Outage (Powerless Nation #1) (20 page)

Dee dared a glance around the corner and saw the steps leading upstairs. To get to them, they'd have to sneak behind the guard at the front desk without making a sound. “One at a time,” whispered Hyrum. “I'll go last. And if we get split up, meet out front with Sammy.”

Mason rounded the corner and Dee watched as he made his way quietly to the stairs. Once he got there she glanced at Hyrum. He gave her a reassuring smile and a nod. “I'll be right after you.” Dee was halfway to the stairs when the guard cleared his throat. She froze and watched as he took a sip from a mug and set it back down next to his keys on the desk. A pool of lantern light filled the lobby, and if he turned his head he would see her. Then he'd catch her and give her to Hank. The thought of being at Hank's mercy kept her frozen in her tracks. She couldn't move.

She was going to ruin everything. She had to go. With another anxious look at the guard she took a step forward and then another and another until she reached the stairway. She turned back to see if Hyrum was following, but his head was low to the floor and he made desperate motions with his hands. Just then she heard the guard's chair squeak. He was getting to his feet.

Had he heard them? Mason grabbed her hand and they raced silently up the stairs, listening for the sound of footsteps in pursuit. They came out in another dark hallway and Mason pulled her into the nearest room where they stood breathlessly waiting. Dee could feel Mason's heart thudding as loudly as her own, but they didn't hear anyone coming up the stairs.

Instead, they heard the guard unlock the front door and let in another guard. Probably the one who had been on patrol. Dee wondered if he patrolled inside too. If so, they were in trouble. But she needn't have worried. The two guards chatted in the lobby, and for the moment it seemed like they were safe.

Dee turned her flashlight on and shone it around the room. They were in some kind of kitchen or break room. A fridge loomed in the back corner next to several open, and empty, cupboards. A wall-mounted first aid kit had also been stripped bare.

“Let's go,” said Mason.

They came out into a long hallway with the break room behind them, the stairs in front of them and an open area to their right with a high ceiling and a railing that overlooked the lobby below. They couldn't see the guards but they could hear them talking about the raid on the farm earlier.

“I'd stay out of Hank's way if I were you,” said the lobby guard. “You should have seen him when Rasmussen walked in alone with just the kid.”

“Wasn't he glad to get his kid at least?” said the patrolman.

“And lose half his team without a scrap of food or supplies to show for it? No kid's worth that.”

The patrolman grunted in agreement.

Dee was counting in her head. Back at the farm they'd caught Mitchell, the two guys that had fallen in the cellar plus one more. Four. If that was half of Hank's men, and two of them were downstairs, it meant there were two more men upstairs and one of them was Hank.

She looked at the long dark hallway off to her left. That must be where they were, along with Sammy. Mason was already creeping that way, and motioned that she should follow. She hoped Hyrum was okay downstairs. She knew he wasn't going to be able to make it upstairs as long as the guards were both in the lobby.

Dee could see a dim light down one direction and pointed it out. Mason nodded and headed that way. They passed another closed door and then came to a room with a glass door they could see into. Several lanterns lighted the room and Dee could see a large white board, a map of what she assumed was Lookout Falls, and several empty desks. One man lounged on a couch while he thumbed through a hunting magazine.
 

A door near the back spilled light into the room. Hank was probably inside, Dee reasoned. On the wall nearest them there was a large interior window, and Dee saw that it looked into an interrogation room. A candle flickered inside and Dee could just make out a small form huddled under a blanket in the corner of the room. It was Sammy, she was sure of it.

Mason had her by the hand and pulled her back down the hallway a few steps to the unopened door. It probably led into the interrogation room. Dee held her breath while Mason tried the handle. She wasn't surprised when it was locked.

“We've got to get the key,” whispered Mason.

Dee thought about the room next door. If they went in with their guns they might be able to force the guard on the couch to give them his keys, but if he raised an alarm they'd have the downstairs guards on them, as well as Hank. It would probably be a bloodbath and no guarantee they'd even get the keys. There had to be another way.

