Chapter 28
Todd guided Sadie toward the exit of the administrative building, and her unsteady gait sent spikes of protective fury through his chest with every step.
The evidence they’d gathered would destroy Dr. Selinski’s operation, but he knew Logan didn’t give a shit about the evidence if anything happened to his Keepers.
The top priority was escaping, staying safe, and making it to the rendezvous pickup.
Sadie’s condition made every second of delay a gamble with odds that kept getting worse.
Suddenly, Casper warned them that a roving guard was near the door they had entered.
“We can go out near my room,” Sadie whispered.
“Casper, check the guest quarters. If we head toward her room, we can go outside the way she had gone when she met me earlier,” Todd whispered into his comms device, supporting Sadie’s weight as discreetly as possible while maintaining the appearance of casual movement.
“Copy that,” he immediately responded through their earpieces. “Security feeds are still looped, but the way is clear.”
He knew the schematics of the spa, but Sadie’s steps were steadier as they slipped into the guest quarters. She nodded to a door on the left, near the end of the hall. They made it inside, sealing them into the sanctuary of Sadie’s quarters.
“While I’m here, I’ll gather some things.”
“Grab only what you can,” he said, his mouth close to her ear. “We want to get out of here.”
She already had her phone and grabbed a small bag. As his gaze wandered around the luxury space she’d lived in for the past week, he kept note of her movements. She grabbed a few items and shoved them into a small bag. He couldn’t help but smile—his Sadie was practical.
His Sadie… he liked the sound of that. It might not have been overt, but he’d felt that way since the first night they’d met.
As she passed him, her movements slightly wobbly, he offered a steady hand as she grabbed a few items of clothing. She looked over her shoulder, saying, “Just in case we can’t meet up with Cole immediately, I want to be prepared.”
He nodded, but before he had a chance to respond, Casper’s voice came over the comm.
“I’m seeing movement in your sector. Someone’s approaching the guest quarters from the east entrance.”
Todd straightened as he processed the implications. Their extraction route was compromised, and Sadie was in no condition for extended evasion throughout the spa. She was pale, causing him to want to carry her to safety, consequences be damned.
“How much time do we have?” he asked, already calculating alternate routes while his arm tightened protectively around Sadie’s waist.
“One minute, maybe less. You need to be prepared now.”
Sadie moved with him like they’d been partners for years, her compromised coordination still sufficient to match his tactical requirements.
He darted into the bathroom, keeping out of sight while being able to see and hear what was happening if someone came into her room. He pulled his weapon from his holster.
Footsteps neared but seemed to pass by her door before they returned. The sound of another key card activating the lock sent Sadie’s hand instinctively toward her weapon. Todd prepared to move to shield Sadie from whatever threat was about to materialize.
A petite Hispanic woman stepped through the doorway, her face etched with fear.
“Nina?”
Sadie obviously recognized the woman. Todd saw her name badge, which let him know she was from housekeeping. Her hands shook as she quickly closed the door behind her.
“Ms. Sadie,” Nina whispered, her accented English thick with emotion. “I need to get you out of here. Tonight.” Nina’s gaze drifted over Sadie’s clothing, her eyes widening at the sight of the holstered weapon. “You already know? You're already leaving?”
Todd’s muscles coiled for action, stepping into the room.
Nina’s eyes widened even more, but then her gaze darted between him and Sadie.
Todd was filled with protective instincts, screaming at him to neutralize a potential threat to Sadie’s safety.
But something in Nina’s expression, desperation now mixed with hope rather than malice, made him hesitate.
“Nina,” Sadie said softly, moving closer despite Todd’s restraining hand on her arm. “What’s wrong?”
“They told me that tomorrow morning I was to prepare your room for a new guest,” Nina replied, tears gathering in her eyes. “But I hear them talking. They are not expecting you to check out normally. They are talking about taking you to the place for... rebalancing.”
The euphemistic language couldn’t disguise the death sentence it represented, and Todd felt rage explode through his chest like molten steel.
Rebalancing. Another clinical term to mask the possible murder of women whose only crime had been seeking wellness and rejuvenation, but had become suspicious.
“What place?” Todd demanded, his voice barely above a growl. “Where do they take people for this rebalancing?”
