T.” Mike’s voice had an undercurrent of innuendo as he took the flashlight to hold.

      Danny ignored him as he swung his legs into the elevator car, bearing his weight on his forearms. Since this wasn’t a life or death situation, he stole a second to get himself under control. None of the guys at Station 24 knew, not even Mike. A year had passed as if it were only a moment, but that moment was all too fresh in his mind.

      Just as he was about to lower himself down, an elderly woman hurried out of one of the hotel rooms down the hall. “My husband! Please help us. He collapsed! He has chest pains and says it feels like another heart attack.”

      “L.T.?”

      Mike was training to become an FF4, a firefighter paramedic. He was already grabbing his first-aid kit while he waited for Danny’s response. With many of the city fire trucks assisting Baltimore Oil & Power, generators and manpower were spread thin.

      “Go. I’ll handle this. Call for the nearest ambulance and wait for them to take over.”

      “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

      Mike rushed off with the only flashlight, leaving Danny hanging. Literally. The idea of being stuck in the dark, cramped space for even a few minutes wasn’t doing much to alleviate his sweating. But a possible heart attack was more urgent than his problem. Inhaling quietly, he ducked his head to keep from banging it on the elevator ceiling and let himself drop. His stomach lurched as he fell.

      Six feet might as well have been a sixty in the darkness…

      After hitting the floor, Danny turned his head from side to side, straining his eyes and willing something to come into focus. Suddenly he heard a rustle of movement and the woman collided into him. Without the СКАЧАТЬ