Poe (23 page)

There was another camera in the ceiling above the barred door. Just before they reached it, there was a loud
clank
, and the door swung open a few inches.

The doctor let Alex pass through first, then closed the door behind them. It clanked again as some unseen guard relocked it.

More concrete—walls, ceiling, and floor. Running along the center of the ceiling was an electrical line that was broken up at consistent intervals by glass-dome light fixtures, each with a single bulb inside. Cameras were mounted along the ceiling as well, about fifty feet apart.

The corridor curved to the right, and as they traveled through it, Alex realized that Teterya’s attention was focused on the ceiling ahead. With a sudden stop, he looked back past her, then ahead again. One of the cameras was directly above them, but because of the curve of the passageway, the cameras behind and in front were well out of sight.

A blind spot.

Teterya quickly pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. “I forget before. This message come for you this morning.”

“Have you read it?”

“No. Is sealed.”

Alex started to open it.

“Read while walk,” he said.

With a nod, she pulled the paper out, laid it against the file, and began following the doctor again.

The note was short and handwritten.

TOO DANGEROUS. RECOMMEND ABORT. PLS CONFIRM.
C

Now they think it’s too dangerous?

It had been too dangerous since the day they’d laid out this plan. So had something happened? Had she been compromised? Should she get the hell out of here now?

“Hurry,” Teterya whispered harshly.

She glanced up. The distance between them had increased to about twenty feet. She picked up her pace.

“A problem?” he whispered without moving his lips.

“No. No problem.”

It didn’t matter what the note said. She had to talk to El-Hashim. She had to find out what the woman knew about her father.

Soon the tunnel straightened, its pools of light fading off in the distance, giving the illusion the passageway went on forever. It wasn’t long, however, before Alex could see another barred door. As they approached it, there was a familiar
clank
, but as they passed through the doorway, they weren’t greeted by an empty corridor. Instead, two guards Alex had never seen before stood in the hallway, waiting.

Teterya shared a few words with them, then the guards led them to a staircase that took them back to ground level.

The building they found themselves in felt very much like the cellblock buildings in the main part of the prison—same gray walls, same oppressive feel. The difference came when they followed the guards onto the blocks. There were only six cells, three on each side, their open metal doors revealing they were only big enough for a single bed and a toilet.

They were also empty.

The same proved true of the cells in the second block. In block three, however, two of the doors were closed.

After block three, the guards led them through a double-gated security checkpoint that, given their escorts, went quickly and without incident. A couple of turns down a short hallway brought them to a wide corridor. One wall was lined with thick glass windows that looked out into the yard of the isolation area. Except for two more guards out for a smoke, the grounds were deserted. Alex noted that the three guard towers along the walls had clear views of every inch of the yard.

No-man’s-land. All of it.

An elevator ride took their small group to the fourth floor. They went through another checkpoint, and two cellblocks identical to those below. The entryway to the third, however, was not open like all the others had been. In addition, a guard was sitting on a chair beside it.

As soon as he saw them, he jumped to his feet.

There was a quick conversation between the escort guards and the man at the door before it was opened. Teterya went through first, with Alex right behind him. When it appeared as if the escorts would join them, the doctor said something, and after a bit of back and forth, the guards stayed on the other side.

Another order from the doctor and the door was closed.

This new block was unlike any of the others. In fact, the only thing that gave it away as being part of a prison complex was the metal door they had just come through.

They were standing in a foyer that opened up into a large living room space, with a hallway on one side, and an open kitchen on the other. The décor was hotel chic—marble and silk and porcelain and bamboo—with beautiful paintings on the walls where windows would be, and a large-screen television sitting on a teak cabinet.

What the hell?

This was obviously the luxury suite for prisoners who could afford it, and Alex suddenly understood why the warden had been so accommodating. El-Hashim must have paid a fat wad of cash to be transferred here.

El-Hashim herself was standing in the living area. She and her three friends had all scrambled to their feet as Alex and Teterya entered, holding scarves up to hide their faces as they stared at their two new guests.

