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“There is no way we can know that for sure,” El-Hashim said.

“You’re right. Life is full of uncertainty. It’s up to you.”

Silence descended, then Marie leaned in and whispered something in El-Hashim’s ear.

“My friends are concerned about my safety,” El-Hashim said.

“As they should be.”

“They want you to know if anything happens to me, it is you who will pay.”

“I’m afraid I can’t guarantee anything, and I don’t respond well to threats.” Alex stood up, not in a huff, but in a manner that indicated business was business. “We won’t simply be walking out of here. This is dangerous, and if you get hurt, you get hurt. But it won’t be because of something I’ve done.” She took a breath. “Consider this a missed opportunity.”

As she stepped away from the chair, El-Hashim said, “I did not tell you no.”

“You haven’t really told me
anything.
I’ve laid out the ground rules, so you either live with them or you don’t.”

El-Hashim stood up. “If something happens to me, it happens. Does that work for you?”

Alex purposely hesitated, then nodded. “So that’s a yes?”

“Correct.”

Alex studied her a moment, and sat back down. “Then this is what I need you to do.”

Teterya suggested that
Alex stay in the infirmary for the duration. If she were to leave, he would have to summon her again, and that might raise unnecessary attention.

He had a point, but Alex shook her head. “I need to do something first. Send for me right after dinner. I’ll be ready then.”

Before she left, she requested two items to take with her.

“Why?” the doctor asked, surprised.

“Better if you don’t know.”

He looked nervous. “I cannot have this as problem for me later.”

“It won’t be.”

She could see that he wasn’t sure if he could believe her, but he collected the things she wanted and gave them to her.

Back in with the general population, she moved in and out of the crowds until she found who she was looking for. Instead of approaching her, however, Alex held back and watched.

When dinner came, she fell in line three people behind the woman. Dinner was a variation of the slop from the night before. It might well have been the very same batch, doctored up to look new. Who could tell? Alex took her share, grabbed a stale roll, and loitered beyond the end of the serving area until the woman had taken a seat.

Approaching casually so as not to draw any attention, Alex surreptitiously slipped a note next to the woman’s plate. She then took a seat three tables back where she could watch.

For several minutes she wondered if the woman would even notice the piece of paper, but finally the side of the inmate’s palm brushed against it. She picked it up, opened it, and read the two numbers inside. One was the number of her own cell. The other was a time: twelve minutes from now.

The woman crumbled the note in her fist, and glanced side to side. Alex ducked down, but it wasn’t necessary. The woman never looked behind her.

Quickly, Alex rose and left the room, then hurried up to the fourth floor, stepping into the cellblock directly adjacent to the one in which the woman’s cell was located. Leaning against the wall by the door, she pulled her arm into her dress and reached into the waistband of her panties.

Removing the two items Dr. Teterya gave her, she brought her arm back out, uncapped the needle at the end of the syringe, stuck it into the bottle, and drew the liquid into the cylinder.

Now she just had to wait.

Right on schedule, she heard the woman clomping across the concrete at the far end of the fourth floor. When the steps neared the neighboring cellblock, they slowed for a moment then picked up again, heading for the row of cells on the left side.

The steps grew muffled and stopped. The woman was in her cell, exactly where Alex wanted her.

Pushing away from the wall, Alex quietly entered the block and approached the woman’s cell from the side so as not to be seen. She stopped at the edge of the bars, set the syringe on the floor next to the wall, and stepped out.

“You came,” she said.

Kalyna was standing only a few feet in. The moment she realized it was Alex who’d passed her the note, her eyes shrank to slits. She spat out a word.

Alex felt safe to assume that if it was a greeting, it wasn’t a friendly one.

“Nice to see you, too.”

“What you want?” Kalyna said. “Same your friend? Is why you here?”

“I
am
here about my friend, but—”

“Good.”

Kalyna rushed toward the doorway of the cell, her arms outstretched so she could grab Alex. Alex took a half step back, and ducked down right before Kalyna could reach her.

Using her whole body, Alex thrust her palm up into Kalyna’s chin and smashed the woman’s teeth together, the loud clack echoing through the block.

