16. Roman
ROMAN
I feel ridiculous in this uniform. The pants barely cover my ankles, and I keep yanking down the sleeves to prevent them from riding up my forearms. I pray no one takes a closer look at the ID hanging around my neck, because I sure as shit don’t look anything like the man in the photograph.
I use the keycard to open the front gates, but hold back a little, allowing Cain, dressed in the electrician’s outfit, to slip by me. He needs to get to the reception desk first so it’s less likely the receptionist is going to ask me to sign in, or question what I’m doing there.
My stomach is in knots. I close my eyes briefly and ask the gods for strength.
So much is riding on us making this work.
The thought of losing Ophelia for good is unbearable.
Why did I ever think that having her would make us weak?
The three of us have pulled together, stronger than ever, united in our need to ensure she is safe.
Safe and ours. We need her to be ours.
I wait as Cain follows the path to the main building and slips inside. I’m poised, dreading a shout from someone asking what the fuck we’re doing here, but none comes.
We’ve left Malachi behind the wheel of his car.
We need him to be ready to put his foot down the minute we get Ophelia out of here.
It’s a risk, because it means the two men we stole the clothes from are now unsupervised, but we can’t do anything about that.
We’ve threatened them to stay quiet. Their mouths are taped, and they’re both hogtied, but one of them might be able to roll to the side of the van and start kicking against it to get someone’s attention.
Luckily, the area is reasonably quiet. It’s not as though we don’t want them to be found eventually—we just don’t want it to happen yet.
Taking a breath, I get on the move, following Cain’s tracks. I reach the front doors, and they slide open automatically. My line of sight is drawn to Cain, who is leaning over the reception desk. His bulk blocks out my view of the receptionist, but I hear her giggle.
He seems to be doing his job, so I quickly scan the rest of the area.
No one else is here. I already know where the locked doors onto the ward will be because of the schematics we’ve seen, so I keep my head down and head straight there.
I reach for the security pass around my neck and press it to the pad on the outside of the door.
My heart hammers with the worry that I’ll need something else to get in, or that the card wouldn’t be activated until I signed in at reception, but a light flashes green, and something buzzes on the other side of the doors.
I push them open, and I’m in. As we’d planned, I take a left, looking for the storage closet that also houses the fuse box. I reach a door that has the sign ‘supplies’ attached to the outside of it and use my keycard again to get inside.
Boxes line the walls. They’re mainly cleaning supplies, paper towels, bleach, toiletries.
A set of metal shelving holds sheets and clean uniforms that have been laundered.
A broom and a mop are stacked in the corner.
The fuse box is high on the wall, but I’m tall enough to reach.
I flip open the cover and try to work out which one to turn off.
I find the switch for the lights, and flick it off, and then remove the fuse too. It won’t be easy for someone to just turn it back on, and the confusion will buy us some time.
The corridors and several of the rooms are all internal, and windowless, including the one I’m currently in. I’m plunged into darkness, but I use the flashlight app on my phone to light the way again and slip out of the closet.
From somewhere in the building, I hear a cry of annoyance. Someone else—presumably a patient—screams. I didn’t want to freak any of them out, but I can’t help that now. I hope the lack of lighting will get Cain on the other side of these doors, too, but I can’t wait for him. I need to find Ophelia.
A few moments pass, and, with a buzz, emergency red lighting illuminates the corridors. It’s dim, but it means the place is no longer in total darkness. There will be natural light flooding into the reception area and the external rooms that have windows, but that’s all.
I’m still unsure exactly how I’m going to find Ophelia, but I need to start looking.
I’m hoping I’ll find her alone, rather than in one of the communal areas, but if there are others with her, I’ll make up some kind of excuse about needing to take her back to her room, as that will probably raise fewer questions.
How is she going to react when she sees me?
I’m sure she’ll be shocked, but I hope she’ll be sensible enough not to give any big reaction.
A couple of people appear farther down the corridor. I hesitate, unsure if I should hide or brave it out, but then someone speaks to me.
“Get the patients into their rooms, and then we can lock them down,” a man in the same uniform as I’m wearing tells me.
I’m sure I see a few lines appear between his brows in the emergency lighting, possibly confusion as to who I am and what I’m doing here, but he’s preoccupied with ensuring everyone is where they should be.
“On it.” I keep my head down, waiting for him to shout ‘hey,’ and ask who I am and what the hell I’m doing here, but none comes.