by Liz Wolfe
“I see. Why do you have to do it again tonight?”
“To get Shannon.”
“You think you can actually break into The Center, take Shannon, and get out?” Mac shook his head.
“Of course.”
“You’re mad.”
“Not really. A little irritated about not having a relaxing evening, but …” McRae was looking at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Really, it’ll be fine.” Mac wasn’t buying her assurances.
“But since I took Sam today, they’ll increase security. They’ll be expecting something else to happen.”
“Probably not.” She almost wanted to laugh at his concern, but she didn’t think he’d appreciate it. “Actually, they probably won’t do anything to increase security—tonight.” McRae lifted an eyebrow at her.
“They’re still dealing with Sam’s disappearance,” she explained. “Most likely they won’t expect me to try to take Shannon tonight. In fact, why would they even think that I know Shannon is there?” It was a line of bullshit, but she was hoping Mac would buy it. There was no way he was going to talk her out of this.
“You can’t be serious?” Mac stood and walked to the middle of the room. “These people are evil but they certainly are not stupid! They have Shannon for a reason. Otherwise, they’d have just disposed of her. We took Sam, and they’ll expect us to try to take Shannon too.”
“My job is to get her out of there.”
“I understand that. I just don’t see how getting yourself caught is going to accomplish that.”
“I won’t get caught.”
“Is that confidence or arrogance?” Mac demanded.
“I’m not arrogant. I’m just good at what I do.”
As soon as the hallway lights were dimmed, Zoe got out of bed and started exercising. First deep knee bends, then pushups, and finally, jumping jacks. Her strength was almost back to normal. She didn’t know if it was the four days she’d been strapped to the bed or the drugs they’d given her that had made her so weak. They’d taken the IV out, but they still gave her some kind of sleeping pills at night. So far, she’d been able to fake the nurse out and not swallow the pills. She was still having nausea occasionally, and she felt extremely bitchy. But that could just be the circumstances. Who wouldn’t be bitchy about being locked up? Eventually an opportunity to escape would present itself, and she was going to be ready. And if the opportunity didn’t present itself in the next twenty-four hours, she’d have to create it herself.
Jonah Thomas visited her twice a day. He’d explained that the room was locked for her own safety. She continued to appear meek and complacent. She agreed with everything he said and thanked him profusely for saving her life. Maybe that was causing the nausea. Zoe chuckled at the thought. No one had ever accused her of being meek, much less complacent.
Today Dr. Thomas had told her that they would need to run some tests in a couple of days. Something to do with her head injury. They’d be putting her to sleep for the test.
Not without a fight. Zoe didn’t know why they wanted to put her to sleep or what they planned to do, but she was certain it had nothing to do with her supposed head injury. The only injury she’d suffered was when someone, probably Dr. Thomas, had conked her on the noggin while she’d been tossing his dresser drawers.
She finished her exercises and filled a glass with water from the bathroom faucet. At least they’d finally brought her some cotton pajamas, and they’d given her a pair of slippers to wear. It wasn’t exactly her jeans, boots and leather jacket, but it was better than bare feet and the hospital gown she was in when she had awakened.
Dr. Thomas had told her that her clothes had been destroyed in the accident, but he’d given her an envelope with her wallet and a silver chain inside. She pulled open the drawer in the bedside table and picked up the tri-fold wallet. They’d left her cash—all seventeen dollars of it. More importantly, they’d left her driver’s license and credit cards. She’d need all that when she got out of here. Of course, they weren’t planning on her leaving. Probably, they only gave her the wallet to make her feel like she would get out someday.
Zoe crawled into bed and pulled the sheet over her shoulders. The night nurse would be in soon to make sure she was asleep.
“Hi, sweetheart. How have you been?” Chris forced her tone to be casual, flirty, but she wanted to scream out the questions, get answers immediately. That wouldn’t work.
“Chris. I, uh … I’m surprised to hear from you.”
Surprise. That was good. “I know, hon. I meant to call a while back, but I thought maybe you didn’t want to hear from me.”
“It isn’t that. Not really. I just needed some time.”
“I understand. It was hard on me, too, you know. I never wanted to break up.”
“We’ve been over all this Chris. I just couldn’t maintain such a long distance relationship. With you in Virginia and me in Denver, it was just too hard.”
“I know, I know. But I’m not in Virginia any more. Denver isn’t that far from Phoenix.”
“It’s far enough, Chris. I’m with someone else now.”
“Oh, yes, Charlie, isn’t it?”
“How did you know?” Surprise again. Good, keep her off balance.
“I checked. I have my sources, you know.” Chris chuckled, but not unkindly. “I hope you’re happy.”
“I am. It’s not the same as it was with you, but Charlie and I are happy.”
“That’s good to hear.” Chris paused a moment. “I’m actually calling to ask you for a favor.”
“Of course, anything.”
“I have a problem, and I need some information. My career is on the line.”
“Your career? Chris, what’s happened?”
“I can’t go into all of it now, but I’ll tell you everything after it’s all said and done.”
“Chris, you’ve got me worried.”
“Well, I’m worried too. But if you can give me the information I need, I can get it all cleared up.”
