“YOU WHAT?”
Christoph stood with his hands on his hips. “I know of another way in.”
Alex blinked a few times and fought to keep her voice steady. “And why did you fail to mention this until now?”
“I was too busy trying to absorb what you told me about Hitler’s life being in danger.”
“Well, I’m sure there will be guards on that one too,” Alex said, unwilling to get her hopes up.
“Not likely. It’s kind of a secret entrance.”
Alex crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “Secret entrance?”
“Sort of. It’s an old hallway that got closed off after the renovations. Me and a bunch of the other custodians found it in a broom closet years ago. We sneak in there to smoke while we’re on duty.”
“And this hallway goes from this closet into the laboratory?”
“It opens behind a set of metal cabinets. We’d have to push them out of the way but that shouldn’t be too hard.”
“The noise alone would alert them,” Alex said.
“It’s in a back store room that’s full of boxes and cabinets of old notebooks. It doesn’t get used much. If we’re careful, we can get in undetected.”
It seemed too good to be true. But Alex didn’t see any other option. “Let’s go.”
She followed Christoph as he led the way. Alex gripped the head mirror, hoping that she would have the opportunity to use it. If things didn’t go smoothly, she would have tipped her hand to Stygian and Agnes’ life would be in danger and she would never get another chance to get anywhere near him.
The pair passed several nurses and doctors in the hallways but no one paid them any mind. Alex was nervous that some doctor would demand her aid with a patient and she would miss Stygian. She already pictured him on his way to see Hitler, medicine in hand.
Christoph looked both ways before opening the small broom closet. He ushered Alex inside and closed the door. It was a tight fit. Alex was aware of his body pressed against hers. Christoph grabbed her shoulders and switched places with her so he could have easier access to the back wall.
In a few moments, part of the wall moved aside, revealing a dark hallway. Christoph grabbed a flashlight from his belt and led the way.
“Why did they cover this up? Is it dangerous?” Alex asked.
“There are a lot of these around. Me and the other guys think they are some sort of emergency escape in case of attack. Then again, they could just be nothing.”
“If there’s more than one, I doubt they’re nothing. Do any of them lead outside?”
“Most of them do, yeah.”
“Maybe they are a way for the elite to gain access to the hospital without the general public knowing about it.”
“That makes sense.”
“Do you know which ones lead outside the hospital?” Alex asked.
“I know several, yes. Why? Are you thinking we will need to make a run for it?”
“We have to plan for that possibility.”
“If it comes to that, I can get us out. Don’t worry.”
Their footsteps kicked up dust but not as much as Alex expected for the hallway being abandoned. It seemed to lend weight to her idea of the hallways being used, even if it was infrequently.
Christoph bent nearly double and hid the light from the flashlight. Alex followed, walking on the balls of her feet to make as little noise as possible. Christoph pulled back on another section of wall. Instead of open space, Alex saw a metal wall.
“Ready?” Christoph whispered as he turned off the light and hung it back on his belt.
Alex nodded and placed her hands against the cold metal. Christoph held his fingers and did a countdown to three. They pushed. Alex gritted her teeth as the cabinet squealed against the floor but she admitted it wasn’t nearly as loud as she was expecting. They pushed the cabinet only as far as they needed. Alex followed Christoph, squeezing between the cabinet and the wall.
Christoph was right about the room. A thick layer of dust covered a dozen or more tall filing cabinets and even more boxes. Alex breathed through her mouth to avoid getting dust in her nose. The last thing she needed was to sneeze just when she was about to sneak up on Stygian.
Just before they reached the door, Alex pulled on Christoph’s arm, pulling him up short.
“The doctor behind this, he’s very dangerous. He’s killed people and won’t hesitate to do the same to us. I have a way to stop him that will seem ridiculous and crazy to you but you have to trust me.”
“A plan involving that?” he asked with a smile.
Alex looked down at the head mirror. “Yes, involving this. Please, I know this is hard. But I can’t tell you more. When I spot the doctor, I’ll point him out.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“We’ll need to take out the other two doctors before I face the one in charge. I’ll need you to hold him down while I do what I need to do. And you can’t let go no matter what.”
Christoph looked around the room and grabbed an old fire extinguisher off the wall. Alex looked around for a weapon she could use. She found an old piece of metal that looked like it used to be a table leg. She swung it a few times to get the feel for it, then nodded at Christoph to take the lead.
He slowly opened the door and peered around. When she saw him gesture to follow, Alex made her way through the door, heart racing. She strained her ears for the slightest sound but all she could hear was the blood pounding through her head.
