"You?" Tanisa's eyes focused on her face in astonishment, then outrage. "You shot Barb Saunders!"
"No, I didn't! It was Richards, he's-"
"You killed that trooper!" Tanisa shrieked, about to punch her, but Nat bolted away. Tanisa called to another CO., "Stop her! Catch that blonde!"
Nat darted ahead in the melee. Police cars pulled up, their sirens screaming. Uniformed troopers leapt from the cars. Firefighters in heavy canvas coats jumped from the fire trucks and unrolled hoses. People hurried in all directions, a stricken crowd.
Nat bolted for the entrance in the mob scene but noticed a uniformed cop on the other side of the crowd, also running to the entrance. She caught a glimpse of the side of his face. She recognized the face and the cornrows. He had on a gray uniform but he wasn't a trooper.
It was Mark Parrat, the pickup driver. The man in Houlihan's and probably in the ski mask, too. She was about to scream when she got tackled from behind by a pair of strong arms. Before she knew what was happening, she was falling face first to the hard, wet driveway with someone on her back. Her forehead exploded in pain.
"You're not so smart after all, huh, professor?" a man said in Nat's ear.
Just before she lost consciousness.
Chapter 42
"Wake up!" a man was saying. "You're fine, kid. Walk it off, walk it off."
Who let my father in?
"Wake up! Come on, I didn't hit you that hard."
Nat felt someone patting her cheek. Her forehead thundered, her ears rang. The tunnel. The escape. She flashed on Saunders, bleeding on the floor. She heard herself say, "It's under the floor."
"Wake up, professor. You're gonna be fine."
Nat opened her eyes. She found herself flat on her back on the prison driveway. Noise surrounded her. Firefighters, cops, and C.O.s ran and shouted. Shadows shifted everywhere around her. One face hovered above her, his features clear in the floodlights. Trooper Mundy.
"Good morning, professor. Now that you're awake, you're under arrest."
"No, please, listen." Nat felt herself hoisted to her feet. She fought the fog in her head. Warm blood ran down her face. She struggled to stand on wobbly knees. "There's a tunnel under the floor. They were gonna get Williams out tonight. Parrat is here. He's gonna-"
"You're coming with me."
"Trooper, just check it! There's a tunnel under the floor! I started the fire to stop them! I messed up their plans! Parrat is going to get Williams out!"
"You started the fire? You're a disgrace!" Mundy thundered, pulling her through the crowd. "I stuck up for you with Duffy. You made a fool outta me."
"He's wearing a fake cop outfit!" Nat writhed in Mundy's grip, pummeling his arms, using every ounce of strength to get back to the entrance. "He killed the trooper! He shot Barb!"
"Fake cops now? You've lost your mind."
"No, I swear, Graf is in on it, with Machik and-"
"I heard you called my office, asking for me, pretending you were a man. I don't know your deal, but you're effin crazy!"
Mundy kept pulling Nat away, but she couldn't let this happen. God only knew what Parrat was doing now. She would lose her chance. Williams would go free. She couldn't make Mundy listen. She couldn't make anybody listen. Not her students, not her family, not her father. She felt a wellspring of anger bubble to the surface. Rage that had been building her whole life, spontaneously combusting. Gnat. Book smart. Why couldn't she make anybody hear her?
"WILL YOU ALL LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE?" Nat screamed at the top of her lungs, so loud that her voice broke. She felt like the mouse that roared. "PARRAT IS GOING TO GET WILLIAMS OUT! THERE'S A TUNNEL UNDER THE FLOOR! SAUNDERS DIED FOR IT! I'LL SHOW IT TO YOU!"
Suddenly the pop pop pop of automatic gunfire crackled from the prison like an electrical current. The crowd exploded into movement. Cops and C.O.s ran for the prison from all directions.
"That's Parrat! He's inside!" Nat shouted amid the melee, and Mundy s eyes looked bewildered, then furious.
