Page 15 of Delta Mission
“Under the bus.”
Frowning, I strode to the decrepit bus, lowered to my hands and knees, and half expecting to see Channing pinned under there, I peered underneath. “Where are you?”
“Down here.”
Shifting my position, I saw the hole.
“How the hell did you get down there?” I still couldn’t see him.
“Long story. Are you okay?” The kindness in his voice surprised me.
“I’m alive. Can’t say the same for Trent or Lyle, though.”
“Fuck. I knew about Trent. Lyle too?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t want to go into specifics. “Where are the rest of your men?”
“I don’t know.”
I huffed. “Great.”
“Listen, I need your help to get out of here. Have you seen a rope or a ladder?”
“Yeah, actually, a ladder.”
“Perfect. Up the street a bit, there’s a narrow alley between two shelters. There’s a doorway and inside you’ll find a trapdoor in the floor. Grab the ladder and I’ll meet you there.”
“Sure. Give me a minute.”
I returned to the women’s hut and performing a weird contortionist trick, I hung upside down through the trapdoor to the drug lab, and holding my flashlight in my mouth, I cut the rope ladder from the hooks that held it in position.
I raced to where Channing said he would be.
“Got the ladder.” I shone my flashlight down on him.
He shielded his eyes from the glare. “Great, pass it down.”
“It’s a rope ladder. I’ll need to anchor it first.” I searched the room, but there was nothing around. And I hadn’t passed anything outside that would be helpful.
Damn it.“There’s nothing up here, Channing. I’ll have to hold it in position while you climb up.”
“Are you sure?”
“You wanna look?” I shone the light in his eyes.
Groaning, he shook his head. “Okay, send it down when you’re ready.”
I ran through several different ways to hold the ladder, before I decided the best one was the one I least wanted to do. But I had no choice.
I slipped the ladder over my torso and settled the top rung behind my back, low down on my hips. Then I sat over the hole with my feet wide apart, braced on the opposite side of the opening, and tossed the rope ladder down.
“Hold on, here I come.” Channing climbed up the ladder.
My position meant he climbed up between my legs. He swooped his gaze from my crotch to my eyes and smirked.
Before he could comment, I said, “Don’t say it, or I’ll drop you into that pit and leave you to rot.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” He climbed out and reached for my hand to help me up.
