18

Hannah stood between Thomas and Scott in front of the main hospital elevators after a quiet, tense ride from the Blackwoods’ estate. She'd just finished her scrambled eggs and bagel when Thomas had appeared, car keys in hand, to ask if she was ready. She had abandoned her orange juice so as not to exacerbate his annoyance.

Now, Hannah held up her key card. "I don't know if this is going to work with both of you inside the elevator. McNamara said it would only work if the elevator was empty."

"The elevator is hooked to a system which tracks the weight it carries. The maximum weight is 6,000 pounds." Thomas didn't look at her. His voice, rough from what she suspected was too little sleep, spoke into his phone. "Isolate elevator number three as soon as it's empty. Bring it the main floor."

The phone chimed, and Thomas switched numbers. "Yes, dear."

He must be talking to Catherine.

"They're with me." He stopped and listened again. She could feel Scott slide up behind her, but he was careful not to touch her. "We're at the hospital. We're going to go exploring for this mysterious VIP level I told you about last night."

Hannah winced. Of course Thomas would tell his wife. Thomas continued to listen to whatever Catherine was saying.

"I'll let them know. Stall them for as long as you can. Joanna's on her way."

Thomas hung up and looked at both her and Scott. "Johnson's at the courthouse again, asking the judge to issue a warrant for your arrest. Short of a miracle, we might not be able to stop him this time."

Hannah's heart fled to her throat. "What can we do?"

Thomas slipped his phone under his jacket. It was the first time she'd ever seen him dressed so casually, almost rumpled. Even his hair had lost the perfect style of careful grooming. She could only imagine the pressure he was under. "Rely on the court of public opinion. I'll arrange for a press release to be issued. In the meantime, Joanna will mount a defense on your behalf."

"I can't be locked up." Hannah could already feel her urge to flee taking over her good sense.

"You won't have a choice if the warrant is issued. I warned you about this. Joanna will be with you every step of the way."

"Joanna's not exactly Ms. Tea and Sympathy," Scott said.

"Would you prefer a public defender?" Thomas snapped, then stopped. "I've tried everything I can to keep this all above-board. I warned you not to run from the Committee in the first place. The gray areas I have to work with are shrinking rapidly. Short of a jail break, there isn't much else I can do to protect the two of you."

The elevator arrived, the doors opening to disgorge a group of people who looked as if they, too, had been through the wringer. Maybe they were relatives of those hurt at the harbor? Hannah stepped back to let them pass by.

Scott said nothing, but motioned Hannah to enter in front of them with Thomas following behind. The doors slid shut with finality.

"I'm sorry, Thomas." Her voice shook as the urge to flee intensified, but again, she dug her nails into her palms. She was sorry. For Thomas, for Scott, for everyone who had been so kind to her since her escape. The elevator walls appeared to creep closer. Her heart raced beyond her control. "I didn't mean to make things so difficult."

Thomas took a deep breath. "I know you didn’t. I know you don't look for trouble, but by God you have a talent for finding it. I used to think Scott specialized in driving me crazy with his antics."

Hannah pulled out her key card, but her hand shook so badly that she had to run the card along the edge of the key pad three times before it disappeared.

Thomas snatched it when it reappeared. "I'm going to have this analyzed. You said McNamara gave it to you?"

Hannah nodded. She was beyond words at this point. Thomas had been nothing but kind and supportive ever since he’d evacuated her and Scott from Star Haven. It had to be the pressure of the harbor attack, plus the Committee investigation, that was making him so cross.

The doors opened and they stepped out into the hallway. The quiet only emphasized the unreality of the situation.

"What is this place?" Thomas looked around, as did Scott.

"The autopsy rooms are this way." Hannah pointed toward the rooms leading to the emergency door. "There's also a room with a generator. McNamara's office is the other way."

Scott placed his hand on her back, a comforting rub along her tense muscles. It might be the last time he would have the opportunity to touch her.

"This place — it doesn't exist. It's not on the blueprints. I double checked them last night. How the hell did it get here?"

Scott cleared his throat. "Someone must have erased it from the blueprints?"

"Erased it from the blueprints and managed to install the elevator, surgical suites, equipment, electricity, plumbing, without anyone noticing?" Thomas pushed past them toward McNamara's office. The door wasn't locked and swung open.

Hannah followed him, but didn't try to enter the office because Thomas appeared to take up the entire space with his growing anger.

"This is where you heard the voice?" he asked. "And the dogs?"

