Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

Juan didn’t like it, but she was right. They’d have to bring her along if they wanted to do this quickly.

“Okay, but Raven doesn’t leave your side. Understood?”

Lyla nodded.

“All right,” Juan said. “We saw a biometric scanner next to the door. Do we need to bring the guard with us?”

“They never put that into use,” Lyla said. “I guess they didn’t see a need. The place is built to keep us in, not keep us out.”

“So how do we get in?” Raven asked.

“There’s a camera at the door. They open it from the central control room.”

Eddie tilted his head at the dead guard. “So much for using his handprint to get us in.”

“And I don’t think we’re going to fool a camer

a with that hole in his face,” Juan said. MacD had already taken his crossbow bolt back and cleaned it in the surf. “Nobody has ever made an escape attempt before?”

“I have,” Lyla said. “Twice.”

“Did you get out of the building?”

“Yes, but I didn’t get very far.”

“They must have come after you quickly. How many?”

“Four or five guards came out both times to search for me.”

Eddie looked at Juan. “That would even the odds a bit.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Juan said. Then to Lyla, “What about the large garage door on the shed?”

“Also opened from the inside, I think.”

“And the doors inside the facility?”

“Only the control room and the prisoners’ quarters are locked. We’re monitored closely the rest of the time, and they’re always armed. One of the passengers tried to wrest a gun away from a guard one time and he . . .” Her voice trailed off.

“We’ll get them out,” Juan said. “But we’re going to need your help getting in there.”

“Anything,” Lyla said.

Juan stood, helped her up, and handed her the radio. “When I tell you, start calling for help.”

* * *

—

Fyodor Yudin was glad to be finally getting off this rock. Jhootha Island had been a prison for him almost as much as for the airplane passengers. When Boris Volanski had told him about the warden job, he’d declined until he was told the fortune he’d be earning. But the isolation had begun to wear on him, despite the beautiful weather and tropical sun. He’d be happy to get back to the borscht, vodka, and nightlife of his native Moscow even if it meant enduring subzero temperatures six months a year.

Now the only things standing between him and freedom were Lyla Dhawan and the boat coming to pick them up. Once he had her locked up in her cell like the others, he could set the timer on the self-destruct mechanism that would destroy the entire prison and all evidence of what had gone on there. The only item remaining intact would be the airplane sitting in the jungle, but there was nothing incriminating on it that would lead back to his employers.

The prison’s control center was bustling with activity as the guards prepared the Bedtime protocol. Like Yudin, they were eager to leave and get back to civilization. The warden stood behind the operator seated at the central control panel while guards streamed in and out of the two doors at either end of the long room. It doubled as a briefing area and also held desks for the officers. With almost all the prisoners secured already, the rest of the guards were in their quarters packing up their belongings.

Yudin was frustrated that he had this one loose end to tie up.

“Call him again,” he commanded.