“Bruce,” Harvey hissed, then headed over toward his cell. “There you are.”
“What are you doing here?” Bruce said as his friend approached him and gripped the bars. “You’re here to see your dad…?”
Harvey gave him a shaky smile. “I finally reported him, Bruce,” he said. “The police arrested him.”
At that, Bruce blinked, unable to stop a quick smile spreading across his own face. After all this time, his friend had stood up to his father. “You—you reported your dad? They’re keeping him in this holding area?”
Harvey nodded. “Yeah. But I’m not here to see him. It was just a really good excuse to get the police to let me come back here.” He held up a small key between them. Bruce glanced down at it, his smile fading into shock.
It was the key to Bruce’s holding cell.
“Turns out,” Harvey whispered, “that I have some slick hands, and that Alfred is one convincing talker.”
Alfred.Bruce stared at him. “Heput you up to this? You’re helping me get out?”
“Hey, be flattered that I’m willing to break the law for you and Dianne.” Harvey shoved the key into the lock. “My dad belongs in here, not you. Now, let’s go.”
—
On any other night, the holding area of the GCPD precinct would have been a near-impossible place from which to break out. Detective Draccon would have interrogated Bruce again before the night was done; there would have been two rotations of police in the back, not one; and everyone’s attention wouldn’t have been consumed by the screens mounted on the wall, displaying the nightmare of events going down.
But tonight, as the Nightwalkers held the city hostage, Bruce was able to creep down one of the precinct’s halls at a fast clip, head down and shoulders tense, keeping his eyes on Harvey, who hurried forward in front of him. They were making a run for the building’s single back door, which led out to the rain-washed parking lot behind the precinct.
Suddenly, Harvey darted to one side and wedged himself into a nook where the bathrooms were. Bruce did the same. An instant later, a young officer hurried past them, her hand on the gun at her hip. They held their breath as she rushed by. As she went, they heard her shout, “Is anybody left in here? We called for more backup!”
“The National Guard’s on their way!” a voice answered her farther down the hall. Bruce heard a pair of footsteps run away from them, then fade. He let his breath out.
“Come on,” Harvey snapped. They bolted back out into the hall. As they went, Bruce heard another shout go up from the holding cell area.
“I thought Draccon was keeping Wayne here!”
“She is—”
“How the hell did he get the key?”
“Get Draccon on the phone—we have a missing—”
Bruce gritted his teeth as both he and Harvey broke into a run.I guess that officially makes me a fugitive.They burst out the door and into the night, and the jail was behind them.
They took two steps before a black car screeched to a halt in front of them. This was not the usual, stately ride Alfred used to take Bruce around, but a car that Bruce recognized from WayneTech, sleek and understated and black, its surface blending in with the night.
“Need a ride?” Alfred said.
Bruce broke into a grin. He and Harvey rushed into the car. Bruce had barely shut the passenger door when Alfred slammed his foot down on the pedal, sending them barreling out of the parking lot. In the rearview mirror, they saw the young officer stumble out of the precinct just in time to see them speed away.
“A little slower on the turns, Alfred,” Bruce managed to say as they screeched around a corner and bolted into a freeway tunnel.
Alfred chuckled. He still had his hospital band wrapped around his wrist. “WayneTech cars aren’t made for slow turns, Master Wayne.”
“And you wonder where I get it from.” Bruce felt as if his stomach could touch his spine. Even in his Aston Martin, he’d never been able to drive the way Alfred was now.
“I used to be in the Royal Air Force, Master Wayne,” Alfred answered in a dry tone. “At least I have an excuse. Just because onecandoesn’t mean oneshould.I expect you not to use this against me the next time you go for a joyride.”
“I’ll try not to,” Bruce managed to reply as he clutched the edges of his seat. In the back seat, Harvey looked green. “Why’d you agree to get me out, Alfred? I thought for sure that you would’ve refused. Too dangerous and all.”
“Your Madeleine makes a poor friend,” Alfred replied as they entered another turn.
“I’ll say,” Bruce muttered.
