Page 76 of Glitter Rose
Ramirez steps closer, his voice dropping. “Listen. I can have an SUV stashed half a mile down the eastern slope, in the tree line. Full tank, emergency supplies. Enough to get you back to Iron Gate. I’ve marked a weak point in the fence, section E-7, where the drainage pipe runs underneath. The patrols skip it every third rotation because of the mud.”
I narrow my eyes.
His mouth curves in a humorless smile. “You think you’re the only one playing both sides?”
“We’d still need a distraction to get through the fence. Even at the weak point, we’d be exposed.”
“That’s where I come in,” Miller says. “I can trigger a containment breach in Lab 6. It would draw security to the west wing.”
Min-ji shakes her head. “Too risky. If they trace it back to you…”
“I’ve got a better idea.” The plan forms in my mind as I speak. “Explosives. I can build something simple but effective—enough noise and fire to pull resources away from the east perimeter.”
Ramirez’s eyebrows lift. “Demolitions specialist. Right.”
“I’ll need materials.”
“I can get them.” He nods. “Maintenance shed has everything you’d need. You build it and I set it off around 0700, when the morning patrol is changing shifts.”
Min-ji frowns. “The timing needs to be precise.”
“So the plan is: I escort Paris from her morning blood draw to the fence. Ramirez places a vehicle outside the perimeter and sets the explosives to create a distraction, then we cut through and escape to the SUV.”
It’s a solid plan. Too solid for something thrown together at midnight. My eyes narrow as I look between them. “What about you guys?”
“I’ll be joining then,” Miller says.
“Someone needs to stay,” Ramirez says. “Keeping things under control.”
I turn to Min-Ji. “And you?”
“I’m not going.” Her hand drifts to her stomach. “I need to stay and continue the research. There’s too much at stake.”
Sofia won’t be happy with me leaving her friend, but if she doesn’t want to go… Can’t force her.
“When?” I ask.
“Two days from now,” she says. “Tuesday morning blood draw. Paris will have recovered enough, and Gabriel will be occupied with the new researcher’s arrival.”
I nod once. “Ramirez. Same time, maintenance shed?”
“Meet you there,” Ramirez says.
Min-Ji crosses to a filing cabinet, unlocks a drawer, and removes something small. When she turns back, she’s holding a USB drive between her fingers. “Give thisto Sofia.”
“What is it?” I ask.
“Everything I’ve documented on the virus. My research, Gabriel’s projects, the results of Paris’s tests.” Her fingers close around the drive. “It might help her.”
I take the drive, slipping it into an inner pocket of my tactical vest.
Two days. In two days, I’ll either have Paris safely away from this hellhole, or we’ll both be dead.
Either way, Gabriel’s hold on her ends.
EIGHTEEN
PARIS
