Alex retrieved the syringe and moved back into the cell.
“You’re not a very nice person,” Alex said, crouching down to Kalyna’s eye level. “I don’t like people who aren’t nice.”
Kalyna eyed her through half-open lids. There was fear now in her gaze, not likely an emotion she experienced often. But there was also still a bit of defiance.
“I know what you’re thinking. I know you’re telling yourself that tomorrow, or the next day, you’re going to find me and return the favor. But sorry, that’s not gonna happen. What’s gonna happen is that your habit of beating on others is gonna stop. Maybe you don’t believe me, but here’s the thing. People already know I beat you once. They’re gonna see you now, see your broken nose there, and know I did it again. They’ll know you aren’t as tough as you pretend to be. And they’ll stand up to you. And they’ll come at you. And there will be nothing you can do about it.” She paused. “Nod if you understand me.”
Kalyna stared at her, unmoving, for several seconds, breathing raggedly through her open mouth. Finally she nodded.
“Good,” Alex said. “I have one more surprise for you.” She lifted her hand and wiggled the syringe in the air.
Kalyna’s eyelids opened wider. She pressed herself against the wall, as if hoping she could push through it.
“Don’t worry,” Alex said. “This is gonna help you sleep, for a nice long time. Hell, it might even be lunch tomorrow before you wake up. It’ll give your pain some time to dull.” She smiled. “Consider this a favor. You’re welcome.”
Alex made like she was about to lean in and stab the needle into the woman’s arm. The moment Kalyna tried to twist away from her, Alex changed directions and drove the tip into the woman’s thigh.
Kalyna cried out and tried to snatch the syringe, but Alex shoved her in the chest, knocking her against the wall. As soon as all of the drug was administered, she pulled out the needle.
“You might want to lie down,” she said.
Kalyna, drawing on whatever energy she had left, lunged forward. Alex stepped to the side, easily avoiding her.
With an angry growl, Kalyna staggered off the bed and onto her feet. The moment she was standing, she began to sway, and only kept from falling by grabbing the top bunk.
As Kalyna took an unsteady step toward Alex, the woman began to blink slowly. She thrust her other hand out, placing it against the wall. She blinked again, her eyes remaining closed for nearly a second this time. When she opened them, she looked back at her bunk, took a half turn toward it and promptly fell on the floor.
“Dammit,” Alex said under her breath.
The last thing she needed was for someone to find Kalyna passed out in the middle of her cell. It would most likely mean a trip to the infirmary for the night, and drug or no drug, Alex didn’t like the idea of the woman being anywhere near that place on this particular evening.
“I told you to lie down,” she said as she manhandled Kalyna back onto her mattress.
Rolling the woman toward the wall, Alex pulled the blanket over her, then stood back and surveyed her work.
Other than Kalyna seeming to have fallen asleep so early, nothing looked out of the ordinary. It would undoubtedly be a bit of a problem come cell-check time, but at most, Dr. Teterya or Irina would be called out to check on the unresponsive inmate, and could massage the story appropriately.
With a satisfied nod, Alex left the cell and turned for the exit. But the second she stepped out, she saw she was not the only one on the cellblock. Rachel was there, standing just inside the cellblock door.
“That’s not your cell,” Rachel said.
As Alex slipped the hand holding the syringe and bottle behind her back, she wondered how long Rachel had been there. Had she heard any of the fight?
“Just helping a friend,” Alex said, keeping her expression neutral, and continuing toward the door. “She wasn’t feeling well.”
“Who?”
“Just a friend. I doubt you know her.”
As Alex passed, Rachel followed. “I might.”
Alex paused in the doorway. “Elena. From Bulgaria. Know her?”
A frown and a shake of the head. “No. I don’t.”
Alex shrugged. “It’s a big place.” She then asked the question that was uppermost in her mind. “So what exactly are you doing in here? Your cell’s not up here.”
Rachel looked embarrassed. “I saw you come into the building and got curious. I’ve been looking for you.”
“Why?” Alex asked calmly, but inside she was far from relaxed.
“I felt…bad about earlier,” Rachel said. “You know, with Frida. I wanted to apologize, and, well, ask if you knew how she’s doing.”
Alex shook her head. “They were still examining her when they sent me back out. And as far as feeling bad, don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”
Rachel looked relieved. “Thanks. This place just gets to me sometimes.”
“It gets to all of us.”
Rachel nodded and walked over. “Don’t take this wrong, but I’m glad you’re here. It’s good to have a friend like you.”
“Thanks, I think,” Alex said, then stepped through the door.
Rachel followed her, all interest in Kalyna’s cell apparently gone, which was certainly a relief. “You wanna play some cards before they lock us in?”
“Thanks, but not tonight. I’m not feeling too good myself. Think I’ll just head back to my bunk and lie down.”
“Jesus,” Rachel said, “is something going around?”
“Could be.”
As they approached the door to the fourth-floor toilets, Alex said, “I need to make a pit stop.”
