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.