She edged quietly down the steps, stopping again at the bottom. Thunder vibrated through the air. The following flash of lightning briefly illuminated a vast, empty space. She looked up. Skylights were regularly spaced along the roofline. She'd have to watch that she wasn't caught in the open during the next flash. It'd be just her luck that Rose would be walking by at that precise moment.
Once on the factory floor, she headed left, keeping in the deeper shadows under the stairs. Sound stirred the silence — the scuff of a heel against concrete. She squatted in a corner, waiting.
The sense of wrongness flooded the night, making it difficult to breathe. From the hallway to her right, a woman appeared. Rose, obviously, as she was the image of her dead sister.
"Orrin?" the woman said. Though it was barely a whisper, Sam heard her clearly. Perhaps it was the night and the power of the storm. Perhaps it was just the emptiness of the factory allowing her voice to carry so clearly. "I'm heading up to check the side door," the woman continued. "If you don't hear from me, presume the worst. Kill Stern and get the hell out of here."
Damn. Once Rose walked up those stairs and discovered the unlocked door, she'd know someone was here. She had to find Gabriel and get him out of here. Fast.
Rose drew close. Sam's skin crawled. The stink of the other woman's evil was almost suffocating. She didn't move, barely dared to breathe. Rose grabbed the banister and hesitated, her gaze sweeping the shadows in which Sam hid. Sam's breath caught, and she tensed.
After a moment, Rose moved on, her footsteps fading away as she disappeared down the hallway above. She had, at best, a few minutes left to find Gabriel.
She ran across the factory floor, heading for the rear of the building and Orrin. Gabriel had to be near the giant somewhere.
She came to a door and opened it cautiously. Another hallway. She stepped inside, stopped, and reached into her pocket for the strip of material. Sparks leapt across her fingertips, firefly bright in the darkness.
Gabriel was two doors down, to her left. She padded forward. The door wasn't locked, nor did it appear alarmed. An ominous sign, because it meant they were sure Gabriel couldn't escape.
She quickly stepped inside and closed the door. It was the office she'd seen briefly in her visions — small, and cramped, with wall to wall cheap gray carpet. Gabriel lay near the desk, not moving but breathing.
She waited, listening to the silence as she studied the room. There had to be something here, something that would warn them if Gabriel woke up. Surely they wouldn't be foolish enough to think the ropes that bound him would hold him.
Or maybe they were that foolish. Maybe Rose was delusional and overconfident.
She knelt by Gabriel's side. His skin was pale, and clammy, his breathing rapid. Shock, she thought. He shouldn't be moved, but she had no choice. She pressed the earphone. "Found him."
"Alive?" Stephan's voice was tightly controlled. He'd feared the worst.
"Yes. Unconscious, though."
"We're moving in."
And Orrin was moving out. The giant had sensed her, though she had no idea how. But then, if she could sense him, why wouldn't he be able to sense her, especially if they were both products of Hopeworth?
One thing was obvious, though. She couldn't stay here. To do so would risk Gabriel's life. Rose wouldn't kill her insurance policy unless she had no other choice. Sam would have to do the one thing she'd been trying to avoid — confront Orrin.
"Orrin's on the move. I'm going to try and lead him away from Gabriel. Have Briggs and the others wait near the back entrance."
"Be careful."
A totally unnecessary warning. She rose, and then she hesitated. She couldn't leave Gabriel here, unprotected. Rose obviously wasn't sane. Why wouldn't she come back here and kill Gabriel, just for the she hell of it?
She quickly undid the ropes binding his arms and legs, but she left them looped, so that he still looked bound to the casual glance.
Then she touched his cheek, pinching it gently. "Gabriel, wake up."
He groaned, eyelids fluttering. She pinched harder. Right now, there was no time for niceties. Not when Orrin was drawing close.
"Gabriel, wake up, goddamn it."
He did. Pain burned bright in the hazel depths of his eyes. His gaze was unfocused, and he blinked several times, struggling to stay awake and regain some semblance of alertness.
She couldn't wait for that.
"Here, take this." She shoved the laser into his hand. "Protect yourself. The ropes are undone. I'm going to lead Orrin away from this room. Stephan's on his way. Leave if you can."
He blinked owlishly. She wondered if he'd heard anything she'd said. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and the stink of burned flesh was heavy in the air. His shattered arm was obviously bad. So, too, was the cut he'd sustained on the fence, if the wide circle of blood near his shoulder was anything to go by.