“Okay, I’ll wait here for you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“No problem,” Rachel said.
Alex flashed her a smile, and stepped inside the restroom. Moving to the toilet farthest from the door, she flushed the syringe and bottle, then waited a few extra minutes for authenticity’s sake before heading back out.
Alex parted with Rachel at the third-floor landing. Rachel continued down the stairs while Alex went to her cell, breathing the sigh of relief she’d been holding in for the last several minutes.
Twenty minutes later, the guards arrived with orders from Dr. Teterya to take her to the infirmary.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“We’re clearing out now to the observation point,” Cooper said into the phone. “Will move in for extract at the appointed time.”
“Let me know the second you have El-Hashim,” McElroy told him.
“Will do.”
“Don’t fuck this up.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Cooper clicked off before McElroy could reply.
Asshole.
Their camp had already been struck and packed into the back of the car. The only thing left in the roofless barn was the unconscious guard they’d taken prisoner.
“I was thinking maybe we should leave him tied up,” Deuce said. “That way it gives us a little extra time if he wakes early.”
Cooper doubted that would happen, but Deuce’s concern was sound. Still, they couldn’t leave the guy behind with no way to get loose. Out here, he might starve to death before anyone found him. They had no idea how much of a threat the guard really was, but killing an enemy with a gun in your face was one thing. Leaving a man to potentially die simply because he’d made a few bad choices was something else altogether.
Removing the hunting knife from his belt, Cooper drove it into the barn’s hard earth floor a good thirty feet from where the guard was tied up. The guy wouldn’t see it when he first came to, but he’d eventually find it.
Cooper thought it was the best they could do.
As he stood back up, Deuce gave him a nod of approval.
“All right,” Cooper said. “Let’s get out of here.”
They drove out to the main highway, and continued exactly half a mile past the
prison turnoff before veering onto a dirt access road between two fields.
The copse of trees they had been using for cover was another two hundred yards in. They parked the car out of sight behind it, and hiked to the top of the hill that overlooked the prison.
When they reached the summit, they stretched out on their stomachs, and Cooper gave Deuce one of the two sets of binoculars in his pack. The other he used for himself, training it on the facility below.
All looked as it should.
He swung the glasses to the right, following a gently sloping field to where it suddenly dropped off into a shallow ravine in the west. Butted up to the side was a stone building that bore a passing resemblance to the barn they’d been camping in—old and roofless. From their current position, they could see almost the entire structure, but from most everywhere else, the ravine would hide all but the very tops of the walls.
Cooper switched his binoculars to night vision, and saw exactly what he expected.
No one.
That would soon change.
Hopefully.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Dr. Teterya’s feet tapped rhythmically as he paced the infirmary’s tiled floor.
He had never in his life felt so tense. For the millionth time that day, he wished he had said no to the man who had approached him about assisting in the escape. He was sure now that something would go wrong, and instead of being a doctor at a prison, he’d be a doctor in one.
And then there was Irina. Bringing her into this made it even worse. If they were caught, it was likely she’d be incarcerated in this very facility.
Teterya had tried to think of a way they could back out, but Irina had been right. Their only choice was to move forward and do their part, praying it would come off without a hitch.
Behind him, the door to the back room opened. He turned as Irina stepped out.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, keeping his voice low.
Other than the two women in the isolation cells, he and Irina were the only people in the infirmary, but the nature of this night called for caution.
“She’s changed and ready,” Irina said.
“And Arcos?”
“Still asleep.”
He nodded, and began pacing again.
The waiting was killing him. The phone call he was expecting hadn’t yet come.
Why, he didn’t know.
Had something gone wrong? Were guards on their way at this very moment to arrest them?
Teterya involuntarily flicked his gaze toward the infirmary’s main door. Through the window beside it, he saw that the hallway was empty.
But how long would it stay that way?
How long before—
Stop, he told himself. He halted in the middle of the room and closed his eyes, taking several deep, calming breaths.
Relax. Everything will be fine. Everything will—
The phone rang.
He exchanged a startled look with Irina, and nodded. The phone on the wall was closest to her, so she went over and answered it.
“Infirmary,” she said, and listened. “One moment.”
She held out the receiver to him.
Teterya took one more breath, accepted the phone, and put it to his ear. “This is Dr. Teterya.”
“Doctor, this is Captain Balanchuk, Isolation.”
Teterya swallowed. “Yes, Captain?”
“We have an inmate in need of medical attention.”
The doctor tried to calm himself. “Her name?”
The guard gave him the name the prison had for El-Hashim.
Teterya waited several seconds to give the impression he was consulting the prisoner log. “Oh, yes,” he said. “What’s the complaint?”
“It seems to be stomach related. She appears to be in a lot of pain.”
Teterya did his best to feign annoyance. “Appears? Or is?”
He didn’t want it to look too easy. This wouldn’t be the first time an inmate had pretended to be sick in hopes of getting special treatment, and Teterya’s skepticism would further sell their ruse.
