Page 74 of Cops and Robbers

“I think he said something about updating the security feed,” Kate said. It wasn’t entirely a lie.

According to their plan, Caige was on his way to the security room, in the opposite direction of Danielle. He needed to insert the drive so Sid and Clyde could hack the camera feeds from within. Already she had spotted the black orb of a camera on the ceiling. That was why she needed Caige and his ability to use his Illusion to make himself invisible.

“Sounds about right. Those guards do whatever they want,” Danielle said, stepping around Kate to the ladder. Danielle’s duffel brushed Kate’s arm as she passed.

“Did you lose weight?” Danielle asked, stopping before Raz and leaning forward. “You look awfully—”

“Can you hurry?” Kate swallowed to clear the croak of fear in her voice. “I need to set up this equipment.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Danielle handed her bag to Raz.

“Hey Steve, we got a bag.” Raz climbed up a few rungs. As the luggage disappeared into the rescue sub, Raz jumped down and rushed around Danielle to stand by Kate.

Danielle snorted. “I’ll be waiting.” She clambered up.

Kate hung the backpack on a hook on the wall and headed to the coffin. “Let’s move this to the room.”

“It’s pretty heavy,” Raz said.

“I can handle it.” What I can’t handle is your expression when you see…

She banished the thought and grabbed the coffin’s grip. Raz moved to the other end. This part—Sajani and a guard’s usual equipment run to the torpedo room—would appear natural to the cameras.

In non-verbal sync, they lifted the coffin. It strained Kate’s shoulders and spine.

She grunted. “Okay. That’s heavier than I expected.”

Together, they maneuvered down the hall. Careful not to hit anything in the tight space, they walked through more halls. The gray walls stretched ahead, cluttered with pipes and tack boards. With each new section they entered, Kate had to lift her leg and the box over the large entry step. The strain warmed her body against the submarine’s cold interior.

“You doing okay?” Raz asked, breaking their silence.

He probably felt her nerves building beneath the surface. They were always there, but this…this threatened to break her normally confident composure. Sweat trailed down her back and her eyes stung. All she wanted was to run to the torpedo room. I’m almost there, Mimi.

“I’m good,” she said.

Her arms quaked with the burden as they headed through a small cafeteria decked out with nice leather chairs, modern compared to the rest. The berthing even looked updated, with the normal submarine gear being swapped out for nice beds. At the rear of the berthing, they reached the closed door to the torpedo room.

“How are we doing, Caige?” Kate said, breathing hard as she set the box down. Two cameras sat above the door, staring at her, but they couldn’t hear her.

Five years of planning led her to this door. And she’d spent less than a week with a man she was going to lose when he learned what lay on the other side.

“Programming is still booting up,” Caige said. “Ah, wait—feeds are a go. Keep me updated.”

“Got it.”

She placed her hands on the hatch of the watertight door and twisted. Breathing out a sigh, she put her game face on. No matter what happens, I am getting you out of here.

The seal released, and she swung the door open. An automatic light flicked on. A storage hall lay before her, with an opening on one side. Steady beeping came from within the room. A bleach odor permeated the area. No cameras peeked from the corners: Matsuda didn’t want proof that the room’s contents existed.

Kate lifted the container with Raz’s help, the burden numbed for her by the sudden adrenaline coursing through her. She struggled to breathe as she drew closer to what she wanted.

Around the shelving sat a hospital bed with monitors surrounding it. Wired to the machines, a woman lay still as death. Her steady heartbeat beeped, alive but unconscious. She wore a white sports bra and boy shorts. A sweaty mess of midnight-black hair haloed her face. Her pale skin appeared as smooth as Kate remembered. Crust lined her beautifully plump lips. Deep bags sank into her cheeks—her features speaking of the Japanese ancestry Kate had to forfeit so Matsuda wouldn’t recognize her.

She looks the same. Not the eighty-year-old Kate was expecting to see. She must have reincarnated under his control. Kate bit her lip and metallic iron filled her mouth.

A row of car batteries sat behind the bed, aligned in a contraption someone connected to the feeds like leeches to the woman’s chest, arms, and legs.

And Lucifer’s Bell rested beside her on a metal table.