Poe (27 page)

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.

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.

“Infirmary,” she said, and listened. “One moment.”

She held out the receiver to him.

Teterya took one more breath, accepted the phone, and put it to his ear. “This is Dr. Teterya.”

“Doctor, this is Captain Balanchuk, Isolation.”

Teterya swallowed. “Yes, Captain?”

“We have an inmate in need of medical attention.”

The doctor tried to calm himself. “Her name?”

The guard gave him the name the prison had for El-Hashim.

Teterya waited several seconds to give the impression he was consulting the prisoner log. “Oh, yes,” he said. “What’s the complaint?”

“It seems to be stomach related. She appears to be in a lot of pain.”

Teterya did his best to feign annoyance. “Appears? Or
is
?”

He didn’t want it to look too easy. This wouldn’t be the first time an inmate had pretended to be sick in hopes of getting special treatment, and Teterya’s skepticism would further sell their ruse.

“That’s why I’m calling,” Balanchuk said. “I thought you might be able to advise me before we take this any further.”

Teterya had to play this very carefully.

“I can’t diagnose a patient over the phone, Captain, but if she has an upset stomach, you have medicine for that. Give her a dose and send her back to her cell.”

“It isn’t nausea,” Balanchuk said. “She’s claiming outright pain, a severe tenderness in the abdomen.”

“Oh? And where is it located?”

“On the right.”

Teterya paused, mentally counting to three. “I see,” he said, now feigning a touch of concern. “If this is legitimate, it could be serious. Perhaps I should come take a look.”

He waited, half expecting Balanchuk to dismiss the idea, but Balanchuk said, “Very good, Doctor. Please make it a priority.”

“I’m on my way.”

Teterya moved to the wall, hung up, and turned to Irina. Now that the game was on, he felt focused and alert, no longer distracted by his fears.

“You’d better get Powell,” he said. “And make doubly sure she looks the part.”

Irina nodded, walked over, and hurriedly kissed him. “Be careful.”

* * *

A
LEX FOLLOWED TETERYA
down the stairs to the first floor, but instead of using the underground passage to the isolation unit, the doctor moved toward the exit that led to the yard.

“Where are you going?” she whispered. “What about the tunnel?”

“Look strange, we try take now. We use when prisoners in yard only.”

She put a hand on his arm, stopping him. “But won’t the guards at the security check be the same ones who were there when I was brought in tonight?”

“Yes.”

“
Hello
?” she said, pointing at her face. “This isn’t a mask.”

She had her file folder and was wearing the glasses again, with the hat topping Irina’s expertly rendered hairstyle. But she felt far from confident that it was enough to fool someone who had seen her only an hour earlier.

“They not expect prisoner to be dressed like nurse,” Teterya told her. “Last thing on mind. I go first, keep attention on me. You come through quickly, keep eyes on file, not them.”

In other words, the same drill as before, but a lot riskier this time. “And if they look at me?”

“They bored and lazy men. They see glasses, not face.”

Teterya couldn’t guarantee this, of course, but what choice did Alex have?

She nodded and felt a knot taking shape in her intestines as they started walking again.

When they neared the security gate, she fell a few steps behind Teterya and opened the file folder, keeping her head down as she flipped through the pages. The doctor said something to the two guards manning the station, then laughed. They chuckled in return. A reply by one of them was followed by loud laughter from all three, and somewhere in the middle of it all, a buzzer sounded and the gate swung open.

The doctor kept talking, turning to face the guards as Alex slipped past behind him and went through the gate, not stopping until she was several feet beyond.

There were a few more laughs, then the doctor stepped through and joined her on the other side. He touched her arm, and they continued to the exit.

They had nearly reached it when one of the guards called out to them—sharp and abrupt.

Alex froze, but Teterya squeezed her arm and turned. He and the guard had a quick exchange, then he turned back to Alex, looking relieved.

“What did he want?” she asked quietly.

“He ask me play cards tonight.” Teterya paused with a slight grimace on his face. “He tell me bring pretty nurse, too.”

As the knot in Alex’s stomach hardened, the exit door buzzed open without incident, and they stepped into the yard.

Floodlights lit the grounds, leaving no corner of darkness, and making it impossible for anyone to cross without being seen from one of the towers.

Dirt crunched under their feet as they walked around the east side of Building Three, toward the door in the back wall that led to the isolation section.

Alex couldn’t see any of the guards in the towers, but felt their gazes on her. If any of them was using a scope or binoculars, she could only hope he was concentrating on her body and not her face.

Just before she and Teterya reached the door, it swung open, revealing three guards waiting inside. Teterya shared a few quick words with them before they walked as a group into the isolation building.

When they stepped into El-Hashim’s suite, her two bodyguards were in the living area.

“Where is the sick prisoner?” Teterya asked them.

One of the women pointed toward a bedroom door.