“That’s why I’m calling,” Balanchuk said. “I thought you might be able to advise me before we take this any further.”
Teterya had to play this very carefully.
“I can’t diagnose a patient over the phone, Captain, but if she has an upset stomach, you have medicine for that. Give her a dose and send her back to her cell.”
“It isn’t nausea,” Balanchuk said. “She’s claiming outright pain, a severe tenderness in the abdomen.”
“Oh? And where is it located?”
“On the right.”
Teterya paused, mentally counting to three. “I see,” he said, now feigning a touch of concern. “If this is legitimate, it could be serious. Perhaps I should come take a look.”
He waited, half expecting Balanchuk to dismiss the idea, but Balanchuk said, “Very good, Doctor. Please make it a priority.”
“I’m on my way.”
Teterya moved to the wall, hung up, and turned to Irina. Now that the game was on, he felt focused and alert, no longer distracted by his fears.
“You’d better get Powell,” he said. “And make doubly sure she looks the part.”
Irina nodded, walked over, and hurriedly kissed him. “Be careful.”
*
ALEX FOLLOWED TETERYA down the stairs to the first floor, but instead of using the underground passage to the isolation unit, the doctor moved toward the exit that led to the yard.
“Where are you going?” she whispered. “What about the tunnel?”
“Look strange, we try take now. We use when prisoners in yard only.”
She put a hand on his arm, stopping him. “But won’t the guards at the security check be the same ones who were there when I was brought in tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Hello?” she said, pointing at her face. “This isn’t a mask.”
She had her file folder and was wearing the glasses again, with the hat topping Irina’s expertly rendered hairstyle. But she felt far from confident that it was enough to fool someone who had seen her only an hour earlier.
“They not expect prisoner to be dressed like nurse,” Teterya told her. “Last thing on mind. I go first, keep attention on me. You come through quickly, keep eyes on file, not them.”
In other words, the same drill as before, but a lot riskier this time. “And if they look at me?”
“They bored and lazy men. They see glasses, not face.”
Teterya couldn’t guarantee this, of course, but what choice did Alex have?
She nodded and felt a knot taking shape in her intestines as they started walking again.
When they neared the security gate, she fell a few steps behind Teterya and opened the file folder, keeping her head down as she flipped through the pages. The doctor said something to the two guards manning the station, then laughed. They chuckled in return. A reply by one of them was followed by loud laughter from all three, and somewhere in the middle of it all, a buzzer sounded and the gate swung open.
The doctor kept talking, turning to face the guards as Alex slipped past behind him and went through the gate, not stopping until she was several feet beyond.
There were a few more laughs, then the doctor stepped through and joined her on the other side. He touched her arm, and they continued to the exit.
They had nearly reached it when one of the guards called out to them—sharp and abrupt.
Alex froze, but Teterya squeezed her arm and turned. He and the guard had a quick exchange, then he turned back to Alex, looking relieved.
“What did he want?” she asked quietly.
“He ask me play cards tonight.” Teterya paused with a slight grimace on his face. “He tell me bring pretty nurse, too.”
As the knot in Alex’s stomach hardened, the exit door buzzed open without incident, and they stepped into the yard.
Floodlights lit the grounds, leaving no corner of darkness, and maki
ng it impossible for anyone to cross without being seen from one of the towers.
Dirt crunched under their feet as they walked around the east side of Building Three, toward the door in the back wall that led to the isolation section.
Alex couldn’t see any of the guards in the towers, but felt their gazes on her. If any of them was using a scope or binoculars, she could only hope he was concentrating on her body and not her face.
Just before she and Teterya reached the door, it swung open, revealing three guards waiting inside. Teterya shared a few quick words with them before they walked as a group into the isolation building.
When they stepped into El-Hashim’s suite, her two bodyguards were in the living area.
“Where is the sick prisoner?” Teterya asked them.
One of the women pointed toward a bedroom door.
The doctor spoke quietly to the three prison guards, and they stayed back as he and Alex went inside.
El-Hashim, still clad in her hijab, was lying in bed, Marie sitting in a chair beside her. As soon as Alex closed the door, El-Hashim threw her blanket off and stood up.
“You’re late,” Teterya told her.
El-Hashim and Marie shared a look. “Marie is coming with me.”
“That’s not the plan,” Alex said.
El-Hashim held up a hand. “To the infirmary. If everything is as you have said, she’ll stay there. This is not a negotiable point.”
“We have very limited room,” Teterya said.
“Nonnegotiable.”
“Fine,” Alex told her.
She didn’t like it at all, but they didn’t have time to argue. And if Marie was only going as far as the infirmary, then that shouldn’t be a problem.
They gave it a few more minutes before El-Hashim lay back down and started groaning softly as the doctor called in one of the guards. They had a quick conference and the guard made a call on his radio. The back and forth lasted only seconds, then the guard nodded to Teterya.
Looking over at the three women, Teterya said in English, “We go now.” He pointed at Marie. “You will help.”
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