“What do you need?”
“I need to know why the FSA is investigating The Center for Bio-Psychological Research in Tucson.”
“Chris! I can’t give you information on our investigations. You know you can get what you need through the usual channels.”
“Not this time. I know the FSA is investigating The Center. I figure it’s a black op because it’s supposed to be the FBI’s case.”
“Don’t ask me to do something I can’t.”
“You can. In fact, you’re the only one who can. You know everything that goes on there.”
“Yes, I know, but I can’t tell you.”
“Would you rather explain me to Charlie?”
“What?”
“I have pictures that Charlie would like to see too.”
“Chris, you wouldn’t!” Chris waited through the pause. “Charlie is very important to me.” Another pause. “What we have is very special. I don’t want anything to screw up this relationship.”
“Then tell me what I need to know. No one will ever find out. It won’t compromise the op, I swear.” She’d swear to anything at this point. She had to know why an ex-agent was doing a black op for the FSA. If Parker was successful, if she brought Jonah down, then the photos would get released. That was not an option.
“Why do you need to know?”
“I told you, my career is at stake—maybe even my life.” That was laying it on a little thick, but she had no regrets about the lie.
“Ethan hired Shelby Parker to get Shannon Masterson and her son out of The Center.”
“How is she going to do that?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know. Shelby has never done anything by the book, and now she doesn’t have to since she doesn’t work for us.”
“Does Chambers know what Ethan is doing?”
“Of course, he knows everything. It’s just set up like Ethan is doing this on his own in case someone finds out.”
“So, Chambers pla
nned the whole thing?” Chris didn’t wait for an answer. “What’s Parker doing now? I know she got into The Center disguised as a computer tech.”
“I just overheard that she got Shannon’s son out of The Center this afternoon. They went to a safe house in the area. I don’t know anything else. Really, Chris.”
“I see. Listen, sweetheart, I really appreciate this. You’re saving me. Just like you always have.”
“No more, Chris. I can’t do it anymore.”
“Just a little more. I’ll call again. I’ll need to know where Parker is and what she’s going to do.”
“I don’t know that I can get that information.”
“Of course you can. You have access to Chambers’ email, his voice mail. Find a way.” Chris almost hated herself for doing this. “Don’t make me call Charlie.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Shelby climbed over the stone wall in back of The Center at midnight when the guards were all busy with the shift change. She peeled off her coveralls and left them with the grappling hook and rope. Access to the building was just as easy as the previous night, so maybe she’d been right that they didn’t expect anything to happen.
Before she’d left The Center, she’d been able to get the code to the lab area by watching someone punch it in while she was supposedly getting a soft drink. Dressed in scrubs and a lab coat, with paper booties covering her boots, Shelby looked just like everyone else she’d seen go into the lab.
Shelby walked slowly by the lab doors and looked in the windows. One woman sat behind a desk reading a newspaper and glancing occasionally at a monitor. Last night there’d been two people in the lab. She walked back, punched in the code, opened the door, and walked up to the woman sitting at the desk. Fortunately she had a clear view of the woman’s nametag.
“Hi, you must be Rose.” Shelby held her hand out, and Rose took it, looking a little surprised. “Dr. Carlson told me you’d already be on duty when I got here.”
“She did?”
“I’m Karen. She said you’d show me the ropes.”
“Are you working the night shift now?”
“Didn’t she tell you?” Shelby asked. “The doc said they were expecting some new patients in a couple weeks. I guess she figured it’d be too much without extra help at night.”
“I’m amazed that she even thought of it. Did you work days before?”
“Just occasionally. When someone was on vacation or something. It’s nice to have a regular schedule for a while.”
“Well, nights are pretty quiet here, and by this time the patients are all usually asleep. Of course we only have the two women right now.” Rose scribbled a number on a piece of paper and handed it to her. “This is the code to the patients’ rooms for this shift.”
“Thanks.” Shelby slipped the code into her pocket. That was a piece of luck. She hadn’t known what the security code was for the patients, and this would make it much easier.
“You just missed all the excitement,” Rose said as she folded her newspaper.
“What was that?”
“Some guy came in here like a demented commando and tried to take one of our patients.”
“Tonight?” Shelby tried not to sound as anxious as she felt about that.
“Just a couple of hours ago. I guess it was some boyfriend who thought we were keeping her prisoner.” Rose shook her head. “Sometimes family and friends just don’t understand when a woman admits herself to a facility like this.”
“So he thought she was here against her will, huh?”
“That’s what it sounded like. The guards caught him and called the doctors.”
“Did they call the police?”
“You really are new here, aren’t you?” Rose chuckled. “The doctors don’t hold with involving the police in these situations.” She shrugged. “It just complicates everything, according to Dr. Carlson. Usually they just take the person away and talk to him. You know, explain why the patient is here and how we’re helping her.”
“Does that work?”
“It must. I’ve only seen it a couple of times, but they’ve never come back.” Rose shrugged again. Shelby figured she was the kind of woman who shrugged a lot. “Hey you want to check on the Masterson woman? I already gave the other one her meds.”
