Ducking under the last beam, Levi lunged himself forward and grabbed Teacher's shoulders, half dragging her with him out of the bullet spray. He rammed his shoulder against the nearby door, breaking it down. Hardly past the doorframe, he swung her around and pinned her against the wall. What had she been doing? Trying to get herself killed? His heart rate had not slowed from the time he'd seen her form huddled just a few inches from a bullet hole. "What the heck were you doing!?" he demanded gruffly through gritted teeth.

............................................

What was the cause of his sudden anger? His fingers bit through Chris' skin. Through the dim light caused by the light that escaped the shuttered windows, she could see his deep blue eyes on fire. A strong fear of him coursed through her entire body. He shook her.

"I was waiting for you" was the only thing she managed to say.

He angrily dug his fingers into his hair. He spun around slowly as if in wonder, a string of curses flying out. As long as his back was to her, Chris felt okay. He spun around. Her heart leapt into her throat. He drew so near, his nose was inches from hers. "Tell me," he hissed, arm right above her against the wall, "what makes you think I need you to wait for me?"

Chris couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"I've walked into this house twice—and walked out without a scratch." He saw he'd gotten her attention. "You know why? 'Cause the guy's I was with had enough sense to move on rather than cower under a bullet shower."

What makes you think you're such a big shot?" Chris immediately regretted her words. He was so near, she could feel him breathing!

He snapped, "Because I've finally met someone stupid!"

How dare he! She was on fire now. "I teach physics class."

He stepped back and asked incredulously, "You think I care?" He threw his arms into the air. "Well, giver of knowledge, show us a way out of here!"

Chris looked him over from top to bottom. He was incredibly buff—tall, muscular—but she could fight, too. He was intimidating—but she wasn't going to let him scare her anymore. She was going to have to prove herself just like at Garrison High—and prove he was just a bag of hot air. "Sure thing." She cast him a defiant glare before stepping over the felled wooden door.

He grabbed hold of her arm, tugging her back. Chris wished she could wipe that smirk of his face. "Leave it to the pros, baby." He let her go, stepping past her.

She caught hold of his strong arm. "You are not doing that to me."

Levi could see the fire in her green eyes. She had some nerve—something he wasn't in the mood for. He needed to find a way out of here. The house was more complex than the last time. He didn't want to risk failing because of this chic. But his problem? She was severely headstrong—and he didn't want her to get hurt. There must be a way around that. "Okay, listen. If I don't rap on this window after say about fifteen minutes, you get to figure your own way out."

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Chris knew he was trying to get rid of her. He was going to find his way out and go on his way, leaving her here. But who cared? She was supposed to have done this on her own from the beginning. And alone she would—after fifteen minutes. If she had survived lasers and shots fired at her head, what couldn't she survive?

Oh, better yet, if the guy got trapped, she'd have to rescue him! That would twist off his big head! She tried to ignore to familiar voice that told her she had some too. She reasoned to herself as she watched him turn a corner, "I'm trying to break his."

................................................

Levi was now aware that there was no exit through the windows. He'd tried one of the bedroom windows—opening and even shooting at it with the sidearm in his belt. Nothing budged. It was more than probable that the rest of the house was the same.

Standing still, he surveyed the room. It looked like it belonged to a teenager with the comic books scattered across the wall near the closet, bed unmade, and baseball hero posters on almost every wall.

In his silence, he heard a faint beeping. He immediately knew what it was. Gently, going on his hands and knees, he felt around to check if it was coming from below the floor boards. It wasn't. He was near panic, not knowing when the bomb would detonate. It would not do great damage since this was just training—but it was powerful enough to ruin his career of being an agent. He was not eager at all to go back to being a business partner with his dad. He was frantic, forcing himself to stay calm—nothing was under the bed or on it or under the mat beside it. He was sure he'd been all over the room. He cursed under his breath in frustration. He glided his hand over the comic books—and stilled. He hurriedly tossed each one to the side and soon revealed the slim rectangular box. He carefully picked it up. He had less than ten seconds. His palms sweated, but not out of nervousness. He'd done this a thousand times. He was excited.

