CHAPTER TWO
Jason Morgan could read people, and it was very apparent that Tracy Quartermaine was scared. "You have to stay calm," he told her.
"No," she shook her head in disgust. "I'm not one of your mob molls, Jason. You don't get to tell me what to do."
"Tracy—"
Before he could finish, she started banging on the doors and shouting, "HELP! HELP US! GET US OUTTA HERE!"
The fire alarm seemed louder.
"HELP!"
"Tracy!" Jason yelled. "Shut up!"
"Stop ordering me around! HELP!" she continued. She hit the door until her arms became tired. "I…I…Help," she whispered, before stopping.
The file alarm still sounded.
"My cell-phone!" she realized.
"It's not going to work," Jason told her. "I already tried."
She waved a finger in his face, "Well, don't think remembering your cell-phone makes you a smart one," she paused. "Because it doesn't." She sighed, "You don't think there's a real fire, do you?"
He shrugged, "I don't smell smoke, but I'm not going to wait around. Excuse me."
"What are you going to do?"
Jason desperately tried to pry open the elevator doors.
"Guess you're not as macho as you think," Tracy noted. "And even if you were, what if we're between floors? You're going to open those doors and see a cement wall. Yeah, that's great." She might as well have been talking to herself because Jason wasn't listening.
"Damnit!" he said.
"What did you do?" she asked, annoyed.
"Hold on. Hold on. I got it!" the doors opened.
"And there's your cement wall, genius," she gestured with her hand. She folded her arms. "Now what?"
"We see if there's another way out."
Tracy laughed her laugh. "Oh my God. You're serious? What other way is there?"
Jason pointed up.
"You are serious," she realized.
The steady buzz of the alarm was disrupted by a creaking sound.
"What was that?" Tracy asked.
"You're going to find out."
"Me? What?" she was shocked. He has to be kidding.
"I'm going to help you up, and you're going to tell me what you see."
He's not kidding. "Jason, no. I can't…I can't…Trust me. It's not going to work. This isn't me. I can't," she repeated. And she was right. It wasn't her…or was it? Tracy Quartermaine could scheme with the best of them and make people with they had never been born. She considered herself somewhat adventurous, and hell, she'd give anything to be on an adventure with her husband right now, instead of trapped in an elevator, in a possibly burning building, with Jason Morgan, but—
"Tracy?"
"Hmm?"
"You ready?"
She placed both hands on her face, "All right, but I'm only doing this because I have no interest in spending the final hours of my life with you."
"Come on, then. If you want to get out here, you're going to have to work with me."
"On second thought—Kidding," she added. It wasn't time to be amusing.
Jason sighed. He was frustrated with her but wasn't going to say anything. "First, take off the heels. Then, on the count of three, you're going to put one foot on that bar, push off on it, and put your other foot there."
"Whoa. What?"
"It's not complicated."
"Then you do it."
"Tracy, you won't be able to catch me if I fall."
Tracy frowned. He not insinuating that he'll catch me if I fall, is he?
"I'll catch you if you fall."
Yep. That's exactly what he was insinuating.
"Come on. One. Two. Three—" she stood motionlessly on the metal bar, greatly trying to keep her balance.
"I gotcha," Jason held her hand.
"Oh, you are so lucky we're related, because if we weren't, and you took my hand like that, I'd slap you the hell out of this town."
"Tracy, please—"
"What?" she asked, innocently. "If we weren't related, I'd honestly believe you were trying to make a move."
Jason didn't react much; he just instructed, "Less talking. More concentrating."
"Aye, aye, Mr. Morgan. Oh, God. I am taking orders from you now."
"Can you balance? You'll need both hands to open the trap door."
Tracy adjusted her footing. "Okay, I'm good. You can let go of my hand."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm good," she repeated, aggravated. She let go. "All right. I almost have it. Almost…Ooh! Got it!"
"What do you see?"
Tracy confirmed Jason's fear, "Oh, God. The elevator cable is breaking…and…and—" she started coughing. "I see smoke."
PREVIEW: Tracy reluctantly tells Jason about Manny Ruiz.