"Yes." Her tears blurred her eyes. "I'm sorry. I trusted McNamara. He made it all sound normal. Everything sounded reasonable, so I just went along with what he wanted me to do."

Thomas slipped behind the desk, played with the mouse, then typed on the keyboard. He slipped out what she thought looked like an external drive and attached it. He started typing again. "What did he have you do Hannah? What haven't you told me yet?"

Her voice hitched. "I bloodsurfed through the cadavers."

"What?" Scott's outrage in her ear made her tears spill.

"At first, he just wanted to see if I could get into a body without blood. It worked, but I couldn't move, so he set up a cadaver hooked up to a cardiopulmonary bypass. It worked. I bloodsurfed through a dead body."

Thomas disengaged the external drive and shoved it into his breast pocket along with his phone.

"Did he tell you why he wanted you to do this?"

"He said it would be an experiment. To see what I was really capable of. He thinks — he treats me like I'm remarkable, that I can do things that I never even imagined."

A shout behind her shut her up. All three of them saw McNamara and the Shield enter the corridor through the emergency exit. No alarm sounded.

"Stay behind me," Thomas ordered.

Scott pushed her behind him, but she still followed him as he went with Thomas to meet McNamara and the Shield at the elevators.

McNamara got there first. "I'm disappointed in you, Hannah. I thought I told you to keep this area a secret."

Hannah stepped around Scott, then around Thomas, though he tried to keep her behind him. It all grew so tiresome, everyone trying to keep her behind them, trying to keep her safe. She faced McNamara.

"You told me it was the VIP floor. That it was a half-secret. Thomas Carraro is one of the biggest VIPs in Thunder City. He designed the security system for the entire hospital. How could he not know about this floor? How could I know he wouldn't know?" She looked back at Thomas, her old friend — anger — taking the place of her sorrow and fear. "Why does everyone blame me for making a perfectly reasonable assumption? Why are you blaming me when you've been manipulating me all this time?"

McNamara stared at her for a moment. "Good point." He held out his hand to Hannah. "I apologize, Hannah. I should have explained things to you from the beginning, but if you'll come with me, I will show you what you need to know."

"You'll show all of us," Thomas said. Scott stood side-by-side with his father.

McNamara pulled Hannah closer to him. "I'm afraid not." He turned to the Shield. "Shoot them."

"What?" Hannah tried to yank her hand away from McNamara, but he tightened his grip and dragged her closer until he clamped his arms around her body. She struggled but could only watch as the Shield raised two guns. "No! Stop! Leave them — "

Bang. Bang. Bang. Thomas fell, Scott fell, blood pooling on the floor.

McNamara's arms tightened even more. She had no breath left to scream. McNamara turned her away so she couldn't see what the Shield was doing to — oh, God, to the bodies.

Damn her gloves. Why did she have to wear them? If she hadn't obeyed the Committee's rules she could bloodsurf through McNamara right now. Kill him. And the Shield. Then save Scott and Thomas.

Instead, she could only kick as hard as she could, the whole way down the hall, as McNamara dragged to her to the emergency room door. She slammed her sneaker between his legs, almost forcing him to drop her.

"Leave the bodies," McNamara shouted back to the Shield. "Help me get her through the door!"

The Shield appeared in her peripheral vision. He opened the emergency room door before grabbing her legs. With her legs locked together, she couldn't kick, but she could arch her back, desperate to gain some leverage to throw them off. She needed to remove her gloves. Just two seconds to remove her gloves. They couldn't stop her from fighting. She would fight to her last breath, damn them, and damn her for thinking McNamara cared. Despite her thrashing, they shoved her through the door.

"Get the syringe, top shelf to the left."

Oh, shit. The Shield dropped her legs, so she returned to kicking and slamming her head back, hoping to hit McNamara's nose. He dodged her attack. She knew she connected a few times, but his arms were like steel ropes.

The Shield pulled out a knife and ripped off one of her sleeves. The last things she saw was the needle jammed into her arm before her world turned black.

Scott forced one eye open against the clamps trying to keep them shut. The cold tile against his cheek prompted him to fight the urge to sleep until a familiar scent reached his nose. Blood. The Shield had shot him. He'd also shot Thomas. Where was Hannah?

Scott started to roll over, but a sharp pinprick tweaked his neck. Running his hand over the spot, his fingers brushed against something sticking out of his neck. Automatically, he yanked, and found a dart in his hand.

