Cells W2, W4, and W6 were empty. So was W3. W5 showed signs of recent use. There was a regular twin bed with a pale blue comforter and a TV perched on a footlocker by the far wall. The room smelled vaguely of pizza and Chinese food. It was where Carpenter had been hiding out before taking Begovic’s place at the release ceremony. W7 was empty. And Begovic himself was in W8. He was on the bed when Reacher opened the door, lying absolutely still. For a moment Reacher thought he was dead. That the whole enterprise had been a trap. Then Begovic blinked.
“Anton?” Reacher kept his voice quiet. “My name’s Reacher. I’m here to help you. To get you out. We have to get moving now. Can you stand up?”
Begovic didn’t move. He didn’t speak.
So not dead, Reacher thought. Just catatonic. Which was understandable. The guy had been wrongly locked up for years. Promised his freedom. Then bundled back into solitary. Reacher felt some sympathy. But he could also feel the seconds ticking away. “Begovic!” he said. “On your feet. Face front. Forward, march.”
Begovic stood and moved to the door. Reacher scanned the room for sentimental possessions but he couldn’t see any likely candidates so he eased Begovic out into the corridor. Then toward the door at the center of the unit. They were halfway there when the lights went out. There was total darkness for six long seconds. Reacher heard two metallic bangs. One behind him. One in front. Begovic’s breathing grew louder. Quicker. Shallower. Then there was a deep clunk and the light returned, only at about half the brightness.
“What happened?” Begovic’s voice was soft and low.
“Main power went out,” Reacher said. “It switched to the backup generators.”
“OK.” Begovic started moving again.
Not OK, Reacher thought. Not in the same hemisphere as OK. But he didn’t say anything until he got to the door. There was no point raising the alarm if he was mistaken. Which he wasn’t. It was just as he feared.
The door was now locked.
Chapter 44
Emerson and Graeber found the place they were looking for outside Winson with no difficulty. Graeber was driving the black van that was expected at the rendezvous. Emerson was driving the white one. They continued for a quarter of a mile after they spotted the premises then pulled over to the side of the road to figure out their next move.
They were in good time. The area was secluded. The layout looked straightforward. The only issue either of them could see was gaining entry. The site wasn’t the most secure they had ever encountered but they were used to working in deserted buildings. Here they would be dealing with at least one person. Maybe more. And they needed to take supplies in with them. The barrel, in particular. Which meant getting the gate open. And doing it quietly.
The best scenario either of them could come up with was that the guy they were looking to surprise was already there. If he was, they could let the chloroform do its work then make as much noise as necessary with the gate. They could dynamite the damn thing if they wanted to.
They spent two more minutes kicking around their options then settled on a plan. A simple one, which was the kind Emerson liked best. They would leave the vehicles where they were for the moment. Take the lightweight stepladder, a tarp, and a rope from the white van. Climb the wall. Recce all the buildings in the compound. Bring the chloroform. And hope they would get lucky.
* * *
—
“What happened?” Begovic said again.
Reacher knew, but he didn’t want to get into the details. He remembered hearing all about it from a tech-minded corporal he had met at Leavenworth years ago, when he was there for a prisoner transfer. The guy had explained that prison doors aren’t naturally open with the ability to be locked if required. It’s the other way around. Their natural state is to be locked, and they can be made to open if required. They work by having two competing magnets. One permanent. One electro. The permanent magnet is fixed into the wall. It naturally pulls a steel bar along a shielded channel in the door and into a socket in the frame, locking it. If the electro magnet receives current, it activates, and because it’s set up to be stronger than the permanent magnet, it pulls the steel bar the opposite way, out of the socket in the frame, unlocking it.
The system has two advantages. Doors can easily be locked or unlocked remotely. It’s just a question of applying or denying current to the electro magnet. And if the power is cut for any reason, even for an instant, the system fails safe and the doors automatically revert to locked.
Someone had figured out that Reacher had set all the doors on his route to be open. They couldn’t lock them with the usual controls because Reacher had trashed them with a hammer. So they cut the power. The backup circuits were kept deliberately isolated from the locks. Reacher couldn’t help admiring the simplicity of the solution. He also couldn’t hide from the depth of the trouble he was in. Trapped in a place designed by experts to be escape-proof. The only possible way out was to restore current to the electro magnet in the door. Which was categorically impossible from where he was.