Christoph made his way through the unused lab area toward the populated areas. Alex had no idea the laboratory was this big. She had only seen part of it when she had attacked Doctor Haussen and assumed it wasn’t much bigger than that. But comparing what she knew of the layout of the hospital and where they were at now in relation to the room directly behind the guarded doors, the laboratory must be many times the size of that one room she had seen.
Christoph moved in the general direction of the main room behind the guarded doors. Alex smiled, loving how smart he was. All of the men she had encountered in the past had been not only handsome, but also smart, which was something Alex knew she wanted in that special someone in her life.
She cringed when she thought of how much she had crushed on Beau Johnson. She had been so attracted to his looks and had overlooked his personality. At first, his arrogance had been daring and she had thought he was so hot, but over the years, she had come to know his true colors and he had grown uglier with each passing day. She hadn’t even missed him much when he had walked out of her tutoring class.
I have someone better.
Alex didn’t know anything about Chandon other than the fact that she knew him better than she knew herself. He was like the men from the past so Alex figured he would be kind and smart, just like they had been.
Thinking about Chandon made her worry about how long this latest excursion was taking. Days would pass here but only minutes would pass back in her time. She only hoped that trend would hold true. The last thing she needed was her mom walking in on her while she was traveling.
If all goes well, I will be home very soon.
She was so caught up thinking about Chandon that she nearly ran into Christoph’s back. He had stopped, head cocked to the side. Alex was about to ask him why he stopped when she caught the sound of voices ahead.
She gripped her metal rod tighter, worried that her sweaty hands would lose their grip. There was so much that could go wrong with this plan. Alex wanted to back out, rethink things, maybe give up all together.
Get a grip, Alex!
Christoph had his ear pressed up against the door. Alex wished there was a window so she could see where the man were and what they were doing. The plan depended on taking the men by surprise. Christoph and Alex couldn’t do that if they couldn’t see where the men were.
The voices moved away and silence soon followed. Without hesitation, Christoph pushed the door open and threw his body behind a desk. Alex followed, nearly tripping over her feet. She kept the metal rod close to her body, knowing that if she dropped it, the men would hear it and she and Christoph would be killed.
Christoph motioned for her to stay where she was and crawled from behind the desk. Alex wanted to follow but she knew she would just be in the way. She smiled when she remembered what it had been like being in the body of Arachidamia. The woman had been strong and fierce. Alex could use a little of that right about now.
When Christoph appeared on her left, she nearly squealed in fright.
“The men are in the next room. There’s a window so we can see exactly where they are.”
Alex followed Christoph, hoping Stygian and the two doctors would stay where they were and not come back to this room. They crouched low and stayed underneath the bottom sill of the window. The voices were too low for Alex to be able to hear anything. She took a risk and peeked over the edge of the sill.
She spotted Stygian right away. He was standing behind the two doctors while they worked at a bench. As far as Alex could see, there were only the three men in the room.
And they had their backs to her and Christoph.
“The man standing behind the other two is the one I need.”
“Okay. If we are quiet enough, we should be able to sneak up behind them and dispatch them fairly easily. Do you need this one particular man alive?”
Alex hesitated. If Stygian was dead, all her troubles would be over. But the man that Stygian was inside of would also die. And she didn’t want to be responsible for his death.
“Alive is better,” Alex said.
“I’ll do my best. I will take out the man you need, then go after the man on the left. You go for the one on the right. We need to do this quickly so hit him on the back of the head. If they make noise, the guards will come in. This won’t do much good against guns.” Christoph pointed to the extinguisher.
Alex nodded.
Christoph moved through the door so quickly that Alex didn’t have time to rethink her plan. She rushed after him, panic moving her forward. She wanted to keep her eyes on Stygian but the man she was supposed to dispatch was already turning to face her and Christoph.
Alex swung the heavy metal bar, eyes squeezing closed as it connected with the side of his face with a dull thwack. She hadn’t swung very hard, only wanting to knock him unconscious. The man dropped like a sack of potatoes. Christoph was next to her and swinging the fire extinguisher at the other doctor. Alex winced as the extinguisher connected with much more force than she was comfortable with. But she didn’t have time to worry.
She turned and was relieved to see Stygian on the floor, blood staining his white-blonde hair. Just as she reached him, he groaned and reached a feeble hand up to his head.
“Christoph, I need you!” Alex said breathlessly.
Christoph knelt next to her and used his body to keep Stygian on the floor.
“Whas going on?” Stygian’s speech was slurred.
With shaking hands, Alex placed the head mirror in front of Stygian’s eyes. She didn’t want to recite the strange words that would send Stygian back into his own body until the other man’s eyes could stay open for longer than a few seconds. Her stomach roiled and she swallowed hard. The stench coming off the man was worse than she imagined death would be.
“What are you doing with that?” Christoph asked.
