Chapter 7 - The Extraction
"Replacing them?" I yelled, swerving to avoid a stray dog on the dark Mexican highway. "What the hell does that mean? It's a baby! A human baby!"
Evie just stared out the window into the pitch-black desert. "We don't have time for the truth right now. If Arthur Sterling’s men were at the hotel, they are already at the hospital. We have exactly fourteen minutes before they reach Mara’s floor."
A fresh wave of panic hit me. I pushed the accelerator to the floor. The old truck rattled violently, pushing eighty miles an hour.
"Tell me how you know all this," I growled. "You knew the ceiling was going to fall. You knew my name. You knew the truck had keys in it."
"I see the variables," Evie replied, her voice eerily calm for a child. "I see the paths the world can take. The ceiling was a variable. The truck was a variable. Your wife's death is a heavily weighted variable. I am trying to change the math."
I had no idea what she was talking about. Was she psychic? A savant? I didn't care. All that mattered was Mara.
We screeched into the hospital parking lot, the tires smoking. I threw the truck into park and jumped out.
"Wait here," I told Evie.
"No," she said, opening her door. "You will go to room 314. But there is a guard at the elevator. You will get arrested. Follow me."
She slipped into the shadows of the building, moving toward the rear loading docks. I had no choice but to follow. She led me through an unlocked laundry door, down a corridor smelling of bleach, and up a dimly lit concrete stairwell.
"Third floor," she whispered, stopping at the landing. She pressed her ear to the heavy metal door. "Wait. Three... two... one. Go."
I pushed the door open. The hallway was completely empty. The nurses' station was briefly unattended. I sprinted silently down the linoleum floor until I reached Room 314.
I slipped inside. Mara was awake, sitting up in bed, looking terrified.
"David!" she cried out, her voice raspy.
I rushed to her, covering her mouth gently. "Shh. Baby, you have to be quiet. We have to leave. Right now."
"What? The doctors said I need to stay for observation—"
"The man who came here earlier, Sterling. He sabotaged the ceiling, Mara. He tried to kill you. And his men are coming here right now."
Tears welled in her eyes, but to her credit, she didn't panic. She ripped the IV out of the back of her hand, wincing as a drop of blood fell onto the sheets. I grabbed a pair of scrubs from a nearby cart and helped her pull them over her hospital gown.
"David," Mara whispered, freezing as she looked toward the door.
Evie was standing there, watching us.
Mara gasped. "It's her. The girl from the pool."
"She's helping us," I said, putting my arm around Mara's waist to support her weight. "Let's go."
We stepped out into the hallway. Down at the far end, the elevator dinged. The doors slid open, and two men in suits stepped out. One of them was Arthur Sterling.
"Run," Evie said.
But she didn't run. She walked directly toward them.
"Hey!" I hissed, but Evie ignored me.
She reached up and pulled the red lever of the fire alarm on the wall. A deafening siren erupted, accompanied by flashing strobe lights. The sudden noise startled Sterling's men. In that split second of confusion, Evie shoved a heavy medical cart directly into their path and darted into a side hallway.
"Get them!" Sterling roared over the siren, pointing at us.
I didn't hesitate. I hoisted Mara up and half-carried, half-dragged her toward the stairwell. We burst through the doors and pounded down the steps. The sound of heavy boots echoed from above.
We burst out of the laundry exit and into the humid night. The rusty pickup truck was exactly where we left it. I threw Mara into the passenger side, jumped into the driver's seat, and cranked the engine.
Just as I shifted into drive, the passenger door flew open. Evie climbed in, squeezing between Mara and me.
May you like
Gunfire erupted. A bullet shattered the side mirror, raining glass over my lap. I slammed the gas pedal, tearing out of the hospital lot and disappearing into the labyrinth of dark, winding dirt roads outside the city limits.
We were officially on the run.
