I retrieved the Uzis and started to chase after them. I reached the double doors. Then I heard a sound behind me. A guy had come out of the room at the far side of Fenton’s. Someone I hadn’t seen before. Presumably the guy I’d spoken to on the phone. He had already reached Fenton’s door. He must have tiptoed along while I was reeling from the impact with Mansour. The noise was his key working the lock. He opened the door. Stepped inside. With a gun in his hand. I turned and ran back. The door swung closed. I couldn’t see into the room because of the newspaper over the glass. But I could hear sounds from inside. A scream. A crash. And a shot.
Then silence.
I kicked the door open and strode inside, ready to empty the Uzi’s magazine into the guy who had just entered. And I came face-to-face with Fenton. She was standing near the bed, without her crutch. She was pointing the guy’s gun at me. The guy himself was on the floor. He was slumped half on the mattress I’d used the night before and half on the wood. His right wrist was twisted around at a crazy angle. It was broken. That was clear. And the top of his skull was missing.
“Guess we’ll need new accommodations tonight.” Fenton lowered the gun.
“Guess we will.” I came farther into the room. “You all right?”
She nodded and sat on the bed. “More or less.”
I opened my backpack and handed her the prosthetic foot. The one that Dendoncker’s guy had brought to the café. Then I turned and headed for the door.
“Thanks,” she said. Then, “Where are you going?”
“To get Dendoncker. If he’s still here.”
Chapter 49
I paused in front of the double doors. Took a couple of deep breaths. Then went through, raced to the far end of the glass corridor, and burst into the dining hall. There was a breeze blowing over the roof now. It was helping to suck the gas out through the gap left by the vent. But Dendoncker’s formula was potent. My eyes were stinging and raw even after such a tiny exposure. I resisted the urge to rub them. Made myself stay still and wait until my view of the world was less blurred. Then I started to search.
I didn’t bother with the kitchen or the offices. I figured Dendoncker wouldn’t want to hide. He would want to get out of the place. There were two ways to do that. The tunnel. Or the SUVs. I crossed the assembly hall and looked through the window. The parking lot was empty. There was no sign of the Cadillacs. And no sign of Dendoncker or Mansour. I went outside and crossed to the gates. Both were still and closed and solid. But on the rough road beyond them, I could make out four red pinpricks. Two pairs. The same configuration. The Cadillacs’ taillights. The lead vehicle looked like it was riding lower on its suspension. Like it was carrying something heavy. But that was just an impression. I couldn’t be sure. Not at that distance. Not with the way they were bouncing through the gloom. It didn’t matter anyway. They were heading for the horizon. And there was nothing I could do to stop them.
* * *
—
Fenton was in the corridor when I got back to the far side of the building. She was moving gingerly as if her refitted foot was causing her pain. She had already passed the door to the next room and she stopped when she heard me catching up to her.
“Someone else is here.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Another prisoner. I don’t think he’s in good shape.”
I said, “How do you know?”
“When you called me the guy who brought the phone always stood in the doorway while we talked. With the door open. One time when we were done I was taking the phone back to him and I saw two people in the corridor. Walking together. Coming from the right. One was Dendoncker’s sidekick. The enormous guy. The other was a stranger. He was carrying a bag. A black leather one, all beat-up, like doctors use. He was speaking. In Spanish. He said something like, ‘You have to dial it down. He can’t take much more. Leave him alone for a while. Forty-eight hours. At least.’？”
“Who was he talking about?”
“I don’t know.”
“How did Dendoncker’s guy react?”
“He sounded annoyed. Said Dendoncker would never go for a delay. That he needed to know where it was, and there wasn’t much time.”
“It?”
Fenton shook her head. “I don’t know what they meant.”
“So where are they holding this other guy?”
“I thought he would be in the room next to mine. But I just looked. No one’s there. Just a bed and a bunch of security monitors. Nowhere to keep a prisoner. So there must be somewhere else.”