He tossed it away and crawled over to Thomas, who lay in a pool of blood nearby.

"Thomas?" Scott checked for a pulse. The rhythm was strong enough to push away fears of a near-death. Further searching located a bullet wound in his father's upper arm and another dart stuck in Thomas's shoulder. Scott removed his jacket to create a tourniquet. "C'mon Thomas. Wake up. I need you to wake — "

"Shhhhh." Thomas opened his eyes when Scott cinched the jacket over the wound. "Scott. What happened?"

"You've been shot. I'm going to get you out of here."

He could see Thomas looking him over for wounds, and added, "I'm fine. We were both hit with tranquilizer darts, but you have a bullet in your arm."

"How long?" Thomas's voice sounded fuzzy.

Scott checked his phone, which was still in his pocket. Both of his guns, his knife and his taser were also in place. "Fifteen minutes."

Thomas nodded and tried to sit up. "Where's Hannah?"

"McNamara has her." Scott nodded toward the emergency door. "I'm going to put you in the elevator and send you up to the lobby. Then I'm going after Hannah."

Thomas raised his hand to Scott's face, but the pain brought his arm down again. "Why didn't they kill us?"

"I don't — " Don't you dare say you don't know. You do know, asshole. Give Thomas one damn good reason for me to not shoot both of you and save myself some aggravation.

Nice to know The Shield's voice was still in his head. He tried again. "The Shield is a double agent. He was training me to recruit me into the Court of Blood and help him bring it down from the inside." At least that's what Scott hoped the Shield had intended to do. He still wasn't quite clear what the Shield's plan was. "The Shield shot you to draw blood. Make it look like he was shooting to kill. Then he hit both of us with tranqs so we'd lie quiet and McNamara would think we were dead."

Thomas closed his eyes against the pain. "I'm sorry I was so — "

"Don't. You had every right to be pissed. Hannah knows that, too. Just stay conscious, okay?" He could already see his father's face becoming more animated as the drug left his system. Scott could feel his own lethargy bleeding away. There was still a lot of blood loss for Thomas to have to fight. "I need you to get up to the lobby, call T-CASS and report Hannah as kidnapped. You'll also need to get the hospital to evacuate, but do it quietly in case McNamara is still here. We can't alert him to what's happening."

Thomas nodded. "Help me stand up."

Scott got Thomas sitting, then standing. Though they were both still wobbly, Scott managed to get his father into the elevator. "How are you going to get to Hannah? They might have already left with her."

"I haven't figured that part out yet."

Thomas leaned against the back of the elevator. "Why you? Why now?"

Scott shook his head. "I don't know and we can't worry about it. There might be cameras in this corridor. They could be watching us."

"I should have known. How could I have not — "

"Thomas." Scott grabbed his father's face between his hands. "You have one job. Report and evacuate. I'll take care of the rest."

Thomas leaned forward and kissed Scott on the forehead. "I'm so proud of you. Your mother is too. We couldn't have asked for a better son."

"And I couldn't have asked for a better father. Thank you for adopting me and reuniting me with Catherine. Now go!"

Scott hit the main lobby button, thankful he didn't need Hannah's pass key to send his father up.

His energy returning by the second, he jogged toward the emergency door. What lay on the other side? Before he could open the door to find out, the push bar squeaked. He pulled his Ruger from his shoulder holster and plastered himself against the wall behind the door. If it was McNamara coming through the door, the doctor was a dead man.

The Shield walked through just far enough for Scott to point the gun to the guy's head. The Shield froze in place.

"Where's Hannah?"

"She's safe."

"Where is she safe?"

The Shield put a single finger to his lips. Scott allowed him to step away from the door so it closed. "I'm out here to dispose of your bodies."

"You've had fifteen minutes to do that. What's happening behind this door?"

"We're evacuating. There's a small medical facility that the Court of Blood established down here for McNamara to use for experimentation. Thanks to you and your girlfriend, he has to destroy it and hide the evidence. We have thirty minutes before the bombs activate."

"Bombs?"

In a lightning move, the Shield slammed him against the nearest wall, his hand tight over Scott's mouth. "Any louder and they'll hear you in Star Haven."

Scott gritted his teeth. The Shield was right, but he shoved the Shield's hand away from his mouth. "How do we stop him from setting off the bombs?"

"We don't. You evacuate, go home, and stay the hell away from the Court of Blood. I'll stay with the Court, McNamara, and your girlfriend."