Having disabled the gadget, he got up to his feet.

Now, to find a way out of here.

Before he took a step forward, the floor under him gave way. The wood had not cracked. He fell through the middle—nothing to grab hold to. He hit the dusty ground, rolling it out to lessen the impact of the fall. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, rubbing his sore shoulder. This place was pitch- dark apart from the dim light from above.

He stood up, the realization of how crazy this house was hitting harder. Judging the distance, he had probably fallen nine feet into here.

"This must be the basement," he reasoned aloud.

He stretched his arms out in front of him. His palms were flat on a wall. This could be bad. He walked around with his arms out until reaching his starting point. "What is this?" This was a room below a room? It was about half the size of the one above—with no doors. The walls were concrete, the floor solid ground. The only way out was up.

He was trapped.

..........................................................

Fifteen minutes. He was sure that time had passed. He rested his arms on his raised knees. He'd been thinking a way out for so long his head hurt. The teacher was probably figuring her way out by now. No doubt she'd make it out thinking he had. He looked up. It was sunset. Great.

He found himself wishing she would find him. Oh, no way! He could just picture her smug expression of satisfaction. Maybe she'd leave and his buddies would come looking for him. Oh, but no. He could never. He was the champ of this house. He could not be rescued out of it.

His keen hearing caught the sound of soft footsteps approaching. He instinctively looked up, hoping to catch a glance of her.

She stopped at the edge of the hole. "Whoa!" She giggled. "Imagine I fell in!"

Levi had to bite his tongue to keep from saying anything. She had no idea he was there—and he partially wanted it to stay that way.

She returned with a stack of books. "Let's see how deep this place is." Arms stretched out, she dropped them. Levi grunted in pain at the dizzying weight that had fallen on his head. All of him screamed for keeping all the words in—fiery words.

.....................................................

The books had bumped twice—and she was sure she'd heard some other sound. Maybe this was the way out! The way that guy probably used! Legs dangling over the edge, she started thinking about her landing. Should she land on her knees or should she roll? What about sharp objects? she thought, looking down at her feet left with only black socks as a covering.

She took a deep breath. "Here's to liberty!" she said, hopping off the edge into the dark without another thought. She had been expecting the ground, so why....? Her feet weren't on the ground. Her arm caught a steady heartbeat against a solid chest. She was in someone's arms! She instinctively swung her fist at the invisible face and hit squarely on the jaw—she was let down instantly. She hopped back several steps, retreating, and ran against the wall.

"Brava, ma'am," a deep familiar voice said dryly.

And all this time I'd thought he'd made it out! "What are you doing here?"

"I should be the one asking that."

By the rough tone of his voice, Chris could tell he was none too pleased she was there. Maybe this was the way out—and he was bothered that she'd shown up before he'd left. A silent rage rumbled in her thoughts she knew she should not entertain. She'd hardly been with this guy for a full day and she felt such resentment toward him. No, she couldn't feel this way! Especially not to a total stranger! She was a Christian after all—but the feelings just didn't let up. At least he didn't know it.

"What? Are you praying God will give you an answer to my darn simple question?"

A knife in the chest could not possibly be more piercing as what he'd just said. He knew.

The darkness seemed to be darker, a heaviness settling over her. You're such a hypocrite! What kind of Christian are you? the dark inner voice said.

Chris shut her eyes tightly. She felt like an utter failure. She felt so weak. Her mouth moved, no sound coming out. "Oh, God help me!" her heart cried out.

My grace is sufficient for you. It was the calm still voice she knew so well. The heaviness lifted as quickly as it had come.

At peace and filled with renewed joy, she opened her eyes. Even though she couldn't see him, she said, "I thought it could be a way out."

He cursed.

She winced at his vileness.

She heard his deep groan and she could tell he'd sunk down the wall to her right.

She went to his side without thinking deeper about it. It was rather cool, but Chris felt it was freezing. She'd left her sweater in the classroom that morning. She had to fight against the urge to lean closer for warmth. There must be a way out of here! Looking up, she knew there was no chance they could go out that way.

