“Mack.”
He glanced over. “Close the door behind you.”
Although there were no locks on the doors, they were permitted to close them. As soon as it clunked shut, Mack dropped to the ground and slipped under the bed. “Mack? What are you doing?”
“Come on down.”
Hesitant, as he was still unsure of Mack’s mental state, he crouched and looked.
“Well, come on. You want to get out or not?”
Jack dropped to his knees and looked at him. Mack turned on a small flashlight. He beckoned him under with two fingers. Jack sighed, expecting to be told that escaping was just an imaginary state and that he’d never got out. That it was just a myth. He had to get on his back to slip under the steel bed.
“What am I looking at?”
“See the springs?”
“Yeah?”
Mack reached for one and pulled it loose then slid out from under the bed. Once Jack was on his feet again, Mack tossed it to him. “That’s your key out of here.”
Jack held it up and looked at it. “Are you kidding me?”
“You wanted to know how I got out. I used that.”
“How?”
“The bathroom. There are three showers. Go to the last one and you’ll notice the flooring is made from tiles. Every single shower has a few loose tiles. We have the government budget to thank for that. I used that spring to scrape out the grout around the tiles over a period of two weeks, pulled them up and dug down.”
“You created a tunnel with this?” he said in disbelief.
“No, I created an opening,” he said walking over to a wall and hitting it a few times, then stomping his foot in certain areas of the room until Jack heard a hollow sound. “Shabby workmanship, you might say. This hospital was once an old asylum. Instead of ripping everything out or condemning it, the builders simply built around and over what was already there. You remember what Edgar said about where he kept his hooch? That compartment was used for plumbing and electrical. That’s when it came to me. There are passages behind these walls and below. In certain parts it’s paper thin. I wasn’t digging for long until I made my way through to a space between the flooring and an area that houses the old pipes that run through the asylum. From there I just waited for the right time, and made my way into that passage. It’s tight but you can navigate it with a flashlight.”
“But surely one of the techs would have noticed a big hole in the shower?”
“No, because Cowboy covered it up. On my side I nailed in a piece of plywood, on his, he put the tiles back in place and filled in the grout. I can’t tell you how hard it was to get all these items from work duty but that’s where it helps to have friends.”
“Charlie, you mean?”
He nodded. “That’s why when you lift up those tiles you’ll have to use your foot to knock out the plywood. It’s in there pretty tight. I couldn’t have someone falling through, now could I?” He chuckled.
Jack frowned. “Cowboy knew about it and didn’t go with you?”
“Some people don’t want to get out.”
“Why the hell not?”
“The world outside isn’t conducive for some of us.”
Jack stared at him. “You could have left again, why not?”
“Same reason Cowboy’s still here. There’s no life for me out there. What would I do? Get a job? Get an apartment?” He chuckled. “No.”
“Then why did you go the first time?”
“To kill the man who had an affair with my wife.” He grinned. “Now remember. Once you’re down there. Follow it and it will lead you to a room they used to do hydrotherapy. Stay to the left and follow the passage past that. It’s dark and full of a lot of crap so be careful where you step when you get out. Everything is crumbling down there. Eventually you’ll reach a ladder that goes up to a large opening in a wall. There was a grate on it when I went through but I removed it. That sewage pipe goes beyond the hospital grounds, past the fencing, and comes out near a stream. Make it to there and you are home free.”
Jack brought a hand to his face and shook his head. “And no one knows except you two?”
“That’s right. The psych techs don’t go in there. They stand outside while we shower. And the noise of the water covered up scraping. You want out, that’s your ticket.” He then glanced at a clock on the side table. “But you need to move fast. Shower time will be over in forty minutes.”
15
There was no lineup outside the showers. Psych techs called names, two at a time, except for the rowdy or misbehaving, who went in alone. If that was him, fine, he didn’t need anyone to cover up his escape. Jack waited patiently in the TV room for his turn. Patients were huddled around couches watching some ball game, oblivious to his intentions. Every now and again one would jump up ecstatic and cheering would ensue. He kept glancing at Jenkins out the corner of his eyes, each time he ushered in two more then checked off their names from a list. After being denied lunch, he thought they might try to strip him of his dignity and make him go without a shower but fortunately that wasn’t the case.
“Winchester! You’re up.”
He hesitated for a second waiting to see who they called next but they didn’t. Suited him fine. The last thing he needed was someone else hearing him break through and raising the alarm. He glanced at Mack on the way out and got the thumbs-up. Jack snatched up his towel and bath bag and strolled up to the door. Jenkins put a hand on his chest and sneered at him.
“Ten minutes. That’s