“Sure. I haven’t been here in a while, where’s her room?”
“Number three, down that hallway.” Rose seemed to enjoy having someone there to do her job for her, and Shelby was happy to let her take advantage of it.
Shelby stopped at the door of Room Three and peered in the small window. The bed was empty. Covers rumpled and thrown back. She could see a sliver of light from under a door that probably led to a bathroom. Shelby punched in the security code Rose had given her and went in. There was only one security camera that she could see, and it had a view of most of the room. She shuddered at the thought of having her every move monitored twenty-four hours a day.
Wait. If they had a security camera in the room, why were they checking on the patient every two hours? Crap. Rose was probably calling Dr. Carlson right now to verify that Shelby was supposed to be there.
Shelby positioned herself with her back to the camera just as Shannon came out of the bathroom. Pressing her finger to her lips to indicate Shannon should be silent, Shelby motioned her over and handed her one of the notes she’d prepared in advance. Shannon was wearing cotton pajamas and terrycloth slippers. Not the best escape outfit, but it could have been worse. She read the note and nodded.
Shelby opened the door and looked down the hallway. Rose was standing at the desk with her back to them, phone held to her ear. After a few seconds, she punched in a number and hung up. She was probably paging Dr. Carlson, which meant Shelby needed to disable her before the call got returned. She motioned for Shannon to keep the door from closing and to wait for her. Then she hurried down the hallway.
Rose was watching the monitor and had picked up the phone again. She turned just as Shelby reached her. A sharp uppercut to her chin, and she crumpled like a rag doll. Then Shelby saw the number on the phone display. Rose had called the guard. She took the receiver from Rose’s limp hand.
“Hello?” the guard answered.
“Oh, sorry, I hit the wrong number on the speed dial.” Shelby lowered her voice and made it sound raspy.
“Who is this?” the guard asked.
“It’s Rose. I have a cold.”
“Everything all right back there?”
“Sure. I’m just out of it with this cold.”
“Okay.” He hung up. Shelby ran back down the hall and flung open the door to Shannon’s room.
“Hey! What’s going on out there?”
Shelby saw light coming from under the door next to Shannon’s room. Whoever was in the room was pounding on the door. Must be the other patient Rose had mentioned.
“Quiet!” Shelby ran to the door and punched in the code. The pounding stopped as the door was jerked open. A petite woman stood at the door in pajamas and slippers, curls of red hair escaping from the braid that hung over her shoulder. Her green eyes narrowed at Shelby
“Who are you?” the woman demanded.
Shelby ignored her question. “You want to get out of here?”
“Damn straight.”
“We have to hurry. But be as quiet as you can.” Shelby grabbed Shannon’s hand, and they ran to the lab doors. She spared a moment to make sure the guard wasn’t around, and then they ran down the hallway to the rear exit. Shelby didn’t bother relocking the door this time. In a few seconds she had the grappling hook attached. She ripped the paper booties off her boots, stuffed them in a pocket, and tied the coveralls around her waist.
“I’m going to give you a leg up to get over the wall. Just drop down to the other side and wait for me.”
Shannon nodded. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she seemed determined.
“Wait. Let me go over first, then I can help her down.” The redhead placed her foot in Shelby’s cup
ped hands. Shelby lifted her up, and she scrambled to the top of the wall, stepped over the iron spikes, and dropped to the ground with a soft thud. Shelby cupped her hands again and boosted Shannon over, and then secured the grappling hook and started pulling herself up the stone wall.
“Hey!”
Crap. The guard had seen her.
Shelby dropped back to the ground and turned toward him slowly, hands raised over her head. When he was in just the right position, her right leg snapped out and landed a heavily booted foot in his midsection. The air whuffed out of him but he kept coming, just a little more slowly. She threw a punch with her right arm, causing him to swing around to avoid it, which put his right hand in easy reach of her left. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward her, delivering a quick chop to a nerve cluster on his neck. He slumped to the ground, looked at her for a second, and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell over.
Shelby grabbed the rope again and hoisted herself over the wall. Shannon looked terrified. The other woman already had the rope and was lowering herself down the ravine. Shelby bent slightly at the knees and braced herself.
“Climb onto my back and hold on.”
Shannon didn’t move, just stood there shaking her head.
“Do it! Now!”
Shannon climbed on and wrapped her arms around Shelby’s neck. Shelby had to take a few seconds to reposition Shannon’s arms so she wasn’t choking her, and then she lowered the two of them down the steep incline. The other woman had found the rope Shelby had left and was more than half way up the other side by the time they reached the bottom. Shannon was able to pull herself up the other side of the ravine with a little help, and they made it to the car before anyone came to check on the missing guard.
“You all right?” Shelby asked as she drove toward Tucson. Shannon was shivering although the night was only mildly cool. Shelby turned up the heater.
“I guess. Who are you? How did you know I was there?” Shannon burst into tears.
“It’s okay. You’re going to be fine. We have your son.”
“Sam? Is he all right?”
“Sam’s fine. He’s been living with some foster parents The Center put him with. I don’t have all the answers yet, but we will. Soon.”