Kalyna staggered backward into the cell, stunned.

Not waiting for her to regain her senses, Alex punched Kalyna in the gut, just below the rib cage.

Doubling over, Kalyna fell against the end of the bunk bed.

Alex hit her again and again, punching her like one of the bags back at Ackerman’s Gym.

Stomach.

Arms.

Ribs.

A cartilage-cracking blow to the nose.

Kalyna tried feebly to block the first few hits, but was soon using whatever strength she had left to stay on her feet.

“When you have someone on the ropes, you can never let up,” Emerick had preached over and over.

He would have been proud of Alex at that moment. She didn’t let up until Kalyna started to slide to the floor.

“No, you don’t,” she said, grabbing the woman under the shoulders.

She forced Kalyna to walk around the end of the beds.

“Which one’s yours?” she asked.

Kalyna, her head hanging low, said nothing.

Alex slapped her across the face. “Which bed’s yours?”

With effort, Kalyna looked up and glanced at the lower bed of the rear set of bunks. Alex walked her over there, then pushed her onto the mattress. Kalyna fell onto her ass, and leaned back against the wall with a moan.

Alex retrieved the syringe and moved back into the cell.

“You’re not a very nice person,” Alex said, crouching down to Kalyna’s eye level. “I don’t like people who aren’t nice.”

Kalyna eyed her through half-open lids. There was fear now in her gaze, not likely an emotion she experienced often. But there was also still a bit of defiance.

“I know what you’re thinking. I know you’re telling yourself that tomorrow, or the next day, you’re going to find me and return the favor. But sorry, that’s not gonna happen. What’s gonna happen is that your habit of beating on others is gonna stop. Maybe you don’t believe me, but here’s the thing. People already know I beat you once. They’re gonna see you now, see your broken nose there, and know I did it again. They’ll know you aren’t as tough as you pretend to be. And they’ll stand up to you. And they’ll come at you. And there will be
nothing you can do about it
.” She paused. “Nod if you understand me.”

Kalyna stared at her, unmoving, for several seconds, breathing raggedly through her open mouth. Finally she nodded.

“Good,” Alex said. “I have one more surprise for you.” She lifted her hand and wiggled the syringe in the air.

Kalyna’s eyelids opened wider. She pressed herself against the wall, as if hoping she could push through it.

“Don’t worry,” Alex said. “This is gonna help you sleep, for a nice long time. Hell, it might even be lunch tomorrow before you wake up. It’ll give your pain some time to dull.” She smiled. “Consider this a favor. You’re welcome.”

Alex made like she was about to lean in and stab the needle into the woman’s arm. The moment Kalyna tried to twist away from her, Alex changed directions and drove the tip into the woman’s thigh.

Kalyna cried out and tried to snatch the syringe, but Alex shoved her in the chest, knocking her against the wall. As soon as all of the drug was administered, she pulled out the needle.

“You might want to lie down,” she said.

Kalyna, drawing on whatever energy she had left, lunged forward. Alex stepped to the side, easily avoiding her.

With an angry growl, Kalyna staggered off the bed and onto her feet. The moment she was standing, she began to sway, and only kept from falling by grabbing the top bunk.

As Kalyna took an unsteady step toward Alex, the woman began to blink slowly. She thrust her other hand out, placing it against the wall. She blinked again, her eyes remaining closed for nearly a second this time. When she opened them, she looked back at her bunk, took a half turn toward it and promptly fell on the floor.

“Dammit,” Alex said under her breath.

The last thing she needed was for someone to find Kalyna passed out in the middle of her cell. It would most likely mean a trip to the infirmary for the night, and drug or no drug, Alex didn’t like the idea of the woman being anywhere near that place on this particular evening.

“I
told
you to lie down,” she said as she manhandled Kalyna back onto her mattress.

Rolling the woman toward the wall, Alex pulled the blanket over her, then stood back and surveyed her work.

Other than Kalyna seeming to have fallen asleep so early, nothing looked out of the ordinary. It would undoubtedly be a bit of a problem come cell-check time, but at most, Dr. Teterya or Irina would be called out to check on the unresponsive inmate, and could massage the story appropriately.

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.

“
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.