The doctor spoke quietly to the three prison guards, and they stayed back as he and Alex went inside.

El-Hashim, still clad in her hijab, was lying in bed, Marie sitting in a chair beside her. As soon as Alex closed the door, El-Hashim threw her blanket off and stood up.

“You’re late,” Teterya told her.

El-Hashim and Marie shared a look. “Marie is coming with me.”

“That’s not the plan,” Alex said.

El-Hashim held up a hand. “To the infirmary. If everything is as you have said, she’ll stay there. This is not a negotiable point.”

“We have very limited room,” Teterya said.

“Nonnegotiable.”

“Fine,” Alex told her.

She didn’t like it at all, but they didn’t have time to argue. And if Marie was only going as far as the infirmary, then that shouldn’t be a problem.

They gave it a few more minutes before El-Hashim lay back down and started groaning softly as the doctor called in one of the guards. They had a quick conference and the guard made a call on his radio. The back and forth lasted only seconds, then the guard nodded to Teterya.

Looking over at the three women, Teterya said in English, “We go now.” He pointed at Marie. “You will help.”

“Of course,” she said, bowing her head.

Once El-Hashim was propped between Marie and Alex, they headed out. As much as they all wanted the trip to go as quickly as possible, they had to keep up the appearance that El-Hashim was ill, which necessitated a much slower pace.

With known prisoners now in their party, two of the guards stayed with the group as they reentered the general population section and slow-walked their way to the administration building.

Passing through the checkpoint was much easier this time, the attention of the gatekeepers directed at Marie and a groaning El-Hashim.

Rather than take the stairs, the group squeezed into a small, rarely used elevator, and took it up one floor to the infirmary level. As they were exiting the car, the infirmary door opened down the hall, and Irina stepped into the corridor, looking nervous.

Something was wrong.

While Alex, El-Hashim, and Marie maintained their slow pace, Teterya rushed ahead. Irina started speaking to him before he reached her. Teterya looked past her into the infirmary, and glanced back at Alex and the others.

There was concern in his eyes, but he was trying to hide it.

Alex hoped the guards didn’t notice.

Addressing El-Hashim, he cleared his throat and said, “Another inmate is sick and come here while we getting you. Is okay. Not problem. We still have room for you.”

Alex glanced at El-Hashim and Marie, and saw the questioning looks on their faces. She smiled, trying to put them at ease.

As they entered the infirmary, Alex saw that a curtain had been drawn around one of the examination stations, and sitting on a chair in front of it was another guard, reading a newspaper.

But it wasn’t just any guard.

It was the one with the birthmark. Who knew her by name.

Wonderful
.

Teterya spoke to her in Ukrainian and gestured. Alex nodded, and she and Marie guided El-Hashim toward the back room.

The problem was, they couldn’t get there without passing the guard. And the way they were positioned—with El-Hashim between them—Alex was on the guard’s side of the aisle. There was no way she could switch sides without calling attention to herself.

The knot in her stomach returned.

As they neared the guard, Alex moved half a step in front of the others and twisted her body slightly, so that her back was partially toward him. They were only a few feet away when the guard peeked over his paper, then jumped to his feet to give them room as he said something to Alex, sounding annoyed.

Keeping her back to him as much as possible, she made a grunting sound that she hoped would convey her thanks, but he repeated himself as if expecting an answer.

Fuck.

Alex had no earthly idea how to reply to him. But before she could grunt again, she heard Teterya call out and the guard suddenly turned away from her, his footsteps clacking on the tile.

Relieved but still tense, Alex picked up her pace, forcing the other two to also speed up. The moment they stepped into the back room, she swung the door shut.

“Off to the side,” she whispered, motioning them away from the door’s window.

Once out of the line of sight, El-Hashim scowled at Alex. “What is going on? Who is this other pri—”

“Shh,” Alex said, raising a finger to her lips.

Without explaining, she tiptoed over to the room Frida was in and peeked inside. The girl was still asleep. Alex shut the door and turned back to the others.

“Another one?” El-Hashim said incredulously. “Who is in that room?”

Alex held up a hand. “Relax, it’s just a patient. No one who will be a problem.”

El-Hashim didn’t look reassured.

“And the one behind the curtain?” Marie said. “Who is she?”

“I don’t know,” Alex whispered. “But again, not an issue. The doctor will take care of her, send her back to her cell, and then we’ll be out of here.”

She moved over to the main door and peeked through the window. While the guard with the newspaper had returned to his chair, the ones who had been part of their group seemed to have left.

She wanted to go out there and find out what was going on, but she knew the minute she stepped through the doorway, the guard would recognize her for sure. So she was stuck in here until he left.

Glancing around, her gaze landed on the two small stacks of clothes on a shelf just outside the isolation room she’d been using earlier.

No sense in wasting time
.

She grabbed the clothes and gave one set to El-Hashim. “Put these on.”