08bis Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich

I had half a day to make Christmas happen. And some or all of that time was going to be spent hunting Ring. I could feel the panic sitting thick in my throat. I didn't even have the gloves I'd gotten for my dad. They'd gone up in smoke with the CRV.
    "You could bail," Diesel said to me, reading my thoughts. "We'd understand."
    Before I could make a decision there was a clap of thunder, the building shook, and a crack angled across the ceiling. We started for the door, but we were stopped midway by another boom. Plaster rained down from above, and we dove under a large butcher-block workstation. A couple large chunks of ceiling broke loose and crashed to the floor. More ceiling followed. The light blinked out, and demolition dust swirled around us. The workstation table had saved our lives, but we were buried under debris from the roof.
    We did a head count and concluded we were all okay.
    "I could dig my way through this mess," Diesel said, "but I'm afraid it's unstable. It needs to be cleared from the top."
    We all tried our cell phones, but we had no reception.
    "I don't get it," Briggs said. "What was that? It felt like an earthquake, but we don't get earthquakes in Jersey."
    "I guess it was a... phenomenon," I said.
    We sat there for a half hour, waiting for the sound of fire trucks and emergency equipment.
    "No one knows we're trapped here," Claws finally said. "We're separated from the other businesses by parking lots and roadways. And most of the businesses here are storage facilities with minimum traffic."
    "And it's possible the ceiling collapsed but the walls are still standing," Lester said. "If someone doesn't look closely they might not see the damage."
    I inched closer to Diesel. He felt big and safe and solid.
    He playfully tugged at a strand of my hair. "You aren't scared, are you?" he asked me, his lips skimming across my ear.
    "Not me. Nope. I'm cool."
    Liar, liar, pants on fire. I was scared beyond all reason. I was trapped under a ton of rubble with four men and no bathroom. My heart was beating with a sickening thud in my chest, and I was cold to the bone with fear and claustrophobia. If I got out alive I'd probably have a few uncomfortable moments remembering the way Diesel's mouth had felt on my ear. Right now, I was trying to keep my teeth from chattering in panic.
    "Someone needs to go for help," Claws said.
    "I guess that would be me," Diesel said. "Don't anyone freak."
    There was a sound like a soap bubble bursting. Plink. And I no longer felt Diesel beside me.
    "Holy crap," Briggs said, "what was that?"
    "Uh, I don't know," I said.
    "We're all still here, right?" Briggs asked.
    "I'm here," I said.
    "I didn't hear anything," Lester said.
    "Yeah, me either," Briggs said. "I didn't hear anything."
    We sat and waited in the eerie quiet.
    "Hello," Briggs called after awhile, but no one answered, and we all fell silent again.
    There was no way to assess time in the pitch-black cave. Minutes dragged by, and then suddenly there was a faraway sound. Scraping and clunking. And muffled voices carried in to us. We heard sirens, but they were faint, the sound deadened by the debris.
     
----
     
    Two hours later, after I'd made a lot of deals with God, a large piece of ceiling was hauled off our table, and we saw daylight and faces peering in at us. Another piece was removed, and Diesel dropped through the opening.
    "I'm thinking that I just imagined you were trapped under the ceiling with us," Briggs said. "You were actually on the outside all the time, right?"
    "Right," Diesel said, reaching for me.
    He gave me a boost, a couple firemen pulled me through the hole, and a cheer went up. Briggs came next, then Lester, then Claws, and finally Diesel emerged.
    Pretty much the entire roof had collapsed, but as Lester had suggested, the walls were still standing. The lot was filled with emergency vehicles and the curious. I stood in the lot and shook my head and plaster dust flew off. My clothes were caked with it,