Unable to stand the cold, she started pacing.

"They'll be here any time."

Chris paused. "Who?" Alarm spread through her at the dull tone of his voice.

As if he hadn't heard her question, "Imagine being defeated by a dumb house—being ruined by a house!"

His words perplexed her—scared her. What was going to befall them? Torture? Brutal death? "What will happen to us?"

.....................................................

Levi raised his head—not because he could see her, for the sun had set, but because she sounded rather anxious. He grinned to himself knowing she would probably rejoice at what he'd say. "A few of the guys are gonna get us out—safe and sound." Then his attitude darkened.

.............................................................

Chris sighed in relief. "Oh, good."

"Then this whole thing's a fail," the guy said.

To her ears, those words were like music. Fail. All she needed to do was sit her until they got rescued and she'd return to the normal world. She'd go back to being a teacher—then she remembered—she'd been fired. But who said she couldn't get another teaching position someplace else? The nightmare was almost over!

She giggled, feeling silly. She had not felt her anxiety queasiness in the first place to start freaking out. Then she was struck by the reality that she actually trusted that sense.

She went to the guy's side, feeling relaxed that all would be over soon. Her exhaustion of the craziest day of her life made her rest her head on the guy's arm. Feeling him tense, she jolted back up. She came to realize she knew nothing of him. "What's your name?"

After a deafening few beats, he answered, "Stevens."

"Do you have a first name, Stevens?" Chris pressed.

"I'll stick to last name basis," he said rather flatly.

She bit her lip to keep from slapping him with a few words about his lack of social kindness and to suppress her distain. "Well, Mr. Stevens," she said in a pained cheerfulness. "I'm Miss Hopper—"

"Can't you find something more productive than attempting at small talk?"

"I'm so sorry for putting you in a bad mood," she snapped in exasperation.

He snorted. "You really don't know where we're hanging." Unable to see her, he looked straight ahead, continuing, "They find us, I lose the chance of ever being an agent—thanks to you jumping down here."

"Like I care."

He ceased the opportunity. "My, that was awfully Christian of you to say."

Chris moved to the other side of the space. Great. Deciding to change how she thought of him didn't change him—but one thing got her. "They find us; I lose the chance of ever being an agent." He wanted this whole thing? She thought back to earlier that day. He'd played his part wonderfully . . . maybe. He'd gotten her out of a tree. Now here he was being her thorn. She flushed at the thought of wrapping her arms around his waist. And hadn't he returned the embrace? My, how feelings change! she thought dryly. But then again, what if she was the problem? Hadn't he caught her from crashing into this hole of boom? She mentally slapped herself for thinking that way . . . but she couldn't help feeling the ball was on her side. "I gotta find a way out of here," she whispered to herself decidedly. "Let's make this a truce."

She pressed her weight on the walls as she walked around, searching for the moving wall she assumed should be there. She tumbled over Stevens, splaying awkwardly on the dusty ground.

Strong arms pulled her up. "I tried that."

Face on fire and glad for the dark of night, she mumbled, "What? Tripping?"

He moved his hands from her shoulders to her forearms. Levi wished he could see her eyes to discover what she was up to. "What game are you playing?"

"Maybe I want to do a good turn to you," she replied in tone that made her sound as though she was asking a question. Her body shivered from the cold but she did her best not to let on. She felt uncomfortable with the way he still held on. She could tell he was thinking but she didn't want him too close! She tried to withdraw gently. He hardly noticed the struggle.

'I don't need one of those 'good turns.'"

"Then let me go!" She pulled away, while he clearly had no intent in holding on. She withdrew several steps and reached down to roll up the legs of her pants, preparing to search the ground.

............................................................

Levi heard her shuffling sounds and did his best not to say anything in annoyance—for she was driving him insane. Didn't she know it was hopeless?

......................................................

It felt like a good twenty minutes had passed before she stood. Chris' knees throbbed maybe because they were bruised—and so was her enthusiasm and will. She huffed out a breath. "God, get us outta here," she sighed, reaching down to unroll the legs of her pants to stop the chilly air that blew on them.