Page 21 of The Beast's Baby
“Nothing,” he murmured evasively. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here, yeah?”
She turned her head to look up at him.
“Yeah,” she agreed, a small smile on her mouth.
What if Cora caught them? Not that she spent much time stalking the corridors, but she could be watching on the cameras. All the cameras hadn’t been shut down, only the ones directly linked to Isobel’s rooms, and even though he knew that they wouldn’t be monitoring the hallways too carefully at this time of night it wasn’t improbable that someone might catch them leaving. The facility was still fully staffed, though, which meant that there was a lot more movement. It made it easier to get lost and blend in. Plus, it was mostly around midnight that the guards started really keeping an eye on any strange faces.
Given the needed cover he did as prompted and reached out, placing his hand against the small of her back just as they neared where the corridor widening into the entrance lobby. The lobby was huge, with tiled floors and enormous windows covering the entire front of the facility. A couple of dozen employees were milling about, and he hoped the guards behind their desk wouldn’t pay them too much attention. There were chest-height glass doors in place as a security measure, blocking an easy exit, but they slid open without a hitch when he pressed his smartwatch to the scanner in their metal frame. So, they mustn’t have been discovered yet. There was hope.
He pulled Isobel through it with him, thinking he could hardly believe their luck. They were almost home free.
“Hey!” Anthony, the senior guard, called out.
Jay stopped dead in his tracks, Isobel jerking to a halt as well.
“Hey,” Jay said, looking over at the guard desk where Anthony had stood up in order to be able to see them.
“What’s going on here?” Anthony asked.
“Quick walk around the facility,” Jay replied. “She hasn’t been out of her room for nearly five weeks. Cora sanctioned it. You can call her if you’d like. Though, you know, it’s not like she hates being disturbed or anything.”
Anthony stared at him, then his face broke into a smile. “You dickhead,” he laughed. “But you’re right. I wouldn’t bother Cora for anything. I trust you, man.”
“Thanks,” Jay said, feeling guilt like a black serpent slithering between his ribs. “We won’t be long. Just catching a bit of air.”
“You’re not going out like that, right?” Anthony asked. “It’s freezing out there.”
“Seriously just going for a breath of air,” Isobel reassured him. “I’ve been in a stuffy room for so long I can barely remember what the outside smells like.”
They shared a laugh, Anthony narrowing his eyes.
“Hang on,” he said.
Jay had a flash through his mind of Anthony deciding to brave disrupting Cora’s evening workflow—a fire-able offense if she was caught in the wrong mood—lifting the phone off its hook, dialing the number for Cora, double-checking that she was actually signing off on this little excursion.
His arm around Isobel tightened its hold and she glanced up at him.
It’ll be fine, he told himself, offering her a small but reassuring smile.
Anthony had disappeared from sight behind the desk and now he reemerged carrying two parkas. He handed them to a slightly stunned Jay. “There you go,” Anthony said, smiling broadly. “Give you a few more minutes out there, right? Go out like that and you’ll die of frostbite, the both of you. Can’t have that on my watch, now can I?”
They both shook their heads, pulling the coats on. It felt like a safety blanket. Jay hoped his actions wouldn’t get Anthony in trouble.
“Thanks,” he said earnestly.
“Welcome, man,” Anthony nodded. “You take care out there now,” he added with a wink to Isobel.
She gave him finger guns in promise of doing just that, the fact that the desk was so high meaning that Anthony couldn’t see that she wasn’t wearing any shoes. She followed as Jay headed for the enormous sliding doors taking them outside. The glass slid apart, allowing them access to the well-lit walkway that snaked around the building itself as well as the parking lot that stretched out before them.
The winter cold hit them like a breath from some invisible frost giant and Isobel made a noise at it, as if in protest.
“Oh, my God, tell me your car is close,” she said.
“It’s not far,” he said, gesturing vaguely to a not as well-lit part of the lot a little way off.
“It smells like snow,” Isobel said, and he was inclined to agree.
“Come on,” he said, leading the way in between the parked cars.
