“I could be lying down in Laura’s bedroom with the lights off—I’ll call out to say I have a headache. A towel over my eyes. Not quite myself. Tell him I skipped out of the launch early. And then first opportunity I get—he takes a leak, he takes a shower, he goes into his room to get changed—I walk out with the phone.”
“What if you don’t get an opportunity?” Rafe said.
“I’ll come back down and we’ll hightail it out of Dodge before Laura returns.”
“What if you can’t get out? What if he sits by the door the whole time? What if Laura gets back while you’re still in there?”
“I’ll think of something.”
“You’ll think of a way to explain why there are suddenly two Lauras? What if he comes in to check on you, bring you some water, realizes you’re not her?”
Holly gave a wry smile. “I honestly don’t think he pays that much attention to her. He’s not the doting type, more the controlling type.”
“You’re not going back up.”
Holly studied Rafe a second, then took in Jamie and Samira. “Anyone got a better plan?”
“We leave,” Samira said. “Get out of town, lie low, wait for another break.”
“And then what?” Jamie said. “Let Hyland fly out? Leave Tess and your parents and Charlotte to their fates? We’re so close—we’re unlikely to get a better opportunity.”
Samira held up her hands. “I know. I was just...wishful.”
Holly grabbed her clutch. “I’m doing it.”
“No.”
“Rafe, I am doing it.” She fitted her earpiece. “I have to get in there before he gets back.”
Rafe fisted his hand and knocked it against his thigh with a solid thud. “I won’t be able to wait outside the door, this time. As soon as Hyland’s personal detail walk up that corridor, they’ll know I’m an impostor, which will endanger you.”
“Come on. We’re running out of time.”
As Holly climbed out, Rafe opened his door, slowly shaking his head. “I’ll have to wait for you on the floor below. Doc? You coming?”
Jamie removed his arm from Samira’s waist. “You’ll be okay here?”
She nodded.No.
He fixed his earpiece and switched on the mic. “Key is in the ignition if you need it.”
“Tell Holly to set her mic to continuous,” she said.
They walked to the lifts, while Samira hunkered down and switched screens. Locating Charlotte would take her mind off what was happening above.
As Samira worked, the others remained silent, which didn’t help her twisted insides. Other voices filtered through Holly’s mic. The invisible drip tap, tap, tapped until it was drumming on Samira’s skull.
A thunk, a whir and the roller door rattled upward, headlights behind it. A large car rolled in, followed by another, and another. Land Rovers. Samira pressed her mic button, in her coat pocket. “Hyland’s motorcade just came in,” she whispered. The cars turned and slotted into parks side by side at the other end of the basement. Samira heard a door open and close. The dark head of a woman appeared over a dozen car roofs. She leaned back, lighting a cigarette. The other doors remained closed. “Looks like it’s only the drivers—they must have let the passengers out up top. They seem to be staying with the cars.”
“Can we get back without them noticing?” Jamie said, in an undertone.
“No, but hopefully they won’t be concerned with us. They’ll be local hired help. Their jobs will be to look after the cars, nothing else.”
“Okay. Rafe and I are waiting on the stairwell outside the sixth floor. Holly’s gone up to the seventh.”
Samira chewed her lip. After a minute of murmured voices and clicks, Holly’s whisper crackled through. “I’m in. Room’s clear. Same guys on the door, so I’m guessing he’s not here yet. Wait—a lot of voices outside.” Her breath sounded quickened, like she was moving fast.
“No risks, Holly.” Rafe.
