“Congratulations on your promotion, Tech Sergeant.” I said in a quiet voice.
“Colonel Crawford’s idea.” He said. “A better idea than this.” He held up his cast and frowned at me.
Scott had broken his arm when we were extracting from Los Alamos. I’d gone to visit him in the hospital at Tinker and he’d been asleep, so I’d personalized the virgin white plaster for him. I was mildly surprised he hadn’t covered up my message. In bold, black letters it read, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get it up”.
“Get IT up? Really?” He said, with a shake of his head.
“Isn’t that how it goes?” I asked innocently.
“If you two are done, how about we get the hell out of here.” Martinez said.
“I’m ready. What’s the plan?” I asked.
Scott reached up and fished around inside his sling, pulling out a Taser. Martinez hiked her skirt up around her hips and retrieved two, small pistols that were strapped to her upper thighs. Handing me one, she smoothed her skirt back down and stepped close to me.
“We only kill in self defense.” She said, face close to mine as she looked directly into my eyes. “Agreed?”
“Agreed.” I finally said. She kept looking at me until she was satisfied I was being sincere.
“OK, there are the three guards you saw in the hall. Out the door to our left is a gate that leads to a processing area. The gate is locked, but the lead guard has a key for it. We’re going to put them in here and lock them in, use his key to get through the gate where there’s one more guard. I’ll go through the gate first, distract him, then you two get him back here and in a cell. Then we walk right out the front door where our ride’s waiting.” Martinez said.
“Seriously? That sounds way too easy.” I said.
“This is a holding facility, not a prison. It is easy. Ready?” Scott asked.
I nodded my head and he stepped over to the door and banged on it sharply. The Taser was concealed in his good hand. Martinez and I had our pistols held behind our legs, out of sight. A few moments later the lock scraped and the door opened. Martinez quickly stepped past the lead guard as Scott moved close to him and pressed the Taser to his neck and pulled the trigger.
The guard fell like a sack of bricks, the two others freezing in place when Martinez brought her pistol up and aimed it at their faces. Scott stepped over the stunned guard and I quickly dragged him into the cell and removed a ring of keys from his belt. Stepping into the hall I raised my pistol and motioned the two guards into the cell.
“Are you fucking crazy?” One of them asked, a shocked look on his face.
“I just might be,” I said. “Now, inside before you find out.”
With looks that were a mix of hatred and fear the two men slowly moved into the cell. Scott pushed the door closed and I fumbled with the ring until I found the right key to secure the lock. We moved down the hall past half a dozen empty holding cells with doors standing open, stopping at the gate long enough for me to find the right key.
Gate unlocked, Martinez put the pistol into her purse and slipped through as Scott and I held back. The processing area was a large room lined with benches. Heavy, steel rings were set into the floor in front of each bench for the cops to secure a prisoner while waiting for a holding cell to be assigned. A government issue, gray metal desk sat in the center of the room, a Security Forces Staff Sergeant sitting behind it doing paper work. There was no one else in the room at the moment.
He looked up when Martinez walked in front of his desk, stopping at the far corner so that to look at her his back was completely turned to us.
“I think something bit me,” Martinez said, bending at the waist and lifting her skirt to run her hand up the back of her thigh. “Do you see anything?”
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe she was doing this. But it worked. The guard nearly fell out of his chair in his haste to lean forward for a closer inspection of Martinez’ leg. Scott moved forward and pressed the Taser to the back of his neck and I grabbed him