Alex kept a step behind the doctor, with her head tilted down in hopes she wouldn’t be recognized right away.

“Good afternoon,” Teterya said.

“What do you want with A’isha Najem?” one of the protectors barked. Alex guessed this must be the one called Marie.

The doctor moved out of the foyer and into the living room proper, Alex keeping pace.

“It is requirement,” he said. “All prisoners in isolation have medical check every two days.”

“Does it look like we are in isolation?”

“Does not matter. You are in isolation facility, you must have check.”

El-Hashim and Marie huddled for a moment, then Marie said, “Okay, fine. Just make it quick.”

Teterya bowed slightly. “I would like to use bedroom. Which one better for you?”

At the mention of bedroom, the women gave him a wary look, but the presence of a nurse seemed to stifle any objections they may have had. Alex half expected them to recognize her now, but they only seemed to see the uniform.

“That one,” Marie said, pointing at a door on the left wall.

“Good,” Teterya told her. “Who will be first?”

* * *

T
HERE WAS A
small desk in the room. Alex opened the file on it, then sat so that her back would be to the doctor and whomever Teterya was examining.

The order of the women was predictable: the two larger bodyguards first, followed by Marie, and finally El-Hashim.

During each check, the doctor would occasionally say something to Alex in Ukrainian. She would nod and pretend to write something in the file.

When El-Hashim came in, her hijab now wrapped around her head and covering her face, Marie didn’t leave.

“You go now,” Teterya told her.

“No,” Marie said. “I stay. Where my friend goes, I go.”

Alex was tempted to point out that her friend had been in the other room while
she
was in here, but held her tongue.

“Is not acceptable,” Teterya said tersely.

“It is unacceptable for my friend to be alone with you.”

“But we not be alone. Nurse is here.”

Alex wished the good doctor hadn’t pointed that out, but Marie simply said, “Same thing. I’m staying.”

There was a pause, then Alex heard Teterya come up behind her. A moment later he was leaning over her shoulder as if to examine the file, his voice barely a whisper. “What you want to do?”

Alex had been expecting this. “It’s okay,” she said, matching his tone.

Teterya nodded as he continued to consult the file for another second or two before returning to his patient. “Very well,” he told them. “If you’ll both sit down, we can…” He coughed. Once, twice, and a third time. Then he said, “Excuse, please. I must get water.”

He crossed to the en suite bathroom. As soon as Alex heard the door close behind him, she waited a beat, took a breath, removed her glasses, and turned around, finally facing the woman she had come here to see.

“El-Hashim,” she said softly. “Excuse me for the intrusion. My name is Alexandra Poe, and I’ve come here to—”

“Assassin!” El-Hashim shouted, and lunged at her.

Alex dove sideways off her chair, not so much surprised by the reaction as by whom it had come from. She had expected any attacks to be launched by Marie, but the woman had stepped back against the wall.

El-Hashim rammed the chair and smashed it into the desk, barely missing Alex’s hip. Spinning around, Alex grabbed her by the arm and tried to get behind to her to grab the other, but the woman was wiry and fast. She squirmed away and yanked her arm free. For a moment, they stood facing each other, El-Hashim’s eyes narrow and wild.

“Listen to me,” Alex said through clenched teeth. “I’m not trying to—”

The door to the room burst open, and the two bodyguards ran in. At the same moment, El-Hashim rushed at Alex, swiping a hand toward her face.

Alex jerked her head back, reflexively moving her elbow up to block the blow, and ended up with El-Hashim’s nails ripping into the cut on her forearm. Alex cried out and tackled her to the floor, straddling her and pinning her arms down.

“Get off me!” El-Hashim screamed.

“I’m not trying to hurt you,” Alex said.

One of the bodyguards grabbed Alex around the waist, as the other tried to pry her hands from El-Hashim’s arms. But Alex couldn’t be budged. “I just want to talk!”

“Liar!” El-Hashim cried.

