Poe

by Battles, Brett

  He dropped to his knees beside her. “Irina! Irina!”

  Her head was tilted to the side, her eyes closed.

  “Irina!” This time, shaking her shoulder.

  He checked her pulse, but could feel nothing. He looked at her chest to see if she was breathing, but of course she wasn’t.

  She had no pulse; how could she be breathing?

  All guards had rudimentary first-aid training, and Danya knew he needed to get her heart going and air into her lungs. He reached over to turn her head so it faced upward, giving him better access to her mouth. But he realized with horror that no matter what he did, he would never be able to bring her back.

  Her head flopped in his hands, her neck clearly broken.

  Which meant this was no accident. She hadn’t simply fallen.

  Someone had done this to her.

  Someone had killed Irina.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Where the hell are they?” Deuce said.

  It wasn’t the first time he had said it, or even the third, so Cooper didn’t bother to reply.

  From their vantage point on the hill, Cooper watched the prison, while Deuce kept an eye on the abandoned building in the ravine. The moment Alex and El-Hashim appeared, the two men would head for the rendezvous point.

  So far, there had been no movement at all in the ravine.

  “I don’t like this,” Deuce said. “Maybe we should go see if we can—”

  “Just relax,” Cooper told him. “We’re still well within the scheduled time frame.”

  Deuce grunted his dissatisfaction, but said nothing more.

  Cooper slowly scanned the complex again. It looked exactly as it had when they arrived. Quiet. Tucked in for the night.

  He lowered the glasses and was reaching for one of the energy bars in his pocket when a sudden siren pierced the stillness.

  There was no question where it was coming from.

  The prison.

  As Cooper snapped up his binoculars, spotlights came alive in the guard towers, some sweeping their beams through the prison yard, others lighting up the landscape outside the facility walls.

  “I told you I didn’t like this,” Deuce said.

  Cooper ignored him, his attention caught by movement in the parking area in front of the prison. Several people were running toward the facility’s entrance. From the angle of their approach, he figured they were coming from one of the outbuildings. The barracks, no doubt, guards who’d already been awake rushing to help. Others would soon follow.

  “This is not good,” Deuce said. “We need to go get Alex.”

  Cooper kept his eyes on the prison.

  “Cooper! Hey, are you listening to me? We need to go get Alex!”

  “Do you see her yet? We can’t risk getting any closer until she shows.”

  “But if we wait, we’ll waste time we probably don’t have anymore. We need to be down there when she shows up.” When Cooper didn’t say anything right away, Deuce added, “The purpose of us being here was to keep an eye on the prison in case anything happened. Well, something has! We don’t need to stay here any longer.”

  Cooper pulled away from the binoculars and looked at Deuce. “We do need to know if anyone is heading in our direction, and this is the best place for that.” He paused, knowing there was also merit to Deuce’s argument. “Stay here. I’ll go see if she’s getting close.”

  “No way. I go. She’s my partner!”

  Cooper could sympathize, but he was the running the show. “No, you stay. Is your radio on?”

  “Yeah,” Deuce grumbled.

  “Good. Let me know if anything more changes.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Twice during their trek, Alex and El-Hashim had come upon ramps that lowered the level of the tunnel before flattening out again. When they reached the bottom of the second ramp, they found the ground covered in three inches of water.

  “Not so fast,” El-Hashim said. “Please.”

  Alex glanced back. The woman was a good dozen feet behind her.

  The water alone made it difficult to walk, but that’s not where the problem ended. The stone floor was also slick with algae or some kind of vegetation, so to keep their legs from flying out from under them, they had to take each step with care. Alex had been able to maintain a decent pace, but her companion was apparently not as sure-footed.

  She sloshed back to El-Hashim.

  “Here,” she said. “Hold my arm.”

  El-Hashim grabbed on, sighing in relief. “Thank you.”

  Their new pace was not as fast as Alex would have liked, but it was better than what El-Hashim had been doing on her own.

  “How much farther?” the woman asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Dr. Teterya’s map wasn’t exactly drawn to scale, but so far it had helped them avoid one of the false branch tunnels.

  There was something Alex was sure of, however. Once they reached the end, her chance to learn what El-Hashim knew about her father would be over.

  “Whoa,” El-Hashim said as she slipped, her free arm flying into the air to steady herself.

  Alex paused for a moment, allowing the woman to regain her balance.

  “You’re doing great,” Alex said. “Ready?”

  El-Hashim nodded and they started walking again.

  As they skirted a piece of floating debris, Alex said, “Can I ask you a question?”

  “What?”

  “How long have you worked with my father?”

  A sideways glance. “This is something you should ask of him, not me.”

  “It’s not a subject we usually discuss.”

  “Business is business. If he wants you to know, he’ll tell you.”

  Alex had expected this answer, and knew she wouldn’t get much further with a lie. It was time to finally be honest.

  “Actually, the truth is,” she said, “my father and I don’t discuss anything at all.”