Nina’s face crumpled with the weight of the terrible knowledge. “Out in the desert. Northwest from here. Old mining buildings, they used for... for when guests become problematic. I had a cousin who was taken to clean the place. I know what they do.”
The image of Sadie being taken to some remote facility for execution sent Todd’s protective instincts into overdrive. His hands clenched into fists as he processed the systematic horror that Serenity Dunes had been conducting under the guise of luxury wellness.
“You have to get away tonight,” Nina continued, her voice growing more urgent. “Eli patrols the grounds looking for problems. He makes all the maids afraid because he hurts anyone who asks questions. But I know where he goes, what routes he takes. I can help you get out.”
Todd studied the woman’s face, weighing the risks of trusting someone whose motivations he couldn’t fully verify. But Sadie stepped forward, her movements steadier as she reached for Nina’s trembling hands.
“You don’t have to do this,” Sadie said gently.
Nina shook her head. “You are nice to me. And I can’t just know and not try to help.”
“If they suspect you helped us, what will happen to you?”
Nina patted Sadie’s hand. “After tonight, my son is coming to pick me up. I won’t work here anymore.” She scoffed. “If I don’t help you, then I’m no better than they are.”
The simple humanity of her response broke through Todd’s tactical suspicion, revealing a woman who’d chosen courage over safety despite the enormous personal cost. He nodded once, accepting her offer with the gravity it deserved. “What do you need us to do?”
“There is a back door from the pool,” Nina explained, already moving toward Sadie’s door. “Eli, he patrols the front areas most, but he checks back areas too. You must be very careful.”
“I know where the pool is,” Sadie said. “You don’t need to take us. You need to leave as soon as you can.”
“Eli has a radio,” Nina warned as they prepared to leave. “If he sees you, he calls for help. Guards come very fast.”
Sadie stepped forward and wrapped Nina in a fierce embrace, a gesture that surprised the housekeeper, but Nina returned the hug and smiled.
“Thank you,” Sadie whispered. “For everything.”
Todd watched the exchange with something tight in his chest, seeing once again the compassion that made Sadie such an extraordinary woman. Even compromised and facing danger, she took time to acknowledge the humanity of someone risking everything to help them.
Nina offered a hasty nod toward both of them before slipping out the door and hurrying down the hall. Sadie grabbed her bag and was ready to follow.
They slipped out the door after confirming that the way was still on a security feed loop from Casper. Todd followed Sadie as she hastened down the twisting halls, moving into another area. He could smell the chlorine as they approached the swimming pool area.
Once inside, they hurried toward the back and found the door Nina had indicated. Before moving through, Todd radioed, “At the back of the pool. Is the outside clear?”
“All clear. Guards are near the front, and we’ve neutralized the cameras that are on the fence.”
Todd turned to Sadie. “Stay close behind me. If you feel ill, then tap my shoulder. We’ll still move in the shadows until we get to the fence.”
She nodded, and they opened the back door and slipped through. They emerged into the desert night through an exit concealed behind landscaping, the Arizona wilderness spreading before them. The air carried a clean scent, a stark contrast to the piped-in scents that permeated the spa.
“Casper, we’re outside the building,” Todd whispered into his comms. “Need an update on patrol positions.”
“Eli’s moving toward your previous exit point,” came the immediate response. “I’m tracking three additional heat signatures in the compound. Looks like they’re just on a patrol. You need to avoid the main paths and stick to the desert approach.”
The compound’s carefully manicured desert terrain forced them to navigate across ground littered with obstacles designed by nature rather than landscapers. Todd set a pace that pushed Sadie to her limits without exceeding them, his protective instincts warring with operational necessity.
Behind them, the spa resort remained peaceful in the desert darkness, its low, elegant buildings betraying no hint of what went on within their walls.
No alarms sounded, no searchlights swept the manicured grounds.
Their infiltration had gone undetected, buying them precious time before Dr. Selinski’s operation realized their darkest secrets had been exposed.
“They don’t know yet,” Sadie observed, her voice carrying quiet satisfaction despite her physical exhaustion. “We’re still ghosts in their system.”
Todd nodded as they navigated the sprawling acres between the main complex and the perimeter fence. The desert landscape stretched endlessly around them, dotted with vegetation that provided sporadic cover as they moved toward freedom.