Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
She was right, but I hated how her words exposed my weakness. “Yeah, well, I’m fine.”
“Okay.” Her doubt came through loud and clear by her tone.
“I am.”
“I’m not saying you aren’t.”
I stewed in silence for a moment, but the longer I sat in the all too quiet dark, the more I swore I could smell the mineral scent of dirt surrounding me.
“So, do you have a phone?”
I felt my pocket and wanted to thump my head against the wall. “No. I must have left it up in my office.”
“Oh, you work here?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you do?”
“My job is boring. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Okayyyy,” she said slowly, obviously confused by my abrupt answer.
Things went still again, and my skin began to prickle as the sound of my heartbeat seemed to pound louder and louder.
When she spoke, I eagerly grasped onto the sound of her voice as tangible proof that I wasn’t alone in the eternal dark. “Do you think it’s another haboob blackout?”
“What?”
“Haboob,” she said slowly as if speaking to a child. “You know, those big dust storms we’ve been having? I live up north of Carefree, so they haven’t hit us, but I saw it on the news last week. A big one wiped out the power grid in Phoenix for over six hours. Man, it would suck to be stuck in here for that long.”
I slowly slid down the wall until I sat. Vaguely, I remembered the city being coated in a cloud of dust, but I’d been barely aware of anything outside of helping the Cordova family with their grief. From the moment we found Fernando’s son’s abused body, nothing else really mattered. I frowned as I realized how disconnected I’d been. Just going through the motions while wrapped up in my own head. I’m lucky as fuck none of my enemies used the opportunity to come after me, ‘cause I would have been a pathetically easy hit.
“You still there?”
I cleared my throat as some of the cobwebs seemed to lift from my brain. “Yeah, I’m here. Could be another haboob, you might be right.”
She sighed. “Then we might be here awhile. Glad I went to the bathroom before I got on the elevator.”
The corner of my mouth quirked up in a smile. “I wish I had. Hopefully we won’t be here long enough for it to become an issue.”
“Don’t worry, I have extra diapers for Vali. You can borrow one.”
“You have diapers for your dog?”
She was silent for a moment, then sighed. “I do. I also have emergency food for both myself and Vali, two bottles of water, a bowl, and three doses of my meds, just in case I get stuck somewhere. Oh, and a multipurpose tool, a compass, and some pepper spray.”
“Please don’t use the pepper spray in here. That would suck.”
Her soft, purring laugh stroked over me, and I froze at the surprisingly pleasant sensation. “See, my mind likes to think of worst-case scenarios for whenever I’m out in public.”
Eager to keep her talking, to experience more of her lovely voice, I said, “Worst case scenarios?”
“Yeah, like…what if the zombie apocalypse happens while I’m in town? What if a meteor strikes? What if a nuclear bomb goes off?”
“You really think about that stuff?”
“I have iodine tablets in my purse.”
“Wow. Really?”
She laughed softly, and it wasn’t a happy sound. “No on the iodine tablets. Yes on everything else. I’m a freak.”
The self-deprecating tone of her lovely voice caught my attention. “Yeah, well, you’re a freak who won’t pee their pants, even if you have to borrow a dog diaper to do it. That makes you a winner in my book.”
When she burst out laughing, my heart seemed to momentarily hitch in my chest. It was the most beautiful, entrancing, joyous laugh I’d ever heard in my life. And it was completely genuine. Working for the Cordova Cartel, I’ve been around some of the most striking women in the world, all set on seducing their way into a high-ranking member’s bed. I’ve been stalked by plenty of females who thought I was their meal ticket, and a few had sexy voices to go with their perfect bodies.
None of them had ever affected me like this.
“Thanks, I think.” She giggled again. “That’s probably the weirdest compliment I’ve ever gotten.”
“I only speak the truth.”
A rattling sound came from across the elevator, and she made a noise of disgust. “Emergency phone isn’t working. Crap, I hope we’re not here too long.”
The sound of cloth shifting reached my ears and something brushed my side.
“That was just me,” she said quickly. “No reason to go all Bruce Lee on me. Just copping a squat next to you.”
To my surprise, the dog decided to drape himself over both of our laps.
At first, I tensed. I hadn’t let a dog close to me like this in years.