Chapter Ten

The desert road just kept going and going.

Inside the Maybach the heat was making the air conditioning work really hard. It was straining with a whine.

Sarah was driving her hands locked on the steering wheel at twelve and two. Her knuckles were white against the leather. She had not checked the rearview mirror once since we left the city. We both knew the black SUV behind us belonged to Julians security team.

I looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was 1:14 PM. We had been driving for forty-six minutes. The silence was suffocating. My throat felt dry. I did not want to reach for the water bottle. I did not want to show weakness. Not to Sarah. Not to the cameras watching us.

"We are crossing into the grid " Sarah said, breaking the silence. Her voice was a little shaky. She looked at the navigation screen. The GPS map changed, showing a flashing notification: RESTRICTED AIRSPACE – PRIVATE PROPERTY.

The Maybach slowed down turning onto a gravel road. The road was between two rock formations. They rose up on either side of us blocking out the sun. The car was plunged into a shadow.

Then we saw the fortress. It did not look like a facility. It looked like an outpost. A big gray concrete block sat in the center of a clearing. It was surrounded by a layer of fencing topped with razor wire. The area outside the fence was no trees, no brush nowhere to hide.

Sarah stopped the car in front of a heavy steel gate. Two guards came out of a booth. They were wearing gear and carrying automatic rifles. One guard kept his hand on his gun while the other approached the driver-side window.

The window rolled down letting in desert air. The guard did not ask for a drivers license. He looked past Sarah at me. "Ma'am please put your hand on the console " he said.

I knew what he wanted. I raised my hand resting it on the center console. The sun glinted off the band on my ring finger. The Vane seal stared up at him.

The guard pulled out a scanner. Waved it over my hand. There was a beep as the microchip in the ring authenticated my identity.

"Clear " the guard said, stepping back. "You have one hour and thirty-two minutes before the sector locks down."

The steel gate opened, rolling back into the wall with a screech. Sarah drove the Maybach across the threshold. We parked near the blast door at the front of the structure.

"I am staying in the car " Sarah said, her voice above a whisper. "I do not have clearance to go inside. Elena, just remember what Julian told you. Smile. Do not fight him."

I was done smiling. I grabbed my bag. Got out of the car. The heat hit me like a punch taking my breath away. I marched toward the blast doors.

Before I could even touch the handle the doors slid open with a thud-hiss. I stepped inside. The doors slammed shut behind me locking with a sound like a coffin lid snapping shut.

The interior of the care facility was blinding. The walls, floors and ceilings were all polymer. There were no windows. No paintings. No signs.

A nurse stood at the end of the corridor. She wore a white uniform her hair pulled back into a tight bun. She did not carry a clipboard. She did not smile.

"Follow me Ms. Vance " she said, turning and walking away.

I followed her my heels clicking on the polymer floor. We passed steel doors with code pads and observation windows. I glanced into one room. It was full of servers their LED lights blinking in the dark.

This was not a hospital. It was a data center with cargo.

We reached the end of the corridor turning into a wing labeled SECTOR 4 – RECOVERY. The air was colder here smelling of chemicals and decay.

"Room 402 " the nurse said, stepping aside. "Your access code has been programmed. Touch the pad to open."

My hand was steady as I raised it to the black glass panel. I pressed the gold Vane ring, against the sensor.

The light flashed green. The door clicked open.

I pushed the door open. Stepped into the room. The space was small and sterile dominated by the sound of a ventilator. The sound was deafening a reminder of the thin line keeping the occupant alive.

On the bed lay my father. He was a hollow shell wrapped in white medical sheets. His skin was gray stretched tightly over his cheekbones and collarbones. Tubes ran from an IV rig plunging into his veins. A breathing tube was jammed down his throat held in place by tape.

I rushed to the side of the bed dropping to my knees. I took his hand. It felt like paper. Cold, dry and limp.

"Dad " I whispered, my voice cracking. "Dad it's me. It's Elena. I'm here."

My fathers eyes fluttered open locking onto my face.

A wave of fear washed over my fathers face. His chest was moving fast against the machine that was helping him breathe his lungs were fighting the machine as he tried to pull away from me. His lips were moving around the tube in his mouth his jaw was working to form words to scream, to tell me something. But all that came out was a weird empty rattling sound.

"Shh, Dad do not fight it " I said, pressing his hand against my cheek trying to calm him down. "Do not fight the machine. I have got you. You are safe."

My father was not safe.. He knew it.

He squeezed my fingers hard with a sudden burst of strength because he was so scared. His eyes looked away from mine moving wildly towards the corner of the room then back to me his chest going up and down really fast.

I looked where he was looking.

High up in the corner, where the white wall met the ceiling there was a dome of dark glass stuck in the plaster. There was a lens inside surrounded by a ring of special sensors.

That was not what caught my attention.

I stood up slowly letting go of my fathers hand as my eyes moved down the machines that were checking his vitals. There was a shiny black disc stuck to the side of the main machine it was no larger than a coin.

There was a red light blinking on it every three seconds.

It was a high-definition camera.

I felt like I had been punched in the chest it took my breath away. Julian was not just tracking the Maybach. He was not just relying on Sarah to tell him what was happening. He was there in that room watching us on his screens.

He was enjoying my pain. He wanted to see the moment I realized I could not do anything to stop him. He wanted to see me cry over my dying father so I would remember why I had to do what he said.

My sadness did not just go away. It stopped.

My tears. I felt a strong anger that filled my whole body. The scared girl who had run through the casino was gone.

I turned my back on my father for a second stepping away from the bed until I stood in front of the machine. I leaned in putting my face close to the disc until my eyes filled the whole camera.

I did not cry. I did not move. I let the camera see that I was not scared.

Slowly I raised my hand into the light. The heavy gold ring caught the light shining back at the camera.

I kept my eyes on the camera as my left hand came up. I took the ring off my finger breaking the connection.

The heart monitor made a warning sound but I did not care. I raised my hand. Dropped the ring onto the table.

It made a clink sound.

I looked into the camera speaking clearly so Julian would hear me.

Game on, Julian.

I turned back to my father kneeling down to kiss his forehead. His breathing had slowed down he was not panicked anymore. He looked at the ring on the table back at me. For the time in five years I saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"I am coming back for you " I whispered in his ear. " I am going to bring you away from here.

The nurse tapped on the glass my time was up.

I stood up straightened my jacket and walked out of the room. I did not look back at the ring or the camera. I walked out of the room with my head held high.

The doors. I walked back into the hot desert. I went to the Maybach got in and sat down.

Sarah looked at my hand she was really scared. "Elena... Where is the ring? What did you do?"

"Start the car, Sarah " I said, looking at the building in the mirror. "We are going back, to the tower. I have a meeting to go to."

I was not trying to escape. I was ready to take down the place.