Part 34 (2/2)

She looked at her brother, her fear for Nate written on her face, but then she nodded. ”You're right. Sorry, I...just...”

Quinn reached over and touched her hand. ”We're going to find him. Don't worry.”

Liz tried to smile, but failed. ”I know.”

Two Customs and Immigration officials met them in the parking area and processed their doc.u.ments. Once that was done, Daeng and Liz headed back into the plane with the two pilots, while Quinn and Orlando hitched a ride with the C&I guys back to the main terminal.

On the road, in front of the pa.s.senger arrival area, were two taxis, both drivers asleep in their seats. Quinn and Orlando woke the man in the first cab as they climbed in, and had him take them to Cristo de los Milagros Hospital, where Romero had been treated.

By American standards, the place was small for being the main medical facility in the biggest city in the country. Of course, size was relative. Cordoba only had thirty-five thousand residents, while the island as a whole boasted somewhere in the vicinity of a hundred and seven thousand. When viewed that way, the two-story structure that wasn't much larger than a grocery store back home was undoubtedly more than adequate for the people it served.

They had the cabbie drop them off at the entrance to the parking lot, then took a quick, wide walk around the entire place.

”CCTV,” Orlando said, pointing out the closed-circuit security cameras as she spotted them.

Using the camera function on his phone, Quinn zoomed in to get a better look. ”Reycons. Y23s,” he said, citing the make and model.

They were decent enough, but not top of the line. Using his knowledge of their specs, he picked out a blind spot that would get them right up to the hospital next to a nondescript side door without being seen.

They walked across a parking area, not deviating from the path, and reached the side of the building without incident. By the look of things, the door was used by hospital personnel in search of a smoke break. b.u.t.ts littered the ground, and the aroma of stale tobacco and smoke lingered in the air.

Before leaving the plane, Quinn and Orlando had equipped themselves with some of the items Veronique had loaded onto the aircraft at their request. Quinn removed a set of lock picks from his pocket, and seconds later had the door unlocked.

Orlando ran a handheld scanner along the door, checking for an alarm. It vibrated once near the top. She hit a few b.u.t.tons, put the scanner back over the spot, and held it there until the vibration stopped. Once she gave Quinn a nod, he opened the door.

The hallway they entered was well lit and deserted.

”That one,” Orlando whispered, pointing at a door just ahead on the right.

From the name plaque mounted on it, it was clear that on the other side they'd find an office. And where there was an office, there would be a computer.

Quinn picked the lock and then shut the door after they were both inside. The room was cramped but neat-books on shelves on both sides, and a desk in the middle with the hoped-for workstation.

While Orlando delved into the hospital's network, Quinn perused the books. They were mostly medical text, a mix of Spanish and English. There were also several binders specific to the hospital-guidelines, standard procedures, employee handbook, and a facility directory.

After several minutes, Orlando sat back, her eyes still focused on the screen. ”I need to get to another computer. This one's blocked.”

”If this one's blocked, won't they all be?”

She paused. ”I should be able to get around it in IT.”

Getting them into an empty office in the middle of the night was one thing. Sneaking into the hospital's main computer room was something else entirely. While there wouldn't be a full staff on duty at this time, someone would be around in case any problems came up.

Quinn s.n.a.t.c.hed the facility directory off the bookshelf. Inside was a map, followed by pages listing names and extension numbers by department. He first located the computer room. It was on the same floor, but clear on the other side of the building. He pulled the map out of the binder, and found the page with the extensions for the IT department and one listing all hospital department heads. He removed them also.

”Here,” he said, showing her the map. ”This is where you want to be.” He gave her a moment to memorize it. ”What's the extension here?”

She looked at the phone. ”425.”

”I'll scope it out and clear the way, then call you.”

He turned for the door.

”Hey,” she said, stopping him.

He looked back as she stood up and came around the desk.

”Don't do anything stupid,” she said. She pulled his head down and kissed him.

When she finally backed away, he said, ”We haven't been doing enough of that lately.”

”You're telling me.” She gave him a playful smirk. ”Now go do your job. I'll give you another one when we get out of here.”

”Always nice to have a little motivation.”

CHAPTER 44.

IT WAS EVEN worse than Nate thought.

As he set out from the fort, he hoped to find a small village or, at the very least, some facility that might have a means for him to get a message out. But the journey to the far side of the island took only forty minutes, and in that time, the only man-made thing he came across was an empty blacktopped landing strip.

He circled around the beach, thinking there might be a fis.h.i.+ng hut or a dock, but it was clear that with the exception of the fort, the island was deserted.

What made it even more frustrating was the glow on the horizon. It was too big to be a s.h.i.+p, so it must have been from a city, meaning there was another island-a bigger one-out there.

Nate stared across the water. It couldn't have been more than twenty or thirty miles away. But since he had no way to get there, it might as well have been a thousand.

He allowed himself a moment to sit and rest. Calling for help was apparently not an option. Neither was escaping the island. As soon as the other prisoners were roused from their cells and it was discovered he was gone, Harris's men would come looking for him. There wasn't far he could go, after all.

He knew he had only one course of action open to him. Do whatever he could to save the others. There was a good chance he'd be killed in the process, but he couldn't just hide away while they were being tortured to death.

He pushed himself to his feet and turned back to the jungle.

First order of business: Get a better idea of the fort's layout, and try to gauge how many soldiers Harris and the old man commanded.

After that...

Well, one step at a time.

CHAPTER 45.

<script>