"I'm not leaving Hannah behind. I'm not allowing McNamara to blow up this building. Thomas is alive. He's going to trigger an evacuation."

"Of course he is. Why do you think I aimed for his arm and not his heart? Try not to fuck up my plans any further and get the hell out of this hospital."

"He's also going to call in Hannah's kidnapping."

He expected the Shield was rolling his eyes behind the sunglasses. "This place will be destroyed before T-CASS can get down here. Even if your speedster could get down here without a key, he'd have to choose between saving Hannah, the hospital, or the other subjects."

"Other subjects?"

"I don't have time to explain to you what McNamara has been doing. If you leave now and help with the evacuation, everyone lives."

"What about Hannah?"

"Hannah will live. She's too important for the Court to leave behind. Everyone else is expendable. Stop wasting my time."

Scott closed his eyes, not caring about the Shield's time.

"I can't stay out here much longer." The Shield stepped away from Scott. "There are no cameras because no one was supposed to find out, but McNamara will expect me to place your bodies near the closest bomb so they're incinerated."

"Where's that? Is there more than one?" He needed more information. He wouldn't let the Shield pull one of his disappearing acts until he had what he needed.

"Whatever you're thinking — don't." The Shield shoved Scott's shoulder, interrupting his train of thought. "You don't have the skills to disarm these bombs and even if you did, there's too many. There's one in the maintenance closet to destroy this level, the rest placed along the outside to trigger an implosion. There won't be enough of this building left for anyone to wonder why there's an extra big hole where this level used to be."

Which was exactly what Scott needed to know. "I don't have the skills, but I know people who do. I can make this work. You're just going to have to trust me. I won't leave Hannah behind. I can translocate her out of here and we'll run for it. We're pretty good at running."

The Shield was at the end of his patience. He threw his arms in the air in frustration. "You moron. You translocate her, then McNamara will know that I let you live. There are other lives at stake beyond Hannah's."

"Yours?"

"No." The Shield suddenly stopped, looked down, then away. Scott had never seen the man appear so uncertain about anything. "The subjects back there. Subjects like Hannah."

Scott's heart skipped a beat. "How many?"

"Too many." The quiet, vulnerable moment was gone and the Shield was back in fighting form. "Jimmy Chung is one of them."

"How is that even possible?"

The Shield ignored the question. "If you yank Hannah out of there, or go charging in full throttle and don't give McNamara the time he needs to get out, he will blow this place with them inside and he won't look back."

Nightmare on top of nightmare. How could he get those people — he refused to think of them as subjects — out of there and still rescue Hannah without McNamara knowing about it?

If you leave now, everyone lives.

"Wait. If he's evacuating people, he'll have to bring them up the elevator and through the lobby. If we can find what vehicle they're in — "

The Shield was already shaking his head. "There's another entrance. An underground tunnel that leads directly into the parking garage."

"Fine. I'll go in that way, find the others, find Hannah, and translocate them out. Can you knock out McNamara and make it look like T-CASS did it before he discovers I'm still alive?"

The Shield hesitated again. "This isn't going to work."

"It's better than leaving them behind."

The Shield took a long slow breath. Then he handed Scott one of his guns. "This is the one with the tranqs. There are three nurses. You can knock them out and translocate them too."

Scott took the gun. The Shield then handed him another key card. "Go to the second level of the garage. There's a jersey barrier blocking half of the compact car section. You'll see a door; it looks rusted, but it's fine. Run the card along the keypad next to the door. You'll have ten seconds to get inside before an alarm will alert McNamara."

"What about guards?"

The Shield snorted. "I'm it. The whole idea behind a clandestine lab underneath a hospital is to not attract attention. I was only assigned to the facility because the Anti-Alts really were threatening McNamara."

Scott glanced back at the door. "All right. If I fail, you get Hannah out. I don't care about the rest of it. Any of it. You get her out and you make sure she's safe. Understand?"

Instead of responding, the Shield yanked open the door and returned inside.

Great, Scott thought. Just great. He ran for the elevator and slapped the button for the main lobby. Thomas's blood smeared the wall. He wondered where his father was right now. Once on the main level, he headed toward the parking garage. Already he could see cars leaving, with police directing them in both directions. Ambulances also lined the street, with EMTs and nurses efficiently loading them. No sirens sounded.

Pathia. Emergency. Bombs. Please respond.

He kept walking until he hit the concrete of the first level. The scent of sugar cookies greeted him.

