"The service tunnel—they left it open. It’s another way out,” Jasper said.
Dante looked closer. "It connects to the parking garage."
Ronan nodded. "And nobody expects patients to use it."
Jasper looked at Sophia. "We're changing plans." She nodded immediately, and that seemed to surprise all of them.
"I trust this plan more," she admitted quietly.
Jasper looked almost relieved. "So do I."
The maintenance corridor was narrow and dimly lit. Old pipes lined the ceiling, and the air smelled damp. Sophia wrapped her arms around herself. This was how it started before, when Keller took her almost four years ago. She was taken underground and hidden away from everyone she loved. There were no windows and no way to escape.
Her breathing quickened. Without a word, Ronan stepped beside her. He didn't touch her. Instead, he began talking to her. "So—” She looked at him. "I've got a serious question."
She blinked at him, not sure that she had heard him correctly. "What?"
"Pineapple on pizza,” he said.
She stared. "What?"
"Pineapple on pizza—yes or no?" he asked.
"You're asking me that now?" she grumbled.
"I need to know if we're compatible as a protection team,” he said. She couldn't help it—a laugh escaped. He smiled, seeming pleased with himself.
"I like your laugh,” he said.
She shook her head. "You're ridiculous."
"I've been called worse,” he said. Behind them, Dante watched the exchange, and for the first time since being found, Sophia felt something unexpected—hope. It wasn’t because she'd laughed, but because she'd forgotten to be afraid for three whole seconds.
The corridor ended at a heavy steel door leading into the underground parking garage. Jasper carefully cracked it open and found it empty, except for one black SUV that sat idling near the exit ramp with a driver inside, as though he was waiting for someone. Sophia had a sick feeling that he was waiting for her.
"They knew we'd come this way," Dante whispered.
Jasper nodded. "They covered all of their bases.”
Ronan looked toward the rows of parked cars. "No." His eyes narrowed. "They're expecting someone besides us." Sophia followed his gaze, and a man stepped from behind a concrete pillar wearing an expensive gray suit. He had silver hair and a familiar smile.
Her blood ran cold. "No..”
Dante looked at her. "What is it?"
Her voice barely worked. "I know him."
Jasper glanced between them. "Who is he?"
Terror flooded every inch of her body. "He wasn't one of Keller's guards." She couldn't look away from the man standing calmly beside the SUV. "He used to visit the compound, though." The man lifted his eyes, looked directly at Sophia, and then smiled as though greeting an old friend.
He spoke only two words. "Hello, Sparrow." Sophia stopped breathing because only one person had ever called her that, and he had never worked for Keller. He had workedwithhim.
Jasper
The moment the man said, "Hello, Sparrow," Jasper knew two things. First, the man in the parking garage wasn't here by accident. Second, Sophia was terrified of him in a way she hadn't been of anyone else. He'd spent fifteen years reading body language, and he knew that fear had a language all its own.
Sophia's breathing became shallow, her pupils dilated, and every ounce of color drained from her face. She wasn't looking at a stranger; she was looking at a ghost. Jasper stepped slightly in front of her, not enough to block her view, but just enough that she knew she wasn't facing the man alone.