The sound of the guards chatting in the lobby drew her attention and she remembered seeing a ring of keys on the guard's desk. Were they still there? Quickly, she explained to Mason what she was thinking and he followed her down the hallway. When they got close to the railing Mason lowered himself to his stomach and crawled up to the edge. He looked down at the desk and then gave Dee a thumbs up before slithering back.

“His keys are on the desk, and they are sitting on easy chairs over there,” Mason pointed to one side of the lobby. “I'm going to crawl in and get them. If I move real slow they might not see me.”

“But what if they do?”

“If they do, I'll grab the keys and toss them up to you. You should have enough time to hide in the break room before the guards up here run past, and then you can use the keys to get Sammy out.”

Dee didn't think it sounded like a very good plan, but she didn’t see any other way to get the keys. It was too bad they couldn't levitate the keys straight up.

“Wait a minute,” she whispered, putting out a hand to stop Mason who was already tiptoeing to the stairs. “What if we could lower a hook or something and lift the keys up?”

Mason shook his head. “Where are we going to get a rope and hook? There's no time. One of these guys could find us at any moment.”

“Your plan is just as crazy. Think about it. Even if you get the keys to me, you'd be taking on four trained cops at once. You wouldn't stand a chance. And let's say I got the door open and Sammy out, where would we go?”

Mason held out his hands in irritation and his wrist caught Dee's eye. She remembered the bracelet he’d given her.

“Wait,” she whispered excitedly. “What about this?”

Mason looked at her bracelet. “You might be onto something. Paracord would be perfect. Is there anything we can make into a hook?”

Dee inspected herself. In her pockets she had a few lucky pennies and the piece of gum she was saving. “How about this?” she offered the gum. “I saw it on an episode of
Little House on the Prairie
. They put the gum on the end of a shoelace and pick up a nickel that fell through a grate.” Dee gave herself a mental high-five from Hyrum. He would love the television reference.

Mason shook his head. “There's no way the gum would be sticky enough to lift a ring of keys. We need something stronger. Maybe in here,” he said, walking into the break room.

Inside the break room Mason quietly searched through drawers. He found a metal butter knife and tried bending it into a hook but when he tested it on his own keys he couldn't get them hooked without making a lot of noise.

“We have to go back to the first plan,” he said finally with a helpless shrug. “At least if they see or hear me I can toss the keys up to you and you can get Sammy. I'll try to draw everyone into the lobby so you can get out the back.”

Dee scanned the room desperately. There had to be a way to keep Mason from sacrificing himself for Sammy. Her eyes fell on the fridge. It wasn't big or fancy, but there were a lot of things stuck to the freezer door. She stepped closer and saw that the cops had been playing with magnet words. She read:

happiness is complex but who can relax in this intense ly bitter cold with out beer

Other types of magnets held outdated flyers and notices. Then it hit her: magnets! Would a magnet stick to keys?

Mason was already ahead of her. He grabbed a few magnets shaped like pushpins and tried to lift his keys with them. It took four or five together before it was strong enough, but it worked. The keys lifted from the counter with barely a sound. Quickly he tied the bundle of magnets to the end of the unraveled paracord bracelet and they crept back to the edge of the second floor overlooking the lobby.

Dee crossed her fingers as Mason slowly lowered the magnets. She watched the guards on the couch but they were deep in debate over whether football season would start up if the power came back on and which cities would still have teams. Luckily, their conversation was growing heated, and the sound of the keys clicking onto the magnet wasn't audible.

Dee's eyes were glued to the keys slowly inching towards them. The light from the lantern didn't reach very high and she doubted they'd be visible in the gloom to the guards if they looked over. But if Mason jerked the cord or moved it too quickly she knew the keys would crash to the desk and alert them. She held her breath and was surprised to see Mason's lips moving in a soundless prayer.

When the keys were almost to them Dee reached out and gently lifted them the rest of the way over. She glanced at the guards, still oblivious in their argument.

“Come on,” mouthed Mason, as he slithered away from the edge.

