Page 5 of Live Love Steal

There was silence. The elevator shuddered as it ground past the third floor.

“I really am sorry.”

Was the car moving slower than normal? I tried to remember my last visit here. We should be at the top by now.

A shudder ran through the cab.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

But it was something. Between floors three and four, the cab caught, and everything stopped.

“No. Please… no,” Raven-hair whispered.

About twenty seconds ticked in silence.

Then she shocked the hell out of me.

“Mother fucking, son of a bitch, god damned, dickwad shit!!”

“No cunt?”

“Excuse me?”

“While you’re letting it out, you might as well go for broke.” I reached over and pressed the emergency call button.

“I don’t say that word.”

“With the morning you’ve had already, I bet you’re rethinking that decision.” I pressed it again. A crackly voice finally filtered through the speaker.

“Hello. Are you experiencing an emergency?”

“Yes! We’re fucking trapped here.”

I followed up much more calmly. “The left bank of the courthouse’s main elevator is stuck between floors three and four. Could you notify the technicians? And, please notify the courtrooms that there are two people inside who have hearings today? Maybe get them bumped to the back of the roll call?”

“Is anyone inside the car experiencing a medical emergency?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Thank you. Notifying the building engineers now.”

“And the court? Please?” Raven-hair put in.

“Names?”

I said my name first. “David McMullen.”

The girl quickly followed, spelling them out after. “Isobel Jean Adelard...” When she finished, she whispered to me, “No one ever gets my name right.”

The voice from the speaker announced. “I will see what I can do.” Then clicked off.

Fuck that. “I’m texting my lawyer.” I tapped away on my phone.

“They didn’t confiscate yours.”

That they didn’t. Because I wasn’t stupid around cops anymore. I finished my message.