13. Joker
Chapter thirteen
The middle of the night in the ward is as creepy as anything I’ve ever experienced, with the silence interrupted by the occasional whisper from one of the closed and locked rooms or the squeak of a shoe on the linoleum. But the quiet is good, it’s what I need to do my work.
I’ve developed enough skills from my misspent youth to pick the lock on my door with ease, swinging it open on the silent hinges.
The hallway outside is dimly lit, most of the overhead lights switched off.
Without anything to hide around, I creep along the wall, waiting for the moment our plan can fall into place.
“We’re in position, Joker. Are you clear?”
Bones’s voice is low and serious in my ear.
“Aye,” I reply, more of a grunt than a full word.
“On my count.”
Phantom this time, counting back from three.
I cover my ears and close my eyes, the building quaking on its foundations as the explosion goes off right on time.
Alarms blare, smoke filling the hallway as it billows out of the doorway.
Using it as cover, I sneak back into my room as shouting starts to fill the air.
Spilling through the newly installed hole in my wall are several figures in black tactical gear, beams from their headlamps bright through the smoke.
“Joker?” Cross asks, looking around.
I stand and tap him on the shoulder, everyone raising their weapons on me for a moment before they stand down.
“Let’s get going. We aren’t going to have much time. Remember the plan?” Bones asks, stepping up and handing me the duffle bag.
I drop to the ground and pull out my balaclava, tugging it onto my head before slipping my vest over the facility-issued sweats. Gloves slip onto my hands and I grin to myself at the bounty of knives they’ve brought for me.
“Is it my birthday?” I mutter to myself, pulling them out and sliding them into their slots along my vest.
“I can give you your birthday treat once we’re out of here,” Phantom jokes, his Southern drawl making him sound flirty even when he’s not trying.
Bones growls, and everyone sobers, turning to the doorway as we form up to move out.
“Find the server room, scrape the data, and get out. No distractions,” Bones snaps, taking point.
The others answer with quick ‘yes, sir’ but I just roll my eyes. I have my own little side quest to complete now.
Once we move out of my room, I can hear the other patients in this wing banging on their doors, screaming for help as the emergency lights flicker and flash before going fully dark.
“EMP off, let’s move,” Siren says, looking at the small screen on their wrist.
“On me,” Bones commands, striding forward, his weapon raised.
I take my place behind him, using taps on his shoulders to guide him through the hallways toward the lobby. We don’t run into any staff or security at first, but the closer we get to the exit of this wing, the more shouting I can hear as they try to organize.
“Stop right there! Hands in the air!”
The shout from ahead of us makes all of us freeze, but not for long. Flashlights illuminate the security guard, his stun gun raised and pointed at us.
“Mine,” Phantom mutters, breaking off from the group and disappearing into the shadows of the hall.
Bones’s warning growl sends a shiver down my spine, but it sends the guard stumbling back a step, right into Phantom’s chest.
“Boo,” he says, laughing as he knocks out the guard in two simple moves.
I let out a cackle, earning me a hard elbow to the ribs from Cross.
I look to find his olive-green eyes, bright from the depths of his eye black, looking around with concern.
His gaze occasionally flicks to the doors to the other rooms and their occupants, his expression nearly unreadable.
If he’s got thoughts about what’s going on around us, he’s not sharing with the class just yet.
I guide the team to the front common room, and the door I entered through a few days ago, and swipe the door open with Drake’s stolen keycard.
But as they move to exit the residential side of the building, I stay back and let them pass me, the door closing between us before they know what’s happened.
Bones whips around and growls, which I can hear both through my comms and through the door, despite the alarms. But I only grin and wiggle my fingers at him.
“Get your ass back here, now,” he snarls, low and dangerous.
“I’ll meet you back at the exit,” I reply simply, already moving off.
“Joker!”
I ignore Bones’s bark with ease, tapping my comms off so I can focus on my real mission.
Security is swarming, trying to figure out where the intruders are, but I melt into the shadows, using the moonlight filtering in through the windows to navigate and track the people scrambling to secure the area. `
“Freeze!”
I grin under my mask at the order, turning to face the security guard nearest me, drawing two knives from my vest and spinning them in my palms.
“You don’t want to play this game, mate,” I warn, trying not to let too much laughter fill my voice.
I pounce before the guard can react, closing the distance with ease.
Bringing my elbow down on his wrists, I knock the stun gun to the floor before kicking it away.
The guard tries to fight back, but he’s slow and unpracticed.
Too many days spent watching drugged out omegas and not enough time in the gym.
The handle of my knife cracks across his temple, sending him to the floor, out cold.
The door to the minimum security wing isn’t even locked when I approach it, counting the doors in the hallway as I jog down it.
The other omegas are trapped behind their locked doors, their screams pulling at my heart.
I want to throw open their doors and free them all, but I don’t have time to be a hero.
Well, not their hero, at least.
I skid to a stop outside of Delilah’s door, pressing my ear to it. I don’t hear any movement from inside, but that’s not necessarily a problem. But we don’t have time for me to knock politely.
I crouch at the handle and pick the lock with practiced ease, shouldering through the door and holding it open so it doesn’t close and lock behind me as I scan the space.
The rooms in this part of the ward aren’t as sterile as where I was staying, but the layout is similar enough for my eyes to dart to the natural hiding spots.
“Delilah? Where are you?” I ask, loud enough to be heard over the alarms.
A little squeak from under the bed has my head snapping to it, and I sheath one of my knives before wedging the other under the door to hold it open as I move further into the room.
Time to rescue my little wisp.