Page 45 of Critical Alliance (Rocky Mountain Courage 3)

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” She rushed forward and let him pull her through the opening. Dim lights flashed in the hallway. Then the power came back on, and lights flickered bright in the corridor. The elevator doors closed, and the car sounded as if it were going down to the main floor.

What would have happened if she had been climbing out and the elevator started again?

Alex pulled her to her feet and gently gripped her arms. He peered at her, distress exploding from his intense gaze. “Are you okay?”

Now that you’re here.She was terrified moments ago. A ridiculous, unreasonable terror. Seeing Alex’s face had surprised and relieved her, but there was another, more powerful emotion that she couldn’t put her finger on as he held her gaze for far too long.

Heart pounding, she found her voice. “Yes . . .” The word came out in a whisper. “Now that I’m out of that terror box, I’m fine.” She glanced around the corridor, where emergency lights still flashed. The alarm had been shut off, though. “Can someone please tell me what exactly happened?”

Tilden, one of two security guards Mackenzie had met when she’d entered the facility earlier, finished speaking with his night shift partner over his radio, then waved them forward and down the corridor toward the stairwell.

“Some kind of catastrophic power failure,” he said. “I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” They followed him down the corridor as he continued talking. “The elevator runs on a battery and should have safely taken you to the main floor.”

On the first-floor level, they pushed through the stairwell door into the main foyer. Tilden turned to Nora. “I’ll let the fire department know we got her out. They were on their way.”

“And you didn’t wait?” Mackenzie looked between Tilden and Alex.

“He wouldn’t wait.” Tilden gestured at Alex.

“Thank you.” She would still be waiting in the elevator for the fire department if Alex hadn’t decided to intrude into her night at Hanstech.

My hero.