I'm here, Scott. Your father called for an evacuation of Harbor Regional.

Thomas was alive. That was all he really needed to know. Poor Pathia sounded so tired. He could only imagine what she'd been through since the quarry raid. Good, but he doesn't know about the bombs. Where are Mach Ten, Blockhead, Ghost, and Captain Spec?

One moment.

He hit the stairs leading up to level two, two stairs at a time.

Mach Ten and The Captain are at the courthouse. She knows about Thomas. An arrest warrant has been issued for you and Hannah. Blockhead is at the Arena running a drill with Highlight on the basketball court. Ghost is at the hospital already with Daniella Rose. Both of them are assisting with the evacuation.

Scott shoved open the door to the second level. Tell The Captain, Mach Ten, and Ghost to meet me on the second level of the parking garage. All due speed. Tell Highlight to clear the basketball court and prepare for incoming hostages. Tell Blockhead I'm going to translocate him and to not give me grief about it when he gets here.

Good luck.

He was going to need it. Blockhead had been a friend of his grandfather, and had no use for Norms. He’d never had much use for Scott, once it became clear that Scott would never develop Alt abilities. Scott needed him now, so instead he focused on the need to bring Blockhead here to save Hannah. Blockhead here. Protect Hannah. Blockhead here. Protect Hannah.

A subtle click in his brain, and the big Marine stood in front of Scott. Too close in front of Scott. He looked around, glared at Scott but said nothing. A second later Mach Ten came to a screeching halt, and his mother flew over the concrete barrier of this level. That left only —

Ghost surfaced through the floor, with a huge son-of-bitch holding onto him. Good lord, this guy made even Blockhead look small, the fierce face and rippling muscles offset only by a man bun. And he had a gun holster attached to his belt.

Before Scott could ask who, Ghost said, "This is Danny Rose. When I explained the situation, he insisted on joining the fun."

"I can't put my fist through concrete like this guy..." Danny nudged Blockhead with his elbow, although the latter didn't appear to appreciate it "...but I can get the job done."

Scott readjusted his instructions to accommodate the extra help. "The Court of Blood has set bombs all around this building. There's also one in a maintenance room on a level below the Pathology Department. This level does not exist on the blueprints. The only way to get to this level is by taking the main elevator in the pathology department and using this key card." He held up the card so they all could see it.

"Those bombs are on a timer. We have less than thirty minutes. Mach Ten and Ghost, you take the bombs on the outside of the building. No, I don't know where they are. Blockhead, you and Catherine will use the key card to get down to maintenance room.

"Once you are down there, Doctor McNamara will be evacuating his own people. Hannah is with him, as are other hostages. There is also a double-agent called the Shield. If you run into him, do not challenge him. He's on our side, but he's also armed to the teeth and will kill without hesitation."

Blockhead interrupted. "Is this guy going to help Hannah get out of there?"

"Yes, he will, but she doesn't know that, so she might fight him."

"Is he an Alt?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, he can create barriers to protect himself and others from pretty much anything you can throw at him."

He saw Ghost put his hand on Catherine's shoulder. She grabbed it, but Scott plowed ahead. "As much as I hate to say this, the bomb is your priority. If you can't disarm it — "

Blockhead nodded, knowing exactly what Scott was thinking. "The Captain will fly it out of there and into the atmosphere."

"Once the hospital is safe, go through the emergency exit next to the maintenance building. That's where McNamara has been doing his dirty work. I'm going to be entering through this door here." He pointed to the rusted door with the key card. "If we're lucky we'll catch them in the middle and I can translocate the hostages out of there, just in case we can't disarm all of the bombs.

"Danny, you're our last line of defense. I don't know what McNamara's other subjects look like. If anyone comes through the door, stop them, but try not to hurt them unless they're shooting at you. Focus on the vans that are going to be arriving any second now to pick them up. That will be the Court of Blood. You can hurt them all you want."

Danny gave him a shit-eating grin. "Got it. Anything else?"

Scott looked at his crew. "Get out of here."

Ghost squeezed Danny's hand before he sank back into the ground. Mach Ten zipped past Scott so fast, the breeze ruffled his hair. The other three followed him over to the door.

"I don't know what to expect on the other side, but I'm closing it behind me. Hopefully, I won't need the key to get out."

The key worked, thank God. "All right. See you on the other side." Sparing a last look at his mother as he handed her the key card, Scott slipped through the door, then quietly shut it behind him.