  “Yes, texting and emails. You told me that.”

  “That wasn’t entirely accurate. The last time I had any communication with my dad was a decade ago, before he fell off the map.”

  El-Hashim’s face screwed up in confusion. “I don’t understand. You haven’t heard from him? But you said…”

  “That he sent me to get you?”

  “Yes.”

  “That was a bit of a lie,” Alex told her. “Actually not even a bit. I made it all up.”

  El-Hashim released Alex’s arm and took a step back. She started to lose balance again and Alex grabbed her, gripping her bicep. “Careful. You don’t want to break anything down here.”

  El-Hashim tried to pull away, but Alex wouldn’t let go.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  “You know who I am. You checked me out yourself. I didn’t lie about that.”

  El-Hashim continued to struggle. “Then what do you want from me?” Her eyes opened wide in realization. “You are here to kill me, aren’t you?”

  Alex held her steady and swung the flashlight beam, taking in all of the tunnel. “Do you seriously think I’d go to all the trouble of getting you down here just to kill you? I could have done it in about two seconds flat back at the prison.”

  “So then why are we here? Why are you helping me escape?”

  “The answer to that is very simple. You were with my father just a handful of days ago, and I want to find him. I want to talk to him. I haven’t seen him in over a decade, and you’re the only one I know who has.”

  “And how do you know this? Who told you about us?”

  Time to start lying again. “I have a lot of friends. They know I’ve been looking for him.”

  “You’re friends with the Crimean police?”

  “No,” Alex assured her. “My father is a wanted man, and I have no interest in associating with the people who are out to get him. But I do have friends who have connections to the police, both in and outside the law.” She paused. “I know this is a lot to
process right now, and I know you have no real reason to trust me, but I need your help, El-Hashim. I need to know about my father.”

  El-Hashim stared at Alex, clearly not quite buying it.

  “These friends,” she said. “There’s much more to them than you’re letting on. You couldn’t have done all of this alone. Someone’s waiting outside, aren’t they?”

  Alex said nothing. She didn’t have to.

  “Who are you working for?”

  “That’s not important.”

  “It is to me.”

  Alex hesitated. “I only took this job because of your contact with my father.”

  “And yet, even if I tell you what I know, you’ll turn me over to your colleagues.”

  Again Alex was silent. But at least El-Hashim had stopped struggling, probably because she knew there was no point to it. She was physically outmatched and had no chance of getting away.

  The corner of the woman’s mouth turned up. “What if we were to make a deal?” she said. “One that’s mutually beneficial?”

  “Can you help me find my father or not?

  “I honestly have no idea where he is,” she said. “But I do know how to contact him, and I would be willing to give you that information.”

  “In exchange for what?”

  “For letting me free as soon as we’re out of here. For not turning me over to your employers.”

  “Come on,” Alex said, and dug her fingers deeper into the woman’s arm, pulling her forward.

  “What? You’re not even going to consider it?”

  “I don’t need to consider it,” Alex said. “Before we’re out of this, you’re gonna tell me.”

  “Oh, I highly doubt that.”

  Alex gave her a jerk. “I don’t.”

  * * *

  THE ASSASSIN STOPPED at the top of the second downward ramp. She had heard the two women’s voices on and off for several minutes, but had been too far away to understand what they were saying.

  Now, the words were clear, if a bit distant. And the fact that they weren’t fading out told her that Powell and El-Hashim must have come to a stop. Perhaps if she were to go to the bottom of the ramp, she’d be able to see them.

  Of course, they might see her as well, and she wasn’t yet ready for that.

  She listened to their conversation and was surprised to find out Powell had tricked El-Hashim. While on one level this admission amused the assassin—even impressed her—she knew it was also a problem. Though Powell had not actually confirmed that anyone was waiting at the end of the tunnel, her non-denial was proof enough. The assassin would have no choice but to take care of the two women before they reached Powell’s friends.

  And then there was the whole father thing that Powell had been whining about. What a sentimental fool. Obviously, she was one who allowed her emotions to dictate her actions. That wasn’t much of a surprise, considering the way she had conducted herself in the prison.

  But who her father was, and, for that matter, who Powell actually was, made no real difference to the assassin. The only thing important about the revelation was that it appeared the women’s reluctant partnership was quickly deteriorating.

  The assassin waited until their voices grew distant, indicating they were walking again, before she made her way down the ramp.

  The water that covered the floor was cool, but not uncomfortable, and walking silently through it was not a problem. She had been trained to function in a multitude of environmental situations, and before long, she closed the distance between them, until she could see their silhouettes backlit by Powell’s flashlight.

  After a few minutes, the two women stopped again, and in the beam of their flashlight, the assassin saw the beginnings of what looked like an intersecting tunnel. Powell looked down at something in her hand, then pointed to the left and headed that way, pulling El-Hashim along with her.

  The moment they were out of sight, the assassin increased her speed. When the tunnel straightened out again, she was only twenty feet behind them.

