Lift Me Higher. Kim Shaw

birth defect that they would spend the first five years of his life fighting. Torie was one year old when Miles succumbed to his disease and, by then, Brenda’s dreams of a career in music had shriveled up and died.

      “Mama, please don’t worry. Trust me. I know what I’m doing. You’ll see,” Torie said, looking at her mother in a meaningful way.

      “All right, well, tell me about these lawyers you hired. How was your meeting? Did you have a good feeling about them?” Brenda asked.

      “Oh, the firm is one of the best—a lot of heavy hitters in the entertainment field. They’ve assigned a young woman, a junior associate, to work on my contracts, and I already like her. She’s current, yet very knowledgeable. She’s already made a lot of calls on my behalf, and I get the sense that she’s going to be a tough negotiator,” Torie answered, grateful for the change in subject.

      “That sounds terrific, honey, but have you thought about this? Are you sure you want to go with a female? I mean, you know how this business is. Maybe a man might be more beneficial to you,” Brenda said.

      Torie sighed beneath her breath, amazed at her mother’s perfected ability to put a negative spin on any subject. As she thought of a response that would put her caring but pessimistic mother at ease, a slow smile came to her face while her mind recalled the image of the tall, dark and scrumptious man she’d shared an elevator ride with that morning.

      “What? What are you smiling about?” Brenda asked suspiciously.

      “Nothing, I was just thinking about the fact that Cooper & Beardsley is home to more than its fair share of fine male attorneys. I should bring you with me the next time I go there and hook you up with one of those professional men, Mama.” Torie laughed.

      “Me? Child, please. You know I’m not even studying no man. All that’s over with for me,” Brenda said.

      “Mama, why do you say things like that? You’re a beautiful woman, and you’ve got a lot to offer a man. If you’d stop acting like you have one foot in the grave, you could—”

      “Torie, I don’t want to talk about this again. Like I said, I am not interested in offering anybody anything. And just because you’re taking a very wise and necessary break from men right now, does not mean you should be concentrating on my personal life. Hook me up? Please. You just focus on your career and nothing else, you hear?”

      “Yes, ma’am,” Torie said with another exaggerated under-the-breath sigh.

      Torie was seven years old when her parents split up for the last time. It had been a tumultuous relationship, plagued by the resentment born of unfulfilled dreams. The couple had had one more child, a son they named Darius, but that wasn’t enough to save the relationship. Darius was still a toddler when their father moved, first out of the home and then out of Georgia. He eventually ended up in California, where he remarried. After that, they saw less and less of him, and she watched as her mother grew more and more disinterested in romance altogether.

      “Come on, Mama, let’s go do some shopping,” Torie said, purposely changing the subject.

      “There are still quite a few stores that I can’t let you leave New York without hitting up.”

      The women spent the afternoon trying on shoes and clothes at a variety of trendy boutiques. At various times, when each believed the other to be preoccupied with a dress or a pair of boots, they would get lost in their private thoughts. The faraway look that clouded Brenda’s eyes as she thought of herself on yesterday’s stages was matched by the one in Torie’s eyes as she dreamed of passionate kisses with a gorgeous man in a red tie.

      Chapter 3

      Trapped

      Monte dropped his PDA into the pocket of his briefcase as he moved past the vacant reception desk and toward the bank of elevators. He glanced at the Movado watch on his left wrist and issued a mild curse beneath his breath. He was late and the boys would already be in bed by the time he got home. He hated not being home for dinner and detested missing the opportunity to tuck them in after a few rounds of XterminatoR video game on the PS3 system. The fact that tonight’s holdup couldn’t be avoided due to a delayed international flight of one of his most prominent clients and a very long meeting did not make him feel any better.

      Monte rubbed his forehead, glad that it was Friday night and he could look forward to a relaxing weekend with his sons. Tomorrow morning he planned to take them to the lake for the day where they’d get the canoe out if the weather was good and maybe do some fishing. He stepped into the elevator, pressed the button for the lobby and leaned back against a side wall. The doors began to close, but they stopped just before they met when a slender hand slid between them. Monte looked, startled to see that the hand belonged to none other than Torie Turner.

      “Ooh, I made it,” she said, moving into the elevator with a small hop.

      Monte quickly depressed the open button until Torie was completely inside.

      “Thank you.” She smiled.

      “You’re welcome.” Monte smiled back.

      Torie reached out and pressed the already-illuminated lobby button. The doors closed and the elevator began its descent. Torie stared at the buttons, fully aware of Monte’s eyes on her. From her peripheral she could see him studying her, and while an intense look like his should have made her nervous or uncomfortable, it didn’t. She refused, however, to allow herself to turn to meet his gaze, despite the fact that his eyes felt like magnets, drawing her own eyes to his.

      Monte started to speak. He cleared his throat, parted his lips and the lights went out. The elevator lurched to a stop, propelling Torie into Monte.

      “Oh,” she screamed.

      “What the—” Monte began.

      He caught Torie in one arm and steadied her.

      “Are you okay?”

      “Yeah…yes. Whoa, that was scary. What’s happening?” she asked, her voice tinged with panic.

      “I don’t know,” Monte answered. He reached out, fumbling with the buttons in an attempt to press the now-blackened one for the lobby. The elevator remained motionless and dark. He felt along the smooth panel again until he located the alarm. He pressed that button and the shrill sound rang out, causing Torie, who was still standing very close to Monte, to jump even closer.

      “It’s okay. I’m just ringing the alarm to alert someone that we’re in here,” Monte said.

      The rich timbre of Monte’s voice had an almost calming effect on Torie. Almost, because although it was a well-guarded secret, Torie was deeply afraid of the dark.

      “Shouldn’t an emergency light come on or something?” she asked.

      “You would think so, but I’m guessing maybe the power is out. I’m sure it’ll come on in a few minutes.”

      “Do you really think so?”

      “Yeah, I’m sure of it. This is a state-of-the-art building and we’re constantly having elevator inspections and such. And even if it doesn’t come on, the lobby security will respond to the alarm,” Monte said.

      He said these words even though he really wasn’t sure of any of it. But making others feel at ease in any situation was in Monte’s nature and it was a talent at which he was very good. It was what made him a loving father and son, and a superb lawyer. He could feel the anxiety radiating off of Torie, and the last thing they needed while trapped and suspended twenty-odd stories off of the ground was for her to get hysterical.

      “Okay,” came Torie’s measured reply.

      She accepted Monte’s rationale and allowed it to sink into her mind and racing heart. Of course he was right. This was, after all, the Time Warner building, located in the center of midtown Manhattan on a Friday night. This building and its personnel was equipped to deal with this type of emergency, and it would just