“Eleven is missing.”
Patrick’s pulse quickened.
“What?” The leader’s voice was suddenly gruff. “Where is she? How did it happen?”
“I’m not sure, but she somehow managed to get her cuffs off.”
After a short pause, the leader spoke again. “How long has she been gone?”
“A few minutes at most.”
“Are the others in their rooms?”
“We’re in the process of determining that now.”
“Begin a search of her floor. We’ll come up to you.”
“Roger that.”
After signing off, the leader ordered the others in the room with him to gather their weapons.
Danielle grabbed Patrick’s arm with a trembling hand. “We have to go back up.”
As much as he wanted to, that wasn’t an option. Even if they sprinted, they probably didn’t have time to make it back to the stairwell.
Boots thumped and weapons clanged in the room ahead. The guards would be coming out at any moment.
His heart racing, Patrick glanced around. There was a door on their right he hadn’t seen before. He turned the handle and opened it. A utility closet.
It would have to do. He shoved Danielle inside then slipped in behind her and closed the door, leaving a small crack to look through. They were just in time. Boots sounded in the hall, and dark figures moved quickly past the sliver of light. As best Patrick could tell, there were at least six or eight guards in black fatigues.
A few seconds later, the stairwell door groaned open, and the leader addressed one of his men. “I want you to stay here and make sure she doesn’t come down the stairs. The rest of you, follow me up. We’re going to search the upper floors one at a time. Remember, she must be taken alive. That’s a…”
His voice was cut off as the door clanged shut.
Patrick counted to thirty then peeked out. The hallway was empty. He knew one of the guards was waiting in the stairwell, so he gestured for Danielle to be quiet and follow him toward the exit.
As they slipped down the hall, excited voices echoed out of a nearby corridor. That wasn’t good news. The entire building was coming to life. Patrick sprinted the remaining distance and pushed the exit door open. When he did, a high-pitched whistle blared throughout the building. An alarm.
Patrick cursed under his breath as they fled outside. They could throw stealth out the window. From this point forward, it would be a footrace to the woods. Assuming the guards didn’t have dogs, it was still possible he and Danielle could get far enough away to escape. The key was to get out of sight before their pursuers came outside.
After running down the steps, he turned right toward the trees, but Danielle tugged his arm and pointed in the other direction. “This way.”
What was she doing? They needed to get to the woods as quickly as possible. It was their only hope of getting away.
“I know where to go,” she said. “Please, trust me.”
Her eyes flashed with confidence. She knew something he didn’t. Reluctantly, he nodded.
“Where are we going?” he asked as they ran to the left, across the lawn.
“You’ll see.”
As they neared the corner of the building, a loud clank sounded behind them. Patrick glanced back and saw beams of light crisscrossing the front lawn. The guards were already outside.
“There they are!” someone shouted.
Patrick and Danielle picked up speed as they ran toward a parking lot. Is she going to steal a car? That was a good idea, as long as there were keys inside.
Much to his surprise, she continued through the lot, eventually turning down a grassy slope on the other side. He marveled at Danielle’s ability to run in bare feet. It was amazing what the human body was capable of doing when fueled by heavy amounts of adrenaline.
When they reached the bottom, Patrick saw glistening waters in the moonlight about twenty yards away. A broad river ran parallel to the facility. As they drew near, he saw several boats moored along a wooden dock.
So that’s what she’s doing.
“I saw the dock from one of the rooms they took me to,” she said as they arrived. “Boats coming and going at all hours of the day. I think they leave the keys—”
The crack of a gunshot cut her off. Patrick looked back and saw two guards at the top of the hill. How had they missed? Even an average marksman could hit a target from that distance. Then he remembered what the man had said about Danielle being taken alive. For now, they would use that to their advantage.
Danielle ran to a boat at the end of the dock. He liked her choice. They could launch it without having to maneuver around any other boats. Patrick hopped over the gunwale and made his way to the front, where he settled into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
Apparently, I can drive boats too.
Boots thumped down the dock.
Thankfully, the engine roared to life. He opened the throttle, and the bow lifted in response. Nice. She’s got some power.
As they shot away, Patrick turned and saw their pursuers boarding one of the other boats. Hopefully, it didn’t have more speed than the one they were in. At least they had a head start.
Patrick faced forward then froze when his gaze rested on the control panel.
They were almost out of fuel.
Chapter Three
“We’re almost out of gas?” Danielle asked over his shoulder.
“As far as I can tell.”
“How far can we go?”
Patrick examined the gauge again, this time more closely. There wasn’t even a sliver of space between the needle and the empty indicator. That meant they might be able to travel another mile or two. Then again, the engine might begin to sputter in less than a minute. Like the fuel gauge on a car, they were all calibrated differently.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he replied
“Well, I hope we have something in the tank, because we’ve got company.”
Patrick turned and saw what she was referring to. Another boat carved out into the river behind them, throwing a fountain of water in its wake. Maybe it was his imagination, but the other craft looked sleeker, faster. He hoped the urgency of the situation made things seem worse than they really were.
“Do you know where we’re at?” he shouted at her over the roar of the engine. Maybe she knew more than he did. After all, she’d known about the boats.
“All I know is that we’re somewhere in France.”
France. That would explain the euros he took from the man’s pocket. But if they were in France, why had all the men at the facility spoken English? Something didn’t add up. He looked at Danielle. “How do you know?”
“One of the few things I remember is flying over here. It’s weird because I remember that and my name but almost nothing else.”
Patrick thought of the words that had flashed in his mind before: One hundred twelve. Sixty-seven. Mazarine. Mazarine sounded French, but what did it mean? Maybe it was a nearby town.
“They’re gaining,” Danielle shouted.
Patrick clenched his jaw. Not only were they almost out of gas, but apparently they’d taken a slower craft. At this point, he wondered if there was anything they could do to get some separation. One option was to go ashore now, while there was still some distance between the two boats. He looked to his right, trying to judge the wisdom of that idea. A thick mass of trees towered over the river’s shore. Like the ones around the facility, they were thick, dark, and foreboding. Yes, they’d have a head start, but Danielle’s bare feet would surely be cut to ribbons.
“I think there’s something ahead,” Danielle called out.