  She felt a sudden rush, wanting very much to savor the moment. But she knew that all good things must come to an end.

  It was time.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Cooper was almost to the abandoned building when his earpiece came alive with Deuce’s hushed voice.

  “You there yet?”

  “Just about,” Cooper said. “Anything new?”

  “Two jeep patrols have started circling the perimeter.”

  UAZs, Cooper knew—the Russian equivalent of the Jeep. “Terrific. Inside or outside the fence?”

  “Inside.”

  That was good. The rendezvous building was right outside the prison’s double fence, so unless the patrols actually headed out the gate, they weren’t an immediate threat.

  “Let me know if that changes,” he said.

  There was silence for a moment, then, “You see any sign of Alex?”

  “Not yet.”

  When he reached the building, Cooper looked around, trying to figure out exactly where Alex would be coming from. There was no obvious route to the outside that wouldn’t require them to run over hundreds of yards of open space before they reached the ravine.

  Not exactly a stealthy way to escape.

  And then, of course, there were the two fences. How would they get over those?

  Again wishing that Alex had given them more details, Cooper studied his surroundings, and it suddenly struck him that maybe there was no need to get over the fences.

  Why not go under them?

  That had to be it, right? A tunnel. Maybe one that led directly from the prison to the building?

  All other possibilities would come with an almost zero chance of working.

  So if there was a tunnel, where would it come out?

  Inside the building?

  Wishing he could block out the sound of the siren, Cooper removed a flashlight from the bag on his back, then found an opening in the side of the building that had once had a door, and made his way inside. He spent the next several minutes exploring, and discovered that the interior of the building was little more than a collection of crumbling walls.

  He moved room to room, finding nothing here that would support his theory. Until, that was, he stumbled across an enclosed space no bigger than a supply closet, its badly dilapidated door barely clinging to its hinges.

  Unless he was wrong, most supply closets didn’t have a manhole in the center.

  So was this it? Given the complete lack of other candidates, it seemed a pretty good fit.

  Cooper stood there, studying the manhole. If he was right about this, it might be wise to get the cover off so that Alex and El-Hashim could crawl out quickly and save precious time. But the task would take more than a simple grab and pull. He needed something to assist him, a crowbar or a piece of pipe that he could stick into one of the holes atop the cover and pry it off.

  There was nothing in the immediate area, but two rooms over he found a three-foot section of rusted rebar lying atop a pile of rubble. It wasn’t quite as long as he would have liked, but he thought it might work.

  He returned to the room, and slotted the tip through one of the holes. As he pushed on the rod, he was afraid it was going to bend before the lid canted up. It did, but only a small amount, and he was able to lift the edge of the cover just high enough to twist it so that it was sitting partially out of the hole. A couple of intense shoves later, the opening was cleared.

  Cooper shone his flashlight into the hole. On the left was a wall with a built-in ladder of metal hoops leading up to the opening. To the right was a tunnel, its floor about ten feet below.

  Cooper leaned through the opening and cupped his free hand at the side of his mouth. “Alex? Are you there? It’s Cooper.”

  Nothing.

  “Alex?”

  Still dead quiet.

  He pulled back up and thought for a moment, then swung his legs around, and lowered himself down the ladder.


  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  In the chaos surrounding the discovery of not only a dead nurse, but three missing inmates and a doctor, it took an extra seven minutes before someone had the wherewithal to send a guard to check the floors that the supply elevator serviced.

  The guard’s initial stop was naturally the first floor, where he wasted an additional four minutes determining there was no sign of anyone recently exiting the cramped elevator there. He lost even more time in the basement, where the elevator was housed in a rarely used section of the building that he had no idea how to get into. A full six minutes passed before he located someone with the correct key and unlocked the right door.

  The guard navigated a dusty corridor, stepped through an open doorway, and saw that the elevator car was indeed there, but the room itself was empty.

  He radioed the information in, and was told to report back to the main floor where a room-by-room search was underway. He was so focused on joining the search upstairs as he headed back the way he came, he didn’t notice the dark door to his left that was slightly ajar.

  A door that, when opened, was prone to an initial, loud squeak.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  As they continued down the tunnel, Alex tried to figure out how to get El-Hashim to talk, short of beating the crap out of her. As much as she would have liked to give in to her more primal nature, Alex knew El-Hashim was having a hard enough time navigating the tunnels without the complication of black eyes and a broken rib or two. Besides, she wasn’t keen on beating up the defenseless, no matter how repugnant they were.

  She needed an alternate strategy. Something along the lines of…

  …fear.

  Ahead, another fork in the tunnel appeared. She studied the map for a moment, and pointed toward the left passageway, which, according to Teterya’s map, was a false tunnel.

  “This way,” she said.

  The plan she’d thought up was simple. When they reached the dead end, Alex would leave El-Hashim there with a quick word and the sound of retreating footsteps. Left alone with no map, no light, and the potential of being lost in the labyrinth for God knew how long, the poor woman would realize the advantages of cooperation.