Her tone carried no fear, but oddly a speck of humor. He ran to catch up with her, flashing his light in her direction. The uniform hung on her like old laundry on a line, and she had to hold up her pants to step over the fallen guards.
“Your doing?” She nodded toward the men and gave him a coy look over her shoulder.
Thankfully both of them were still unconscious. They’d have a fierce headache in the morning, but they’d survive. And they would have no clue how or why they’d passed out. Thomas had been sure of that. They would only remember passing a janitor with his cart of brooms and a distinct smell of mint in the air.
“Wait, Tori.” He charged ahead, grabbed her arm, and halted her. “I’m rescuingyou, remember?”
“It’s not like I don’t know my way around this place after six months,” she said.
“No, but I take it since you arestillhere, you don’t know how to get out.” He raised a brow, his frustration growing beside his fear. But there was no time for either. “Follow me. Try to look normal. Like a guard.”
Stuffing her hair up under her cap, she complied, falling in step beside him. But no matter what she did, there was no way she looked like any guard he’d met. She was far too petite, too curvy, and much too…well, at the risk of being labeled sexist…feminine.
Retrieving an arm band from his pocket, he passed it over the door lock, hoping, praying it would open. If not, all was lost. For security reasons, the doors and prison cell locks were on a separate power source from the main one that ran the complex, at least that’s what he’d been told. Seconds passed like minutes. He waved the band over the lock again, his chest squeezed so tight, he thought it would implode.
Finally, the expected clank echoed through the room. Breathing a sigh of relief, he shoved it open, then charged down another pitch-black hallway. A left, a right, past two more locked doors, he led her through several stockrooms—the only rooms Thomas assumed would be empty at this hour.
In fact, so far, they’d not encountered a single person. A miracle, if he believed in them.
Also, the power—and the cameras—remained off, and the only sound Thomas heard was Tori breathing beside him. A sweet sound, if he weren’t so petrified.
What the heck am I doing? Perhaps the whiskey was wearing off because he suddenly wondered if he’d lost his mind. Along with his jobandmost likely his life if anyone found out he helped a high-profile prisoner escape.
Too late to go back.
Terror clawed up his spine as he adjusted his magnetic glove and used the armband to get through one last door.
A blast of humid night air that smelled of sewage and motor oil struck him. He gasped and tugged Tori beside him through the employee parking lot still blanketed in darkness. He had only seconds before the flood lights—and cameras—returned.
“Hurry!” Shining his flashlight ahead of them, he dashed for his car, weaving among the few cars still in the lot. Thankfully, Tori remained quiet beside him.
Why wasn’t his door opening? Thomas charged toward the vehicle. Uttering a curse, he stripped off his glove. Instantly the door opened.
“Nice wheels.” Tori started to get in, but he quickly moved his hand over the trunk.
“Sorry, babe. In here.”
“The trunk? Really?”
“I know you hate enclosed spaces.”
Tori bit her lip but quickly leapt inside…just as the parking lot flood lights turned night into day.
Another curse word shot from Thomas's mouth as he quickly shut the trunk, slid into the driver’s seat, and started the engine. If he was lucky, the cameras hadn’t had time to focus. Backing out of his spot, he forced down his rising nerves. He’d tried to think of everything, cover all his bases, but the one thing he couldn’t have predicted was exactly how long it would take them to fix the power.
Tires screeching, he headed toward the exit. A guard stood at the security gate. A real human, not some robot or high-tech drone. Just what he’d hoped for. Stopping before the closed gate, he smiled at the guard.
“Oh, it’s you, sir.” The man instantly stiffened to attention.
“Yes,” Thomas glanced at his name tag. “Officer Barnes, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home.”
“Of course.” Clearly flustered at meeting the Vice Regent, the man dropped his scanner onto the pavement. “Just a minute, sir.” He fell from sight as he retrieved it. “They told me to check everyone.” Rising, he dusted off his jacket.
“Is this really necessary?” Thomas glanced at the two large metallic scanners positioned high on the fence at his right and left. Red dots. Good. They had not yet come completely online. When they did, they would instantly detect Tori in the trunk, just as the guard’s handheld scanner would do in moments.
“Yes, sir. I have my orders.” He punched some buttons on his scanner and proceeded to scan the front part of Thomas's car.
Thomas stuck his head out the window. “You can’t be serious! Do you know who I am?” He used his sternest tone, the one that sent his subordinates scrambling.
