Page 123 of Lion’s Den

Determination filled her. She wouldn’t accept that outcome. Sedona had a life ahead of her with the love of her life. She wouldn’t be able to enjoy that life unless she was still drawing breath.

“Time for you to wow the audience, my dear,” Simpson said. He took her arm and escorted her to the far wall where someone had conveniently propped a ladder. Her captor pushed her forward. “Go on. Remember the consequences if you fail.”

She glared at the assassin. “If your goal is to encourage me to succeed, you are failing miserably.”

This time, he shoved Sedona in the back. “Get up there and do your job.”

Well, she’d rather have him say that than harp about the consequences if she failed. But she wouldn’t. “I need at least one person to hold the ladder.”

Simpson motioned over two men who moved into position. “Get moving, Miss Hart.”

Without thinking about it, Sedona slipped out of her socks and shoes, placing them where she could retrieve them easily. If she survived. No, when she survived. She had to make it. Daisy, Eddie, and Julio’s lives were forfeit if she failed, not to mention her own.

Besides, who else could do this? Eddie? Julio’s brother was terrified. That much had been clear when she’d talked to him and Daisy earlier. Walking wires had been her world once. She would have to draw upon her skills one more time.

Right. Sedona wished she believed her own pep talk. Her breath shortened as she grasped a higher rung and stepped on the first rung of the ladder. Without allowing herself to look down, she climbed one rung after another. So far, so good.

A mini-episode of BPPV hit without warning as the floor shifted slightly. Her stomach lurched as she gripped the rung and froze. Breathe, Sedona, she counseled herself. It’s not real. You know it’s just a figment of your imagination. The floor didn’t move.

She breathed through the episode, afraid to move. She ignored Simpson’s shouted orders to get moving again. Finally, Sedona’s sense of balance and positioning returned to normal.

She resumed climbing, careful to keep her head positioned properly. Trusting her peripheral vision to let her know when she’d reached the beam, Sedona continued to climb one rung at a time until there were no more rungs.

Again, she froze, then turned her head slowly to the left. The beam stretched across the room three feet above her head. Her heart raced. In order to climb onto the wood, she would have to let go of the ladder, grip the beam, and haul herself up.

When one man holding the ladder shook it, then roared with laughter along with his buddies, Sedona decided that was her sign to get off the ladder. She didn’t trust Simpson or his people. He could order his men to yank the ladder out from under her, sending her crashing to the floor, if he believed she wouldn’t do the job.

Her lips curved. If that happened, one of his cronies would have to traverse the maintenance beam and flip the switch for the stairs to appear. She wondered how they would enjoy working one hundred feet off the ground with no safety measures. Sedona never thought she’d miss her safety harness, but she did. Safety, it seemed, was out of the question on this quest. The only person who mattered in this equation was Simpson.

She sucked in a breath, reached up, gripped the beam, and stepped free of the ladder. Muscle memory from years of walking the high-wire kicked in as she climbed onto the beam. Her bare feet settled on the wood, testing the surface with her toes.

Hope blossomed. Her confidence grew with each slow, sure step she took. Without thinking, Sedona lifted her arms slightly for balance. She could do this and save two innocent teenagers and her student while protecting the man she loved at the same time.

She took another step. This time, a brief vertigo flicker hit. No, no, no. She paused, locked her neck, kept her head perfectly still, and focused on her breathing for one minute, two minutes.

Sedona reset her focus and resumed the journey of her life one careful step at a time. Five more steps were behind her when the beam vibrated slightly under her weight. More muscle memory kicked in as she adjusted her balance.

Her BPPV flickered at the edge of her mind. With ruthless determination, Sedona pushed the lie aside and gained more precious ground until she was five feet from the access panel.

Another wave of BPPV rolled over her, this one seconds longer. Her balance shifted to compensate for the lie. Shouts from below echoed in the tower as she fought the silent battle to remain on her feet. Seconds later, the wave of dizziness subsided, and she regained her hard-won balance. Knowing she wouldn’t win another battle with her mind and gravity, Sedona fixed her gaze on the target and took one step in front of another until she stood directly under the panel.

For a man paranoid about security, here was another example of cost-cutting measures that might get him killed. The panel simply slid open without a lock to secure the stair mechanism, which defeated her only plan to help the man living above her head. There was nothing else she could have done without risking Eddie and Daisy. Whispering a prayer for Mr. Lyons’ safety, she pushed aside the panel, reached inside, and pressed the button clearly marked ‘Stairs’.

A deep mechanical rumble created a vibration, forcing her to grab the edges of the access panel for balance. Beautiful metal curved staircases on both sides of the castle tower slid into place. No railing, but at the moment, she didn’t care about that. Sedona took the remaining steps across the beam at a faster pace and jumped onto a blessedly solid cold stair.

Simpson and six of his men split into two groups and surged up both sets of stairs.

Sedona pressed herself as tightly against the wall as she could until the men raced beyond her position. Using her hand against the wall as a guide, she rushed down to the bottom floor and across to the doorway where she’d left her shoes.

She bent and snatched them up, hurrying to find a place to hide long enough to put her shoes on. No shoes outside this castle meant bruised or injured feet that made her vulnerable to being recaptured. That couldn’t happen.

A minute later, she found a broom closet and shut herself in. Working by feel, Sedona yanked on her socks, then shoved her feet into her shoes, lacing them quickly. Standing, she tried to listen for Trey or one of his buddies coming to take her prisoner again, but she couldn’t hear anything over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

Sedona opened the door a crack, praying one of the guards wasn’t standing right in front of her. She scowled. How did this work for Cam and his teammates? The right looked clear. The left, however, she couldn’t see at all from this angle.

Sedona pushed the door open a little wider. Still nothing. She couldn’t wait any longer. Someone would notice she hadn’t run up the stairs to see what happened to Mr. Lyons.

Another check revealed nothing to the right. She eased out into the darkened hallway and looked left. Empty. Thank God.