“I can’t tell you. But I promise you that Der Fuehrer will be safe very soon,” Alex said.
She gasped as Stygian’s eyes flew open and stared into her own. Pure rage and hate were all she could see in their icy blue depths. Head wound forgotten, Stygian bucked and twisted his body in a desperate attempt to throw Christoph.
“You think this is over? Do you?” Stygian snarled. “The second I get back your uncle is a dead man! And you will follow soon thereafter.”
Alex closed her eyes and bit back a sob. She wished she could tell her uncle Mark that she was sorry she’d gotten him involved. She wasn’t even worried about herself, at least not yet. All she could picture was her Aunt Karen’s face when she was told her husband was dead. She knew Max Poder could do it and make it look like an accident. No one would ever know the truth.
I’ll know.
Anger like she’d never felt flooded her veins. She wanted to punch Stygian’s face until it and her hands were bloody and torn. This man had ruined her life, was threatening her family. He’d put the entire world at risk for some selfish plan and didn’t care who he killed to accomplish it.
“I have friends that you can’t even possibly imagine. They know about you and they know about Max Poder. If you lay a finger on my uncle, you will regret it.” Alex leaned forward and smiled a little as she saw Stygian almost imperceptibly try to move away. “And just try to come after me. I dare you. My friends and I already have a plan.”
Alex had no idea why she said what she did. She had no idea what Sean and Gavin would or could do if her uncle was killed. Probably nothing. And she had no idea what she could do to protect herself from Stygian. But the look of doubt that flickered across his eyes gave her confidence.
She held up the hand mirror and began the chant. Stygian tried to close his eyes but the minute she spoke the words, his eyes flew open.
“Falvetch inksashekbum!”
Alex was surprised she remembered the words. She had only used the incantation once back in Egypt, the first time she had met Sean. He had explained that it was possible to force a Traveler from a body using those words and a mirror or other reflective surface.
Stygian howled in fury. Christoph shouted in dismay as it appeared that Stygian was about to succeed in shoving Christoph to the side. But the doctor’s body went limp as Stygian’s spirit departed.
“Agnes, what in the world was all that about?” Christoph said as he slowly lifted himself off the now unconscious doctor.
“I can’t explain. I’m sorry, Christoph.”
Alex’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away. Her arm came up of its own accord and the head mirror filled her vision. With a sigh, she reached out with her other hand and touched the mirror.
***
Drifter awoke in his own bed, fear and rage burning through him. He couldn’t believe the girl had managed to stop him yet again. He remembered her face from encounters in the hospital and yet he never suspected her. She had managed to walk around right under his nose and he hadn’t suspected a thing.
He stood and threw on some clothes. He was dreading the visit to Master. Poder would be most displeased that his pupil had failed again. The plan to restore his family name was everything to Poder. That dream slipping away would drive his Master mad.
He would have to break the news to Master. Putting it off would only make things worse. All Drifter wanted to do was find Mark Reynolds and wrap his hands around the man’s throat, to feel it disintegrate beneath his grip. But unless the man was out of the brig, Drifter knew he’d never get close enough to choke the life out of Mark.
Drifter made his way to Poder’s quarters knowing his commanding officer would be at home in bed at this hour of the night. He’s got to let me go after the girl, now. The one person he wanted dead more than Mark Reynolds was the man’s meddling niece, the girl who had thwarted his plans at every turn. It would be a sweet sensation, taking her life. He knocked loudly and waited for Poder to open the door.
He stepped back in shock when the door opened almost immediately. Poder was still in uniform and looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Get in here.” Poder moved to a small desk with a decanter of scotch and two glasses on top. He poured himself one, not bothering to offer one to Drifter. “Mark will be out of the brig in a few short hours. The authorities want to question you about the death of Lance Corporal Jensen. They will want a handwriting sample and that alone will prove your guilt. I suggest you leave the base immediately.”
Drifter waited for Poder to mention his failure in WWII Germany. “Where shall I go?”
“Go? Does it matter?”
“I want the girl.”
“You may do whatever you wish.” Poder gulped down a second glass of scotch. “You need to leave immediately.”
“If the CID wants me for questioning, I can’t simply walk off the base.”
“Then I suggest you put your skills to work and leave undetected.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, I’ll be fine. Now go before the MPs come looking for you.”
Drifter left the house, guilt forcing his shoulders to slump. He had failed his Master miserably. Poder had never looked or sounded so dejected. Drifter considered going back inside, to offer to try again. He couldn’t go back to the exact time and place he had traveled before, but he could go back to a sooner time point, try again.
You can’t do anything unless the girl is out of the way.
With a renewed sense of purpose, Drifter made for a deserted part of the base to make good his escape.