'98 Taurus wagon brake lite access

Brake lite out on R, raised rear hatch and removed the two
screws holding the plastic brake lite cover in place but the
plastic housing only moves about an inch. I am reluctant to
force without knowing of occult fasteners or maneuvers to remove without damage. I checked the L side where spare
tire hides but no obvious access under the trim panel from inside the car.. R side trim panel more complex to remove anyway. So how do I get to the bulb? Steve (who hopes
next car is all LEDs).

LEDs suck if you care about all of them working. And they are expensive as hell to replace.

In any event, this is probably an idiot answer, but I wanted to point out that your owner's manual probably cover the procedure for this. At least, mine does. Good luck!

I will have to admit I had little enough faith in the manual that I did not look. So I checked both the Taurus and Sable owner manuals, nothing in either about the lateral brake lights except the bulb #. No mention of 'how to'. LEDs are all over trucks, stop lights and new cars. They last 10 to 50x as long as filaments, but you are right they will be expensive to fix.
Steve