"I cannot effin' believe this!" he shouted, then he picked Nat up, threw her over his shoulders like a sack, and carted her to an empty police cruiser. He opened the back door and started to shove her into the backseat.
"No, lemme go, you gotta listen!" Nat writhed but she was losing the battle. Mundy stuffed her into the backseat, and when the car door almost slammed on her, she summoned all her courage and kicked him in the shins. Mundy hopped back for a split second, and she seized the moment to jump out of the car and take off toward the prison entrance. The trooper ran after her and clamped his hand on her arm.
"Don't you ever stop?." he asked, exasperated, and just then a shout came from the front of the prison. The crowd edged backward, suddenly hushed. Nat was too short to see anything, and Mundy shoved her behind his broad back, but she peeked out.
And witnessed a nightmare.
Chapter 43
“Say hello to the warden, everybody!" shouted a brawny inmate. He emerged from the prison and appeared in the spotlight, pressing a black Glock to his hostage's temple. The inmates dark eyes were slits, his mouth a scarred sneer. It had to be Richard Williams, his malevolence evident even in his T-shirt and blue scrubs. Williams shouted, "Don't nobody move a muscle, or Mr. Warden McCoy's gonna get his head shot clean off, right in front of y'all."
Nat watched, aghast. Warden McCoy, in a tie and jacket, had gone grim with fear. His blue eyes stayed glued to the gun at his temple. His mouth stretched in a grimace. Williams used the warden's body as a human shield, wrapping a tattooed arm around the other man's torso and walking him along in front of himself. The C.O.s, police, and firefighters on the driveway froze, a tableau of law enforcement personnel rendered instantly impotent. The car fire raged in the background.
"Now, here's what's gonna happen, folks. Ya'll's gonna stay cool. Me and my boys, we gonna take a little walk down to our car. If our driver gets hurt, or one of us gets hurt, these good people goin' down!' Williams pushed McCoy ahead of him down the driveway. A black sedan with an ADT security badge on the door idled halfway up the driveway. It couldn't get closer because of the fire trucks. The crowd of cops and C.O.s stood paralyzed, a captive audience to the thug's little show.
Williams continued. "We already lef' you one body, a CO. who let me outta my cell. Don't make me leave you any more. We don't want no more heroes tonight."
There was a new commotion at the entrance to the prison, and suddenly, someone else emerged from the doorway, behind Williams and Warden McCoy. It was Parrat, the pickup driver. He walked out in his fake-cop uniform, his gun to the soft cheek of another hostage. Nat gasped when she caught a glimpse of his victim.
Tanisa. The CO’s mouth stayed grimly closed, but her eyes had gone still with fright. The COs in the crowd stood riveted when they saw her. Parrat had Tanisa's arms pinned behind her back and he shoved her in front of him, The two of them walked closely behind Williams and the warden, like a horrifying parade.
A CO in the crowd shouted, "Let her be!"
Parrat didn't respond, but Tanisa did. "Shoot him!" she hollered, her voice ringing clear and strong.
"Bitch, shut up!" Parrat shouted, shoving his gun into Tanisa's ear. Nat felt her heart cry out.
Williams walked on, with McCoy in front, saying, "Now, now. Folks, stay cool, calm, and collected. Everything's gonna be all right. Just stay cool. We got one more comin' with us, then we outta here."
Nat looked at the prison entrance. Another figure was walking outside with a hostage. Graf stepped into the spotlight in his CO. uniform, his eyes cold as gunmetal and his revolver trained on Machik. A ripple of shock shot through the crowd at the sight.
A CO called out, "You're scum, Joe! You're worse than scum!'
Graf ignored him, and Nat was the only one not surprised at his treachery. The only trick was that Graf had Machik as a hostage. But that fit in, too. No one knew Machik was in on the conspiracy except for Graf and her. In effect, Graf was smuggling out a confederate, right under everyone's noses.