Six stepped into the hall, and took Joseph's arm. "Head down, look weak, beaten."
"Oh, yeah. Difficult," he muttered.
They walked down the long, tiled corridor past gray metal doors marked with numbers. Six heard groans coming from inside some of the cells. She thought about Joseph being beaten and clenched her jaw. Kept her gaze straight and narrow. One turn in the corridor, and the cellblock gate appeared. Two guards in full military uniform stood on either side of the heavy metal door. Another man sat at a desk that held only one phone and a sheaf of papers. All of them stared at Joseph.
"I am moving the prisoner," Six said. "Agent Xiu will be along when she is finished… cleaning up. Do not disturb her until then."
"Shall I call ahead for a transport vehicle?" asked the man at the desk, who very carefully maintained no eye contact.
"That will not be necessary," Six said. A request for transportation would go through the main switchboard, and be automatically routed to the other members of her squad. "In fact, I would ask that you not call anyone about this prisoner. It is a very sensitive matter."
"Of course," he said, and reached behind him to dial in the combination of the electric lock. He hit a red button and the door clicked open. One of the guards held it for her. Six stopped and took his sidearm. She did not ask. He did not protest. Simply stared into the air above her head. He was very young. Eager to please. Six hoped none of them would be punished too severely for letting her escape with Joseph.
They passed through the cellblock door and entered another corridor that split into three directions. Security cameras hung from every corner, but Six knew they were manned by low-level guards who would know only her face and nothing else. Her face would be enough to grant free passage until Xiu was discovered. Or until Six and Joseph ran into any other members of the team.
They took the stairs. Joseph gave her a questioning look when they started walking up.
"This building is only three stories tall," Six explained quietly. "But there are six sublevels beneath it. We are on number three."
His mouth twitched. "I don't rate a six? How disappointing."
"Not really." She let herself smile. "That level is the morgue."
They reached the main floor without incident. Six heard a great deal of activity beyond the corridor, but where they stood was the hall used only by the janitorial staff. Six and Joseph were able to exit through the back door without incident.
Sloppy security, Six thought. She had never paid much attention to just how sloppy, until now, and it embarrassed her. She had taken too much for granted. Twenty years, training to be the best, riding on the laurels of elitism—and now, all of it gone, with the realization that she had still be vulnerable, in other ways. It was a taste of humility that she really did not need.
The night air was cool and damp. The military offices sat in the center of a walled compound. Most of it was parking lot, filled with military vehicles and the occasional bus. On the other side was a small training ground. Six heard men laughing, followed by the hiss of a burning fuse. Three seconds later, a ball of sparkling flame shot into the air, rushing high above the trees lining the wall. Six heard a whine, followed by a sharp explosion. She could have shot her gun and no one would have noticed.
Six hit the electric lock on the key chain. An Audi beeped back. She and Joseph ran for the car. She put him in the backseat.
They drove out without being stopped. The guards at the gate took one look at her face and waved her on. Six pulled into traffic, hit the accelerator, and there—gone.
"We have only an hour," she said to Joseph, and was stunned to hear her voice shake. She gripped the wheel harder. "Maybe less. Xiu will wake up eventually. I do not know if anyone will hear her shouts, but I would prefer to assume the worst."
"I know someplace we can go," Joseph said. "It's in Suzhou. No one will be able to find a connection to me there."
"You forget, no one knows who you are."
"You think."
"Fine," she said, and then, "We need a plan."
"We," Joseph said. "I like the sound of that."
"You should not," she snapped. "All it means is trouble. I have just ruined my life for you."
Joseph was silent for a long time. The car engine hummed; fireworks crackled against the road. Six had to swerve to avoid hitting some children playing with sparklers.
"I'm sorry," he finally said, softly. "I am, truly. And I am grateful. But Six…" He stopped, and sighed. "Was it a life you really wanted?"
"It was the life I had," she replied flatly. "What more is there?"
A strong hand reached from the shadows to touch her shoulder. "You know the answer to that. I can feel it in your heart."
Her eyes burned. "People forget how to choose."
"Not you," he murmured. "Not you."
Maybe not, she thought. But choosing right was another matter entirely.
Chapter 5
At four o'clock in the morning the road to Suzhou was mostly empty, and Six gunned the Audi's A6 engine into a high-speed chase of nothing but ghosts. Just outside the city, though, she took an exit to a rest area and parked the car. Cabs idled on the other end of the lot. She could see the drivers playing mahjong on a makeshift table.
"There are some bottles of water back there," she said to Joseph. "You should wash off the worst of the blood. Maybe take off that shirt you're wearing, too."
"Why do I get the feeling that we're dumping this fine piece of machinery?"
"Because we are," she replied, and got out of the car. Inside the trunk she found some spare clothes, money, and a tool kit. All standard issue. She dug around for a screwdriver, and, after making certain no one was watching, removed the car's plates. She tucked them inside a plastic sack that had very recently contained maps, and then went around to take Joseph's bloody shirt. She tossed him a new one and stuffed the old inside the sack with the plates. There was a garbage can nearby. Six dumped everything inside. It would not stay there long. Someone would dig through eventually for scrap and find the contents of the bag, but hopefully the discoverer would keep his or her mouth shut—and if not—then she and Joseph would be long gone. Or as gone as finding that terrorist cell would take her.
She and Joseph. Six shuddered. She really was thinking of them as a team. And him, still a stranger. She knew nothing about Joseph. Nothing but what her instincts were telling her. It should not have been enough. And yet, here she was, breaking the law.
Not just for him, she reminded herself. There is a lot at stake here. Too much. Sometimes you must do the wrong thing in order to make right.
Six thought of her debriefing. The commander had not listened to her warnings about the terrorist cell. Not truly. Intelligence officers had already said that an attack might be imminent. And Six was saying nothing new. Nothing they could use. Nothing she thought she could share. Not without sounding crazy—or ruining Joseph's life.
So she had ruined her own instead.
Joseph approached. His hair was scruffy, his eyes hooded, but the blood was gone and the shirt strained quite nicely over his shoulders. The rough voices of the cab drivers and the rumble of engines drifted close.
"I was thinking," he said slowly. "Xiu only could have been possessed during a moment of close contact. Touching, even. Not only that, but her possessor wouldn't have been able to stay in her body for more than a day. Any longer would be dangerous. Lingering increases the possibilities of becoming… stuck."
"Xiu has been in Shanghai all this time. Her… possessor might be there, as well." Six's cheek hurt. She touched it, lightly, and felt dizzy. Joseph touched her arm.