He gave her one of his warm smiles again. “That’ll have to do.”
Quinn let Nate take point, and had Marion Dupuis walk between them.
It had been touch and go with her back in the cell. She’d understandably associated him with her kidnappers. Given the circumstances, Quinn would have done the same. But at least they’d gotten her to come along, and even better, she seemed to be starting to trust him.
They had made it almost halfway back when Nate stopped abruptly. His hand flew up, palm toward Quinn and Marion, telling them to freeze. They were about ten feet from where the hallway took a ninety-degree right turn.
Footsteps. Heading their way.
Quinn did a quick scan of the immediate area. No doors, no alcoves, no place to hide. They would never make it back to the previous section without being either heard or seen.
He listened again. It sounded like it was just a single person. Tucker perhaps?
He put his hands on Marion’s shoulders and pushed her against the wall.
“Stay here,” he mouthed.
She nodded, her eyes were wide with fear.
To Nate he mouthed, “Quietly.” Then motioned for him to get as close to the corner as possible.
Once his apprentice was in position, Quinn took two steps out into the center of the corridor, then waited.
The steps were steady but hurried, as if whoever it was had somewhere to be.
Two steps away.
One.
A man — not the Australian — rushed around the corner, his forward momentum taking him within three feet of Quinn before he realized he wasn’t alone. He was wearing fatigue pants and a black T-shirt. The barrel of an M16 peeked above his shoulder.
“Who the hell are—” the man started to say.
Nate smashed the butt of his pistol against the back of the man’s head, forcing him to stumble into Quinn.
Nate hit him again, and the man sagged against Quinn, unconscious.
Blood from a cut caused by the blows trickled down his neck and onto the floor.
Without missing a beat, Quinn tossed the M16 to Nate, then hoisted the man over his shoulder. Nate was already kneeling on the floor, wiping away the blood with a piece of cloth he’d gotten from his backpack.
“Come on,” Quinn whispered, motioning to the woman.
“You’re taking him with us?” she said.
“We can’t leave him here.”
She didn’t seem to like the idea, but she didn’t protest further.
Soon they were back in the unused northern hallway that led to the facility’s neglected emergency exit, no one else interfering with their escape.
“All the way into the tunnel,” Quinn said.
Once they were surrounded by the old concrete again, he set the man on the ground. He patted the prisoner down. In the guy’s pants Quinn found a roll of cash and a cell phone.
“Tie him up. Gag him,” Quinn said to Nate. “Shoot him if you have to.”
“He’s one of the guards,” the woman said. “You weren’t lying to me, were you?”
“No. I wasn’t.”
“You’ll find Iris?”
Quinn hesitated. “I’ll try.”
“Please. She’s only a little girl. I can’t imagine what they’ll do to her, what they’ve already done. Please. Please find her.”
Quinn nodded, wanting to promise but knowing that he couldn’t.
To Nate he said, “Keep all the doors closed in case they come looking for him or for her.”
“Right.”
“I might be gone awhile,” Quinn said. “You’ll be safe here. But if it’s within an hour or so of dawn, get her out of here before it’s too light.”
Nate didn’t appear to be happy about the idea, but he nodded.
“Orlando’s on her way,” Quinn said. “See if you can reach her by phone. She can help you, especially if you need to get out without me.”
“But they’re leaving tonight,” Marion said.
“What?” Quinn asked, surprised.
“I overheard them talking outside my cell. They said they would be out of here before sunup.”
“Son of a bitch,” Quinn said. “You’re sure?”
“I don’t know, but it’s what I heard.”
“Okay,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. He looked at Nate. “Stay with the plan. But chances are I’ll be back before you have to leave.”
“I’m counting on it,” Nate said.
“So am I.”
CHAPTER 33
Quinn was pretty sure most of the activity was taking place on the lower level, the one the map had indicated contained the laboratory. He didn’t even want to think about what that might mean, what the bastards might be doing there.
The problem he faced was how to get down there without being detected. As far as he could tell, there was only one direct route. The elevator. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just get on and ride down without taking a huge risk of getting caught. And while his job was full of risks, the smaller they were, the better.
Before leaving the northern hallway, he looked at the map again. There had to be stairs somewhere, didn’t there? OSHA would have had a field day with this place. Of course, it had been built thirty years before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was even formed. But there still had to be some other way down. It wouldn’t make sense not to have a backup.
But if there was, it wasn’t on the map.
Short of tunneling through the rock by himself, it looked like the elevators were his only choice. Or, more specifically, the elevator shaft.
According to the map, there were two elevator cars running side by side in a shaft that went from the lowest level up to the surface. If he could somehow get into the shaft, he could make his way down without being seen. Except the only way in would be through the elevator doors. That meant taking the hallway on the other side of the main east-west corridor.
He swore under his breath, counted to three in his head, then reentered the Yellowhammer labyrinth.
The sentry at the guardhouse reported that there had been no further activity outside the gate. Good news for sure, Tucker thought. It was just further confirmation that Furuta had come alone.
Tucker guessed that the man had been an advance scout, probably had received a tip and had been checking it out first before calling in a whole team. Intelligence gathering, the stiffs at the Agency would have called it. Even if Furuta had somehow gotten word back to his people — which Tucker was confident he hadn’t — they wouldn’t be able to mount any kind of response before Tucker’s team evacuated in a few hours.
The radio on his desk beeped, then the voice of one of his men came on. “Tucker?”
“Go for Tucker,” Tucker said.
“Mr. Rose is asking for you.”
“Tell Mr. Rose I’ll be there in just a bit.”
