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.