Lucan emerged from the workroom first. Apex and Mayhem were right out in the hall, guns that they’d lifted from the Executioner’s stash by their sides. They hadn’t changed into the uniforms of the guards, but the weapons spoke for themselves. If any prisoners happened to break curfew and run into them? No questions would be asked.
And up here? Well, the Executioner pegged on that wall like a side of beef was a helluva banner.
“We’re going to the clinic,” he said. But as if those males didn’t know what the plan was?
Lucan stayed by Rio as the four of them proceeded down the corridor. Rio kept looking around like she couldn’t believe the scale of the operation.
“Checking out to see if we can take care of your boss’s needs?” he heard himself say bitterly. After all, Executioner or not, he shouldn’t kid himself. There were still drugs that had to be sold, weren’t there.
She glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll tell him all about it when I see him.”
As she refocused ahead of herself, he pictured her back in Caldwell, living her life. Without him. The stab of pain in his chest made him wonder why he couldn’t pull out of this . . . whatever it was . . . with her. Deal or no deal, she was going back down south. He was staying here.
But hey, they’d be able to see each other as they made new deals.
How fucking romantic.
When they came to the stairwell, he opened the door and put his palm up so she didn’t immediately follow him. Then he sniffed at the air and listened.
“The nurse is already down there,” Apex said. “I told her we needed her.”
Lucan nodded and motioned Rio through. As they jogged a descent, the other two brought up the rear.
When they got to the bottom floor underground, he didn’t need to tell Rio where to go, which turns to take, how to be as quiet as she could. She went right down to the clinic and immediately inside.
The second they all entered the storage room, the curtain around Kane’s bed was pulled back, the nurse’s flowing robes like an extension of that which fell from the ceiling.
“You shall not hurt him?” the female said from behind the mesh covering her face.
Rio shook her head gravely. “No, never. I just . . . want to help.”
“I never dared to try to secure any of that.” The nurse pointed out from under a voluminous sleeve, her gloved hand shaking as if she were emotional. “It’s secured and difficult to obtain, and if you are found with it, the consequences are dire.”
“I understand. Do you have any distilled water? Or boiled water?”
“Yes, here. Come.”
As the females disappeared behind the draping, Lucan crossed his arms so that the gun in his hand pointed out behind his armpit. “I’m not going in there.”
“I am.”
When Apex started forward, Lucan snagged the male’s heavy arm. “You don’t hurt her. If this goes bad, and something happens to Kane, it’s not her fault.”
The other prisoner lowered his chin and glared out of his deep eye sockets. “That depends on what she does. And how he responds.”
Lucan bared his fangs. “You can’t blame her.”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
“Not with her you can’t.”
There was a brief, surging tension. And then Apex pulled away, parting the drapes and disappearing through them. As the lengths of fabric resettled themselves, there were murmurs from the other side.
Pacing seemed like a good idea, so Lucan walked down the lineup of beds. Came back. Went down again. Came back. Meanwhile, Mayhem just stood where he was, staring at the fall of sheets.
Maybe the prisoner was projecting good vibes into whatever the hell was happening at that bedside. Maybe he was having a stroke and hadn’t fallen over yet. Maybe he was thinking about absolutely nothing at all.
Total toss-up.
Lucan went to the door that opened out into the corridor. Cracking the panel, he double-checked that there was no one coming. When that didn’t seem like enough, he stepped outside and went all the way down to peer into the stairwell.
No sounds. No scents. But that could change at any moment.
All he could think about was how much he didn’t want this exposure for Rio or this wasted time. No offense to Kane.
When he reentered the clinic, Mayhem looked over at him.
“You know,” the male said, “this place is going to be in chaos when the Executioner’s body is discovered. And we need to get rid of the guards in the quarters. For one, it’ll keep things tidy, for another, they’re going to start to smell. But the real reason is the head of the guards. If they know we killed that kind of personnel? It’s going to make everything harder.”
The guy did have a point. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Of course, if you deliberately want to stir up shit, we could just put ’em on the wall. Hang ’em like paintings—oh, we could make a decoration with them. How about high-fiving. Shooting a basket—”
“No.”
“You’re boring.”
“You think this is a Mr. Popular competition?” Then Lucan shook his head. “You’re right, though, we should dispose of them. If the head of the guards doesn’t know where they are, and we’re not obvious about what we did, they won’t know who did the coup right away and what went down. They’ll have to check all the troops, and because some live off-site, it’ll take some time—which we’ll use to get Rio out of here. If only there was a way to get them outside. We’ve got another hour of sunshine left.”
“Rio could do it.”
Looking over at the guy, Lucan said, “No, she can’t—”
“What can’t I do?” Rio asked as she emerged from the draping.
“Nothing—”
“Help us take those two guards outside,” Mayhem cut in. “That back entrance from the private quarters is—”
“She is not—”
“—going to make it simple and you wouldn’t have to take them far.”
“—taking them anywhere.”
“Sure,” Rio said. “I’m strong. I’ll move them.”
“No,” Lucan snapped. “It’s too fucking dangerous.”
“And you can relax with that.” She looked between him and Mayhem. “I heard what you said. I think it makes a lot of sense. The more confusion, the better, especially if you’re worried about the head of the guards, whoever he is.”
Mayhem shot Lucan a smarty-pants look. “Great, we’ll go back to the quarters and—”