“I’m
not
here to kill you, goddamn it. I’m here to get you out of this—”

Hot white pain shot through Alex’s torso as a fist hit her kidneys. She immediately released El-Hashim and rolled onto her side, the pain so intense that she could barely breathe.

As El-Hashim got to her feet, Alex looked up, her words coming out in short desperate gasps. “I’m…here to…help you…escape.”

The two bodyguards moved forward, but El-Hashim held up a hand and they stopped short. She crouched down next to Alex, her eyes full of curiosity. “What lie did you just tell me?”

Alex was finally getting her breath back. “It’s not a lie. I’m here to help you escape.”

“You expect me to believe this after you attack me?”

“
You
attacked me. All I did was defend myself.”

El-Hashim studied her a moment, then shook her head. “Why should I trust you? I have no reason to.”

Alex got up on her elbows, the move sending a jolt of pain through her. “I understand that,” she said. “You’re scared. You don’t know me. But you do know my father.”

“Your father? That’s absurd.” El-Hashim turned and looked back at Marie, who was still safely on the other side of the bed. “How would I know your father?”

“His name is Frank Poe. I’m his daughter, Alexandra.”

El-Hashim scoffed and stood up. “I’m getting the prison guards.”

She gestured for the bodyguards to grab Alex. They moved in quickly and roughly pulled Alex to her feet as El-Hashim headed for the door.

“Wait,” Marie said. “Perhaps we should hear what she has to say.”

El-Hashim stopped and studied her friend in confusion. “And why would we want to do that?”

Marie shrugged. “Curiosity?”

El-Hashim considered this a moment, then nodded. “I suppose the guards will still be there in a few minutes.” She walked back to Alex, her eyes narrowing. “So who is this Frank Poe you think I should know?”

“I don’t think,” Alex said. She twisted around slightly, testing the grip of the bodyguards. They were strong, but not so well positioned. It wouldn’t take much effort to free herself, but that could wait for the moment. “You met with him last week, along the waterfront in Yalta.”

Marie took a step forward. “How do you know that?”

Alex shot her a glance. “Because I do.”

“Who told you?”

Alex kept quiet.

“Your father?”

Alex glanced away. Lying without lying.

Marie, who seemed to have taken on the role of main inquisitor, said, “Even if this is true, why should we believe you’re his daughter?”

“Look at me. I have his mouth and nose. My hair is darker, and my eyes, they’re like my mother’s. She was Persian—although I’m sure you already know that.”

Marie seemed stunned. Her expression suddenly softened as she moved around the bed and walked over to El-Hashim. They huddled for several seconds, then El-Hashim said to the bodyguards, “Let her go and leave the room.”

Alex could feel them hesitate, as if they were hoping they’d heard incorrectly.

“Go!” El-Hashim commanded.

As soon as their hands were off her, Alex rubbed her upper arms to get her circulation going again. There wasn’t much she could do about her kidney, which was throbbing like a son of a bitch.

No one said a word until the bodyguards had left the room and shut the door.

Then El-Hashim looked at her. “You do have some of your father’s features. I’ll say that much. But tell us again. Why exactly are you here?”

“Because he sent me,” Alex said. “To get you out.”

Alex had originally
intended to go with McElroy’s plan of telling El-Hashim she was here because of her father’s concern that the woman would not be able to easily extract herself from the Crimean judicial system. But considering what she now knew, she decided there was a better way to handle this.

“My dad discovered that there might be an attempt on your life,” she said, and both women visibly tensed. “As a…business associate, he felt the need to do what he could to keep that from happening.”

Alex hoped the label she’d used was accurate. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to raise any suspicions.

“So he sends
you
?” El-Hashim said.

“He couldn’t very well break in here himself—not without a round of reconstructive surgery.”

“That’s fairly audacious,” Marie said. “Sending your daughter into a pit like this.”

Excluding their present surroundings, of course.

“My father isn’t a sentimental man, and he knows I can handle myself. I was the best person for the job, so here I am.”

Marie grunted softly. “You sound like him, too.”