Back in front of the interrogation room, Dee tried different keys in the lock while Mason kept watch through the glass door. There were only three keys on the ring, and one was a strange square shape so she ruled it out immediately. The second key fit the lock and it turned with a quiet click. Dee glanced quickly at Mason but he shook his head. The men hadn't heard.

Mason waved at her to keep watch while he crept in to get Sammy. She pocketed the keys and saw that the guard from the couch,
Rasmussen
, she remembered, stood in the back doorway talking to someone in the rear office. If he turned he'd be able to see Mason through the one-way glass. So far so good. She watched as Sammy sat up and saw Mason. Mason put a finger to his lips and the brothers quietly crept out of the room. Dee couldn't believe their luck. They had Sammy, and now all they had to do was sneak out the back and find Hyrum.

She should have known it was too good to be true. She saw a circle of light on the break room door getting larger just as her ears registered the sound of someone climbing the steps. Someone was coming upstairs and there was nowhere for them to hide. They were about to be discovered.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

M
ASON
MOVED
SWIFTLY
TO
the top of the stairs and waited. When the patrolman appeared Mason hit him in the face with his flashlight and the stunned guard toppled backwards down the stairs with a loud crash. “Come on,” said Mason, racing after him.

Dee and Sammy followed quickly, and Dee heard the sound of raised voices and running feet down the hall in the detective office. “The kid's gone,” shouted a muffled voice. She and Sammy raced down the stairs past the fallen guard who groaned and struggled to get up. Mason fought with the guard from the desk. He slugged him in the stomach and the guard bent over in pain, but straightened with an uppercut that glanced off Mason's jaw.

She scanned the lobby and saw Hyrum outside the front door motioning for them to come out that way. Dee shouted for Mason and saw him land a blow to the guard's shoulder that knocked him into a wall. Dee ran for the front door and hit the push bar with a crash.
 

The door didn't budge. They were locked in. Dee was terrified. She felt like her heart would pound its way out of her chest. She scanned the bar for a lock and saw a small square hole. The strange key on the guard's key ring would fit. In the reflection of the glass she saw Hank above them at the railing. He had a gun.

Dee fumbled for the keys in her pocket and with shaking hands she fit the square key into the lock and turned while Mason yelled taunts, trying to keep Hank's attention off her and Sammy. He held the guard by the neck while he backed to the exit, his body shielding Mason's. As Dee pushed open the door she heard gunshots and the guard Mason was holding screamed in pain. She and Sammy were out the door now and she hoped the glass behind them was bulletproof.

Grandpa's truck idled just down the street and Hyrum stood nearby, his gun out and ready to cover them.

“We can't outrun them in this,” Dee said, even as she helped Sammy climb inside.

She saw Mason sprint out the front door and heard Hyrum's gun report as he fired on the station, trying to keep Hank and the other two cops inside.

“Harry, I took care of it,” Hyrum said, and at that moment a bullet caught him in the thigh. He sagged and caught the truck door for support. Mason reached him and helped Hyrum in through the driver side door as another bullet shattered the glass in the rear window. Mason jumped behind the wheel and tires screeched as he gunned the engine.

Dee watched behind them as the cops ran onto the street. Hank ran after them while shooting, but he didn't land any more shots. The other two men raced around the building for their cars. As the truck passed the lot Dee saw flames leaping from a patrol car and the tan truck. In the flickering light reflected from the rearview mirror Dee saw Hyrum smile.

Sammy looked worriedly at the blood soaking Hyrum's pants. He used his small hands to cover the hole until Dee could press her sweater to the wound. Hyrum gritted his teeth and Dee heard him force out the words, “'Tis but a flesh wound.”

Mason shook his head with a grin and twisted the wheel. The truck shot around a corner and Hank and the police station were hidden from view.

As they neared the turn-off to the farm Mason slowed and Dee saw that Angela was standing in the lane, motioning for them to stop. Behind her, Dee saw Jeremiah working a crowbar between the bars of the cattle guard.

Angela stepped closer to the truck to peer inside and Dee saw she was checking to make sure they were all there. Her relief was obvious. Hyrum manfully put on a brave face but in the dim light Dee could see he was pale and sweating.