“Here goes.” Shelton streaked to the door, pulled, and nearly fell flat as it swung open, unlocked. He held it ajar for Hi and me.
“Good luck.” Shelton melted into the nearby bushes.
Inside was a wide stairwell. I paused to get my bearings.
Muffled voices came through a door to our right.
Lobby, Hi mouthed.
Keys jingled. A shoe squeaked. Someone laughed gruffly.
Hi and I fired up the steps.
Fourth floor. Double doors separated the stairwell from a long corridor beyond. I strained my ears.
Nothing. Even flaring, the only sound I detected was a ticking clock.
Where is everyone?
“Wait here,” I whispered.
I slipped into a white-tiled hallway lined with steel doors. A metal clipboard hung beside each one. At the far end sat an empty chair.
I dashed from clipboard to clipboard, checking names, certain I’d be caught, one eye watching the elevator beyond the nurse’s station.
Chance Claybourne’s was the fifth room down.
I didn’t hesitate.
Heart in my throat, I stepped inside.
The space was cozy, with a single bed and a small wooden desk. Soft blue walls, bare. The sole window overlooked a Japanese rock garden.
Chance was propped in bed, reading a book. Even wearing raggedy gym clothes, he looked like a fashion model. How could I still find him so attractive?
Remember what he did. What he tried to cover up.
Chance’s yelp brought me back to earth.
“Tory?” Eyes popping. “What in God’s name are you doing here?”
“You said you needed rescuing. I haven’t slain any dragons yet, but the day is young.”
“Now?” Chance was too shocked to play it cool. “You have a way out? Why are you wearing sunglasses?”
“No questions. Unless you have other plans?”
“None whatsoever.” He began stuffing items into a duffel bag. “I take it you have a way off the grounds?”
“Naturally.”
“How’d you get up here without being noticed?” Chance glanced at his desk clock. “Nap time! Of course. That was clever. At this hour, the orderlies all play cards in the lobby.”
“That was the idea.” Talk about dumb luck.
Chance frowned. “But we’ll never get past them to the parking lot.”
“We don’t need to. Will you please kick it up a notch?”
I cracked the door and peered down the hall. Empty.
“Come on.”
Chance was hot on my heels as I raced toward the stairwell.
Suddenly, an elevator opened.
A doughy derriere backed into the hallway, followed by a rattling medicine cart.
I yanked open the closest door and shouldered Chance inside. The latch clicked just as the orderly turned around.
“We should’ve run for it!” Chance hissed. “That’s the med cart. We’ll be stuck in here for at least ten minutes. By then the halls will be crawling with people.”
“Let me think.”
I looked around. We stood inside a linen closet. Shelves filled with blankets and towels lined one wall. A chest-high metal rectangle was cut into the other, with a handle attached dead center. Next to the handle was a shiny black button.
“What is that?” Chance whispered.
“No clue.”
I pressed the button. Something thunked inside the wall.
“Are you crazy? We don’t know what that does!”
With a loud whir, the metal rectangle began to vibrate.
In for a penny …
I flipped the handle. A steel sheet slid upward, revealing a compartment the size of an oversized pizza oven.
“It’s a dumbwaiter!” I whisper-shrieked, probably too loud.
Instant change of plan. I yanked out my cell and texted Shelton and Hi.
“Get in,” I said.
“You’re nuts.”
“It’s the only way out undetected. They must use this to send dirty linens down to the laundry.”
Chance didn’t move. “It’s a metal coffin.”
“We’ll be fine.” I couldn’t let him see my own nerves. “Once we shut the door, this thing will head straight to the ground floor.”
He still didn’t budge.
“Look.” I crawled inside the narrow compartment. “Ladies first.”
Chance shook his head. “If we get stuck, you’re my next meal.” Wedging himself beside me, he tugged the door shut.
Nothing happened.
My mind fired terrifying images. Me, trapped inside this box. Struggling to move, to breathe. My heart rate went gangbusters. Sweat slicked my palms.
Then the engine cut on and we began to descend.
Chance lay beside me, panting, clearly unsettled by the confining space. My back rested against his chest. His knees pressed the back of my thighs.
I was very, very aware of how close we were.
SNUP.
My flare died, leaving me momentarily drained. A tremor traveled my body. I slipped off my shades and rubbed my eyes. Slowly, the disorientation passed.
The dumbwaiter stopped with a jerk. I thought of how it would appear if someone found us.
Please, I prayed. No audience.
The door rose.
Chance practically leaped to the floor. I scrambled out behind him, trying to look everywhere at once.
We’d landed in the corner of a large laundry facility. Granite counters lined the walls, interspersed with sinks and industrialsized washers and dryers. Thankfully, the room was empty.
“We’re in the basement,” Chance whispered, eyes darting. “What next?”
“We need a way out the back of the building.”
“There’s a rear staircase used for deliveries.”
“How do you know that?”
“I pay attention. I’ve been contemplating escape since the moment I arrived.”
Chance was right. A narrow flight rose from the laundry room to a small patch of pavement behind the hospital.
“Can we get to the water without being seen?” I asked.
“Follow me.”
Chance led me along the rear of the building, past the doorway through which I’d entered. I desperately hoped my texts had been received.
Chance darted into a maze of hedges. I was right behind.
“What’s this?” I hissed.
“The meditation garden. It provides cover to the dogwood grove, which stretches out of sight from the hospital.”
“You really have thought about this.”
He smiled for the first time. “You’ve no idea.”
In minutes we reached the weeping willows. Ben had Sewee idling. Hi and Shelton were already aboard. I can’t say who among us was most relieved.
“Come on, come on, come on!” Hi squeaked. “Let’s bail.”
“You did it.” Ben sounded mildly surprised. “Did anyone see you?”
“Don’t think so,” I said as we clambered into the boat. “But let’s not tempt fate. Hit the gas!”
Chance chuckled. “You four are not to be underestimated.”
“Remember that,” I said. “We have a deal.”
We were ten minutes beyond the swamp. Sewee was rounding Seabrook Island, skirting the coast in a northeasterly direction. Homeward bound.
“The Celtic cross.” I had no intention of wasting time. “Where is it?”
Chance considered before he spoke. “The cross has been at my father’s fishing camp since its purchase. Hollis and his buddies would go there to drink and avoid their wives.” The ghost of a smile teased Chance’s mouth. “Father often joked that the cabin needed a little holiness to offset the debauchery.”
Adrenaline rushed through me. I could feel Bonny’s cross in my hands.
“Where is this camp?” Ben asked.