Spies in Saddles [Book One]

Chapter Six: We Learn the Truth About Elevators

“There better be some café or something,” said Molly ominously as we made our way into the hall. “Jer always has the crappiest food at the agency, it sucks.”

“We can always stop at McDonald’s,” said Kate, looking excited. “Hey – it’s pumpkin spice latte season!”

I rolled my eyes as I walked over to the elevator and pressed the down arrow. Molly frowned at me, gesturing towards the door marked “stairs.” I didn’t even let her say anything, just said, “There is no way I’m walking down four flights.”

“I hate elevators,” she protested, crossing her arms.

The door slid open and Kate and I stepped inside. Molly bit her lip, glancing between us and the stairs, while Kate and I exchanged exasperated looks.

“Stop being a baby,” said Kate impatiently. “We’re leaving now, good bye.”

Scowling, Molly stepped into the elevator and pressed herself against the wall as I pressed the ground floor button. I wasn’t sure what her problem was – she claimed it was a claustrophobia thing, but I didn’t get how she could be freaked out in a stupid elevator when she had had a shoot-off with an Alley Man the night before. Go figure.

As the elevator jolted and slowly began to move downwards, Molly clutched at the wall immaturely while Kate scrolled through something on her phone. We had just passed the third floor when all of a sudden everything went black. As all three of us gasped loudly, the elevator came to a shuddering, screeching halt.

“Holy crap,” whispered Kate in the smothering darkness. “What happened?”

“Power’s out,” I said, fighting down a wave of panic. Holy crap, we were stuck in an elevator – we were stuck in an elevator – what were we going to do? I said Molly’s name quietly, wondering if she was hyperventilating because this was literally her worst fear ever, but her voice was its usual snappy self when she said,

“Kate, turn on your flashlight app, I can’t see a damn thing.”

The darkness continued for a moment, broken only by the screen of Kate’s phone as she scrabbled to pull up the app, and at last we had a little beam of light as she held it up to illuminate our faces. Molly had her phone pressed to her ear, but she swore and put it back in her pocket after a moment, declaring that there was no service.

“I’ve a feeling this isn’t just a power-out,” she said darkly.

Kate and I exchanged a glance. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“What are the chances that all power in the building just dies? I mean, this has got to be Alley Men.”

“ALLEY MEN?” My blonde friend was far too enthusiastic about the prospect; obviously she hadn’t been with us the night before. I hadn’t forgotten how scary it was with them chasing us down the alley.

Molly’s face was pretty grim, too. “It means they’re getting desperate,” she said, her eyes scanning the interior of the elevator. “I mean, if they’ve got the nerve to go after a public hotel. Maybe they want to use you for incentive, Nat, since Christina and Rosie aren’t working.”

I gulped. “What are we going to do?” I asked, trying not to scream. Kate’s eyes were huge in the phone’s light as we both looked at Molly instinctively. As much as we would have hated to admit it usually, she was basically the mom of our friendship. It couldn’t be denied.

Molly wasn’t actually freaking out, I was thankful to see, which made me think that maybe she’d been faking all along. Instead, her eyes were moving rapidly over the walls, floor, and ceiling of the elevator, her brow furrowing. She began to walk around the tight space, feeling with her hands as we watched in bewilderment.