And he got moving.
Claire opened her eyes, stopping the prayer at the sound of a commotion from beyond the chapel. The older nun heard it too. Anything loud within the convent drew immediate attention since this was a place of silence. She crossed herself, rose from the pew, and fled the chapel.
Out in the corridor she stopped and listened but heard nothing unusual. She turned a corner and headed back toward her room. Another turn and she saw someone lying on the floor. She rushed over to find Sister Ellen, one of the women who抎 come north with her, unconscious with a nasty bruise on the left side of her face.
She managed to stir her to consciousness. 揥hat happened??
揗an卙ere. Had the卨aptop.?
Alarm swept through her.
She sprang to her feet and ran to her room, seeing immediately that the computer was gone. No. This can抰 be. Not after all that had happened. She reached into her habit, removed a phone, and dialed a number.
揥e have an intruder. I need everyone back inside. Now.?
She knew that nearly all of the sisters were in the church conducting nightly prayers, including Sister Isabel, the fourth member of her contingent, whom she抎 just alerted. The security of the convent came above all else, including prayer. Most of the women were beyond their prime, but she抎 brought three able acolytes with her. One of them was Sister Rachel. The other was lying woozy on the floor.
The final one?
On her way.
In the meantime she needed to find the intruder.
Nick heard an alarm sound.
In a convent?
Nothing about this place made sense. But he couldn抰 dwell on that abnormality. He needed to leave and he was rapidly making his way toward the wooden staircase he抎 used to climb to the second floor. From there he抎 descend to the kitchen, then out the rear door. But when he arrived at the top of the stairs he heard voices below, along with steps clonking up the wooden risers.
That wasn抰 good.
He turned and rushed back down the corridor he抎 just traversed, feeling like a rat inside a maze with little room to maneuver.
The pulsating alarm stopped.
Apparently the troops had been mobilized. There抎 be people behind him shortly. Ahead? Unknown. So he stopped at a corner and cautiously peered around the edge.
A woman, older than the one who抎 attacked him, appeared at the far end of the hall wearing a gray skirt and veil. She stopped for a moment at the T-junction, then kept going, not coming his way. He heard voices behind him and realized he couldn抰 stay exposed any longer. So he hustled forward and darted into an open door, entering one of the sparsely furnished cubicles. He knew it would do nothing but attract attention if he closed the door, so instead he assumed a position behind it, watching through the crack created by the hinges as three more women dressed in gray skirts passed the doorway and kept going.
揥hat抯 happening??a female voice said in English.
揝ister Ellen was attacked. There抯 a man inside the convent and he has the laptop I retrieved. Find him. Fast.?
That had to be Claire giving orders.
A heavy tramp of feet headed off down the hall in both directions. He hoped with the doors to every room wide open they might overlook searching them, concentrating on the corridors and exits.
So how was he going to get out?
Claire dispatched her sisters to search the corridors. Some of the older nuns also joined in. She抎 already ordered the exit doors locked and guarded. No way anyone was going to leave.
The bigger question, though, the one that really bothered her, was how she had been located in the first place.
Nick stared around at the tiny bedroom, focusing on the window that faced the front of the building. He stepped over and checked the sash, which was held shut by a brass latch. Hinges allowed it to swing out at a ninety-degree angle. When he抎 first arrived he抎 noticed the exterior architectural adornments, particularly a ledge that encircled the second floor. Now, much closer, he saw it was about ten inches wide, made of stone. Trees grew close to the walls, but not here, more to the side where the building wrapped around to another wing. If he could get to the corner he could use the thick limbs to make his way down to firm ground.
Foolish? Maybe. But he had no choice.
So he stuffed the laptop into his pants at his waist where it could remain, hopefully, out of the way. He hopped up and climbed out, flattening his body to the wall, arms extended upward, palms pressed hard to the brick. The sheer drop down to dark shrubs was at least twenty feet, probably more.
Which could break a bone.
He pushed the sash back, nearly closed, so it would not be readily noticed, then wedged along, one step at a time. Thankfully, the wall was rough, offering plenty of ridges and crevices for his fingertips, and heights were not an issue for him. He passed more windows that opened into other cubicles, all of which were sheathed from the inside by shades. Hopefully, the nuns were focused inside, never thinking about a high-wire escape.