Page 18 of Atone in Darkness
Then she handed him the bottle of reagent and watched while he poured it over the sofa. When he was done, he held out the computer. “Hide this someplace. If we take it with us, they might be able to use it to track our location.”
She disappearedback into her bedroom. When she returned, she grabbed her jacket out of the closet and stuffed it into her pack. “I’m ready.”
Then her dark eyes met his. “No, I’m not. Not really, but we have no choice.”
“No, we don’t.”
He flicked the lighter she’d given him earlier, ready to light one of the strips of cloth they’d planned to use as wicks. “Get near the door. There’s no telling how fast thiswill burn or how toxic the fumes will be.”
Before he could toss the burning fabric onto the sofa, an alarm sounded out in the hallway. He dropped the strip the floor and stomped on it. “What the hell is that?”
As if in response to his question, an automated voice came on the intercom. “Attention all staff. An immediate shutdown of this facility is in effect. Please follow evacuation protocols.This is not a drill.”
Then the emergency alarm sounded again, and the message was repeated a second time.
Marisol looked puzzled. “I thought Dan was lying about the possibility of the owners getting ready to pull the plug on this place.”
So had Chase, especially this soon. “This might actually be good news. If everyone is leaving, we might have an easier time getting outside of the fence.”
“Do you think they’ve discovered you’re gone?”
“No way to know, but it’s possible. If so, this might be their way of trying to flush us out of hiding. I wish we knew for sure.”
Then he smacked his forehead. “I’m an idiot.”
He pulled the radio that he’d taken off the dead guard out of his pants pocket. “I forgot I had this. I took it from the guard we... I... left behind in the lab.”
Despite what that guy had intended to do to Marisol, Chase knew she hadn’t gotten past the shock of seeing him snap the bastard’s neck right in front of her. No doubt she was feeling a bit skittish around him. Holding the radio between the two of them, he hit the on switch to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“She’s not in the lab. Someone check her quarters. The powers that be will be thoroughlypissed if we’ve lost her. They’ll want to debrief her completely before terminating her part in the project.”
Another voice responded. “If she’s not there, start a room-by-room search for her.”
There was a slight pause before the first speaker asked, “What do we do about Number Five?”
“We just checked the lab. We don’t have to worry about him. He’s still on the floor of his cell covered witha blanket, so he hasn’t recovered yet. The boss said to leave him there, and they’ll take care of that part of the cleanup. They’ve learned all they can from him.”
Okay, time was definitely running out. The bad news was the guards were on the hunt for Marisol and would be headed their way any second now. The good news was that they hadn’t figured Chase into the equation.
He ran through a fewscenarios in his mind and made his decision. “We’re better off walking out with everyone else where we’d have a chance to get lost in the crowd. In here, we’re sitting ducks once they start a door-to-door search.”
Without waiting for her to respond, he pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear what was going on outside in the hall. “People are leaving. Let’s go. When in doubt,act like you don’t want me to be hauling your ass out of this place.”
“Quit ordering me around.”
This was not the time for her to dig in her heels. “Listen, Doc, you might know all there is to know about medical stuff and your research, but you don’t know jack shit about surviving situations like this one. We don’t have time for long, polite discussions. Either do what I say or find your ownway out.”
Then without giving her a chance to reply, he all but dragged her out the door. They fell into step a short distance behind a cluster of guards heading for the exit. No one seemed to be in a big hurry, and most were carrying duffels slung over their shoulders. If this was a hoax, it didn’t appear that the locals were in on the secret. At least this way no one would question why shehad her backpack with her.
He kept his head down as they marched along, hoping to blend in with the other men in their matching black uniforms. Unfortunately, as the lone female in the entire installation, Marisol stood out in the crowd. He spotted one more hallway branching off the main one just ahead. Chase reached out to tug Marisol’s arm. “This way.”
He led her around the corner away fromthe others.Eventually they’d have no choice but to rejoin the parade out of the building, but he wanted a few seconds to better assess the situation. As soon as he spotted another door to the outside at the end of the hall, he picked up the pace.
“Are you sure we should go this way?”
Damn it, now wasn’t the time for her to start questioning his every decision. “No, I’m not sure, but I wantto see what we’re walking into rather than following the crowd blindly. If you want to go the other way, fine.”
She didn’t look convinced, but she followed him as he walked away. Their luck ran out just after they stepped outside, where they stumbled right into a guard armed with an automatic rifle.
