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“No, you’ll need them.”
“One is better than none. Take it!”
She snatched the glove and tugged it over her hand. “Just help me, will you!”
He joined Nova on the floor and added his strength to hers. Together, they heaved. His muscles quivered as they fought for every ounce of power he possessed.
The blasted thing refused to budge.
Time for a new plan.
“This won’t work. We need a pry bar.” Booth scanned the wreckage.
Biting back coughs, he picked his way across the room and grabbed a sturdy piece of wood. “I’ll lever it up, you grab Jan.”
Nova hesitated a beat, brow furrowed. Then she nodded. “Got it. Good idea.”
Booth drove the board under the log and looked to Nova. “Easy does it. We need to lift just enough for you to do your thing.”
“On three.” Nova stood over Jan and gripped the woman under the arms. “One, two, three!”
Booth applied pressure. The wood he used as a lever creaked and groaned. The log lifted an inch.
“Little more…c’mon,” Nova rasped.
He gritted his teeth and drove his weight harder against the lever.
“Al…most…” Nova slid Jan a few inches and repositioned to wrap her hands around Jan’s waist.
Booth groaned and put all his muscle into adding pressure. A long split zigzagged across the lever. “Hurry! It won’t hold much longer!”
“I’ve…got…her.” With one last pull, Nova shimmied Jan free.
The board snapped under Booth’s hands, and the log crashed to the floor, sending flaming sparks crackling upward.
Panting, they stared at each other for a beat. Nova’s big eyes blinked behind the goggles.
“We’re not—” Coughs wracked Booth’s body, and he leaned over to spit ash out of his mouth. “—out of the woods yet.”
A resounding boom announced another section of ceiling caving in. Tornadoes of scalding embers swirled around Booth’s head. He coughed again, swallowing a lungful of soot.
“Booth…? You still…in one piece…?” Nova choked out the words.
“I’m…fine.” He scrambled over to lift Jan. The woman’s head lolled as he lifted her over his shoulder, careful of her legs.
“Here.” Nova tossed the turnout coat that had fallen back over Jan.
“Follow me.” He carried Jan deeper into the museum to a far corner, tromping over burning debris.
Daylight peeked through the outline of a small rectangle where Finn had cut a makeshift door in the wall. Booth drove his boot into the plaster. It buckled.
Nova touched his shoulder. “I got it.” She kicked the remaining Sheetrock out from between the studs.
From the other side, Booth heard shouting.
“Stand back and I’ll cut the studs,” Finn yelled. The chainsaw growled to life and chewed through the wood. Two cuts at the top and two at the bottom. Hands reached in and yanked out the section of boards. “Okay, you’re clear!”
Nova helped Booth pass Jan through the small opening.
