Page 279 of Broken Oath

Guards moved faster through the corridor.

Doors opened and closed at irregular intervals.

Voices carried from offices where doors were normally kept shut.

Equipment rolled through the lower tunnels.

The entire facility felt nervous.

And nervous people made mistakes.

Wade sat on the edge of his bunk, listening.

Waiting.

Collecting every sound.

He had survived five years by paying attention to details other men dismissed.

The different rhythm of a guard’s footsteps.

A meal delivered twenty minutes early.

The rumble of an engine starting somewhere beneath the prison.

Each change meant something.

The steel door rattled.

Then opened.

Three guards entered.

Not two.

Three.

That was new.

Wade rose slowly.

The guards watched his hands. One of them tightened his grip on his rifle until his knuckles went white.

Fear.

Interesting.

The lead guard pointed toward the hallway.

“Move.”

Wade smiled.

It wasn’t a pleasant smile.

The guard’s jaw tightened.

“I said move.”