Page 49 of Breaking Rosalind
After kitting up, I jog to the exit that leads to the stairs, but my wrist cuff sets off the alarms.
Security staff at the door block my path. Their supervisor, a burly blond man with the same cold blue eyes as Axel, takes my wrist.
“You’re not cleared to leave the building, operative,” he says.
“This is an emergency,” I reply, my voice tight with anxiety.
He waves a scanner over my wrist cuff and reads out the results. “Dr. Daniel wants you confined to HQ. If you want to leave, take it up with him.”
“There’s no time.” I shove past the guard, only for two more to grab my arms and hold me in place. “Let go of me.”
The supervisor sneers. “Keep your composure, operative, or you will be subdued.”
My stomach lurches and the full implication of his words hits me like a punch to the solar plexus. If I get violent, I’ll spend the next thirty-six hours under the influence of oxypentanol. That’s time I can’t afford to waste.
I glare at him and the guards holding me back. “Fine,” I say, trying to hold back a scream. “Let go of me and I’ll speak to the doctor.”
The moment the guards release me, I take off in a sprint toward the infirmary, my pulse pounding in my ears. My academy training prepared me for being captured by an enemy, but I never thought an enemy would come after my daughter.
Screams echo through the hallways as I reach the infirmary, but it’s nothing compared to the terror screaming through my heart. Cesare is the worst kind of psychopath. Everything to him is some kind of sexual game.
Painful knots form in my gut, making me whimper. He already has Miranda’s head in a bear trap. What else is he doing to my little girl?
I find Dr. Daniel in the infirmary tending to an operative covered in blisters and burns. My throat clogs with the overwhelming stench of chemicals, but I force myself to keep going.
A medic steps in my path. “This section is closed to?—”
I shove him aside and keep going. “Doctor. You need to give me clearance to leave the premises.”
Dr. Daniel turns to me with a frown. “You’re out of medical garments and putting yourself at risk of infection.”
“Clearance.” I hold up my wrist cuff. “It’s a matter of life and death.”
He frowns and is about to say something when a hand lands on my shoulder.
“Rosalind, what’s this I hear about you attacking the door staff?”
I whirl around and lock gazes with Gunther, my hackles rising. This is the same bastard who made sure to inform me he knew Miranda studied at the Tourgis Academy and implied he would do something to her if I failed my mission.
But can I afford not to tell him? Gunther might be the only person who can make the doctor lift my restrictions on leaving.
“Cesare Montesano has my sister.”
His eyes widen. “What does he want?”
“Me in exchange for her.”
“Any ideas where he’s holding her?”
“Not sure. He wants me to meet him in the alley beside the Phoenix nightclub.”
“Then she can’t be too far away,” he says with a decisive nod. “Stay here. I’ll send a rescue team?—”
“Like you did with me?” I interrupt.
Face paling at the prospect of anyone learning his secret, his gaze darts around the infirmary, his features slackening with a combination of panic and paranoia. The nearest person to us is Dr. Daniel, who is too busy dealing with a patient’s chemical burns to overhear my barb.
Gunther’s features harden. “Threatening me won’t save your sister. I’ve already given into your demands.”