Ruin
Page 21
*
Alexander strode into the infirmary and made a beeline for the old man.
“What's going on?” Heather said, poking her head from her back-room office.
“I need to talk to him,” he said, settling down beside their bloodied guest.
Heather shook her head. “He's deep under. I wouldn't bother. Didn't Ray tell you what you needed to know?”
Alex glanced at her and then back to the old man. “Ray's dead,” he muttered.
Her face fell. “He’s what?” She hurried into the room. “What do you mean?”
“I mean he's dead. We found him up at the mill. Murdered.”
“B—wha—by who?”
Alex shrugged and shook the old man’s arm. “I don't know. Creek and McKay have gone after them.” His jaw tightened at that. He’d almost cried out in anguish when he’d heard from the armoury guards that Lucian had headed off into the wilds—and that he’d taken Norman with him.
Heather sighed and held her head in her hands. She then began to shake, silently weeping. Alex watched her clutch at one of the beds, ready to catch her if she fainted. With the colour disappearing from her face, she had to suck in deep breaths to regain her composure. “How could somebody get into the city without us knowing?” she said, hiccoughing.
Alexander nudged the old man once more. “If somebody wants to get in, they can. There aren't enough of us to cover all the streets, all the fences. The city’s built too tight.” He paused, and fought back the urge to swallow. “Besides, I'm sure they've been here before.”
“What do you mean by that?” She lurched forwards and took Alex's hands away from the old man's frail body. “I've drugged him. He won't be awake for hours—Alexander, what do you mean, they’ve been here before?”
Alex took to searching the man's clothes. “Whoever killed Ray knew where he lived, and they knew how to get out again without being seen.”
He paused with his hands immersed in the remains of a tattered trouser pocket. When he withdrew his fingers, they were wrapped around a folded piece of paper.
“What’s that?” Heather said.
Alex shook his head and slipped it into his pocket. “I don’t know. I’ll look at it later.”
Without another word, he nodded to her and left the room.