Page 47 of Murder Island

Inside on a narrow metal shelf were my clothes—shirt, shoes, pants, socks, underwear—all clean and neatly folded in a fabric bag. There was only one other item. The cutlass. I grabbed it and stuck it through the belt of my fatigues. Then I ducked back into my cell and stuffed the money into the bag with my clothes.

I glanced at the two guards. Breathing, but still out. I locked the door after me and headed for the elevator. I expected to see more men waiting when it opened, but the car was empty. Leo ran a lean operation. Maybe the two guards were the only ones on duty in my wing.

I pressed the only button. The car started moving up. It opened on the ground floor of the castle, the same place I’d exited with Leo.

I looked around. No guards here, either. And no alarms blaring.

It looked like security wasn’t as tight as I had thought.

I moved through the room with my back against the wall. I found a side door that faced the courtyard. It was locked from the inside. I threw the latch and pulled it open. I held my pistol in front of me in shooting stance, but all I saw were manicured trees and flower bushes. I tucked my bag under my arm and took off.

I didn’t have a mental map of the whole property, just the routes for our training exercises. The forest was west, so I headed in that direction.

We’d always taken roads that led out from the back of the castle. I’d never seen the landscaping in front.

I felt like I was running through the grounds at Versailles.

Everywhere I looked, there were sculpted bushes and stone fountains and rolling lawns. I ducked behind a tall bush to change from my fatigues into my own clothes. I moved along a tall hedge that ran the length of a garden,then broke into a run across an open field. At the far end was a stone wall, about ten feet tall. When I got closer, I spotted some ridges and hollows in the stonework.

Totally climbable.

I tossed the money bag over the wall. Then I reached out to test a handhold about seven feet up.

Bam!

Something knocked me to my knees.

I grabbed my gut and looked around.

Nobody there.

I stood up, still shaky. I raised my foot toward the wall and touched a small ledge with the toe of my shoe.Bam!Another huge shock knocked me on my ass. It felt like it was radiating from inside my body! I yanked the sleeves of my shirt up and angled my right forearm to catch the moonlight.

Then I saw it—a tiny scar, hidden in the coral scrapes and other bruises.

I reached for the wall again. Got knocked down again. This time, it felt like my brain was about to explode.

I sat on the grass and pulled out the cutlass.

I put the tip of the blade on the edge of the scar and pushed. I grimaced and grunted as blood started to ooze out. I dug deeper. And then I got another shock—even stronger. I dropped to the ground again. Almost blacked out.

I grabbed the blade again. Blood was dripping down over my wrist. I knew what I had to do. Against every instinct, I poked the blade into the wound again. Noshock this time. Just nerve-wrenching pain. I twisted the blade tip and there it was—a tiny metal chip. The equivalent of an electronic dog collar.

No need for guard towers or electric fencing. Leo’s barriers were built in.

I pulled out the chip and placed it on a stone. Then I smashed it with the hilt of the cutlass. At that point, I had so much adrenaline shooting through me that I probably could have vaulted over the wall.

But I didn’t. I climbed it.

In a few seconds, I was on the other side and running hard toward the woods. I looked back over my shoulder. Nobody coming. At least nobody that I could see. Pulling out the chip must have set off an alarm, right? Or had I just performed a surgery that Leo had never anticipated?

Was I really free?

Or was I disposable?

CHAPTER 56

Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1 a.m.