“Again?” Dr. Teterya said as they returned via the tunnel under the prison.
“Is that a problem?”
“I am not scheduled during day. Dr. Timko will be back.”
Alex shrugged. “He seemed pretty sick today. Another day off shouldn’t be surprising.”
“Effects of drug will wear off by time he wakes up in morning.”
“I’m sure you can arrange a prolonged illness. A home visit tonight, perhaps, to see how he’s feeling.”
She had no trouble sensing his reluctance. He was oozing it like sweat.
“Doctor, this is the job you are being paid well to perform. There’s no backing out. You should know, if I’m pleased with how things go, I will recommend a bonus when I see my employer.”
“Bonus?” The word bounced clumsily out of his mouth.
“More money,” she explained. She wasn’t lying. She knew she was forcing the doctor to go miles beyond what he had expected to do, so recommending an additional payment wasn’t unreasonable. She had no idea if McElroy would comply, but she’d do everything she could.
“I…I was supposed to work double shift,” he said quietly, speaking more to himself than to Alex, as if he were trying to come up with a strategy. “Must get someone to cover tonight, so I come back tomorrow.”
“See? No problem.”
“Is no guarantee I find someone,” he snapped.
“I’m sure you will.”
He scowled at her and they walked the rest of the way in silence. When they finally returned to the infirmary, Irina took Alex into the back room and helped her change back into her gray dress.
“If we go out tomorrow night,” Alex said once the doctor had rejoined them, “I’m going to need my team in place. I don’t know where to tell them to go, though.”
Teterya thought for a moment, then nodded. “Of course,” he said. He gave her the location.
She asked for paper and a pen, and wrote Cooper and Deuce a note, sealing it inside the envelope Irina had brought her.
“Deliver this as soon as possible,” she told them.
“I take,” Irina said. “On way home.”
“Thank you.”
Irina called for the guards, and Alex was escorted back into the now full prison yard. The day was much warmer than the previous one, so any area in shade had, for the most part, already been claimed.
After walking around in the relentless sun for several minutes, Alex found a spot along the wall on the other side of the exercise area. If she pushed herself right up against the stone, she could at least partially avoid the direct sunlight.
She didn’t last there for long, however. She was restless, all worked up. She wanted to act, get things rolling, do anything. The only way to keep from exploding was to start walking again.
What if El-Hashim said no?
It was a very real possibility. If that happened, Alex would have only two choices:
One, accept the decision and walk away.
Two, take El-Hashim by force.
The second option would entail neutralizing the other three women in El-Hashim’s suite, and getting an uncooperative inmate past the regular prison guards.
Of course, with access to the infirmary, she could have the doctor bring some kind of drug that would knock El-Hashim out, making option two not quite as daunting.
Yeah. That might work.
It might be preferable.
They could pretend a fight had broken out while they were in the apartment, and that they needed to get an unconscious El-Hashim to the infirmary as soon as possible. Hell, they might even be able to get the guards to carry her.
But then what?
Whatever drug Teterya used would have to wear off quickly. Alex would need El-Hashim to be alert and able during the actual escape. But it would then again be a question of willingness to cooperate.
As Alex pondered this dilemma, she crossed into the middle of the yard and noticed Rachel heading quickly in her direction. The girl was half walking, half jogging as if she wanted to go faster but wasn’t sure she should.
“Where have you been?” Rachel asked as soon as she was close.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Alex, guard up, said, “I was in the infirmary. My arm.”
“Oh,” Rachel said as she glanced at the bandaged forearm, then just as quickly seemed to forget about it. “Come on.”
She turned back toward the cellblocks.
“Where?”
“It’s your friend, what’s-her-name — Frida, right?”
“What about her?”
“She’s hurt pretty bad.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alex followed Rachel into Building One, and to a cell on the first floor.
The only one inside was Frida, lying on a lower bunk.
Someone had beaten the hell out of her. Her face was bruised and bloody, her arms cut and scraped. Her dirty dress was ripped in several places, one across her belly exposing a welt at least two inches long.
Alex dropped to her knees next to the bed and said, “What the hell happened?”
Rachel, who stood in the doorway, held her hands up in surrender. “I wasn’t here. I just found her lying right outside the cell.”
“You didn’t see anything?”
Rachel said, “It happened before I got here, okay?”
Frida’s eyes were closed, her teeth clenched in pain.
Alex softened. “Frida? Frida, can you hear me?”
A low, almost imperceptible moan escaped the girl’s lips.
“I couldn’t get her to talk, either,” Rachel said.
Alex looked back at her. “Why didn’t you take her to the infirmary?”
“I thought moving her onto the bed was already taking a chance,” Rachel said.
“You could have at least gotten a guard.”
She started backing out of the cell. “Look, I didn’t want to get involved, all right? I knew she was your friend, so I went looking for you.”
“Well, get a guard now.”
“I’ve already done my job. This is your deal, not mine.”
With that, she left.
“Goddammit,” Alex said under her breath.
Running her fingers lightly over Frida’s skin, she summoned up her combat training and checked for obvious broken bones. Everything seemed to be in place, but who knew what kind of internal damage there was?
The sooner Frida received medical attention, the better.
“Frida, open your eyes.”
The girl moaned again.
“Come on,” Alex said. “Open your eyes.”
A slit appeared across Frida’s left eye as the lids parted. Her right, already swelling, wasn’t going to open at all.
Alex touched the girl’s forehead. “I’m gonna help you up, all right?”
Considering her own residual pain, she thought that might be easier said than done. But she had to try. Frida’s face, however, became tinged with fear, and she moaned again.
“You need help,” Alex insisted. “I’ve gotta get you to the doctor.”
Gingerly, she slipped an arm under the girl’s shoulder and another under her legs. Alex’s forearm screamed in agony as she lifted Frida off the mattress, and hoisted her out of the bed. Grunting, Alex swiveled one of Frida’s legs up so that her foot was flat on the ground, then did the same with the other.
A loud groan flew out of Frida’s mouth as Alex stood all the way up.
“Hang in there. The hard part’s done.”
The size of the cell doorway forced Alex to shuffle sideways to pass through without banging Frida against the bars. Once she was in the common area, she moved as quickly as she could toward the exit.
There were dozens of prisoners right outside the entrance to Building One, milling around, bullshitting, and trying to stay out of the sun. When Alex made it outside with Frida, they all turned to look, their conversations dying mid-sentence.