Chapter 32

“How long are we gonna be stuck in here?”

Parker bent his head back and asked loudly.

He and Mason had been trapped in the elevator

car for over twenty minutes, while the guy from maintenance tried

to diagnose the problem.

“Uh, I can’t find out what’s wrong. I called

the elevator engineers.”

“And?”

“They’re not sure, either.”

“Jesus Christ,” Parker muttered.

“They said they’d send someone out.”

“How long’s that gonna take?”

“Uh, well, could be a couple hours.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Parker slammed his

fist into the metal wall of the elevator car.

“No, Parker! No!” Mason screamed. In

that instant he was transported back thirteen years. Unwelcome

images of Parker slamming his fist into his locker and shouting

those self-same words echoed round Mason’s head. He began to

tremble violently, as mental flashbacks of his beating at the hands

of the football team crowded his mind.

Parker spun to face Mason. “What? How come