CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 40: EXECUTION

The next day, we put our plan into action. Rockie and I had an earpiece so Marceau could talk to us while we were in the prison in case something went awry which happened as soon as we walked into the prison.

"Tu vas à quel étage ?" the officer asked me.

I had no idea what he was saying. I just froze.

Rockie struggled to get free from his handcuffs. He was pretty convincing. I hled on tight to him.

"As-tu besoin d'aide?" the officer asked.

Marceau finally realized that the officer was talking to me. "Say, 'Oui. Premier étage'," he told me.

I said it as accurately as I could, knowing my life was counting on how well I could fake a French accent.

The officer helped me get Rockie to an elevator and took us down one floor.

Someone at a desk, who I could only assume was the corrections administrator, said something to the officer and then spoke to me.

"He wants to see your badge," Marceau said through the earpiece.

I lifted my badge to show him, trying not to shake from nervousness.

The administrator opened his desk drawer and handed me a key. "Cellule trente-sept."

"Say thank you," Marceau said.

"Uh, merci," I said as I took the key. I brought Rockie toward the cells as he tried to resist. He was trying to make it easy for me to bide time. We passed some pretty wicked looking criminals. None of them looked pleased to see me walk by their cell. I stopped by an empty cell to look at my watch. It was 11:30.

I looked back down the hall of cells, but the administrator was still at his desk. I kept walking until I got to the door at the end of the hall.

The door slid open and a guard nearly ran into us. "Hé! Oh pardon. Es-tu perdu?"

"Just say no," Marceau told me.

"...no," I said.

"Dans quelle cellule va-t-il ?" the guard asked.

"Does the key have a number on it?" Marceau asked.

I looked down at the key. It did, but I didn't know how to say the numbers in French.

"If it does, show him the key," he said.

I lifted the key so the guard could see the numbers.

"Trente sept," the guard said. "Vous avez fait fausse route. Suivez-moi."

"Follow him," Marceau said.

I followed the guard back the way I came. The administer raised an eyebrow at me as we passed by and went down a different hall. He was onto me. I was sure of it.

The guard pointed me to an empty cell so I pushed Rockie inside and shut the door. The guard was standing right there so I had to lock Rockie inside, even though that wasn't part of the plan.

I headed back to the center with the key where the administrator was waiting for me. I realized he wasn't going to leave until I gave him the key back.

He took the key to Rockie's cell, dropped it in a drawer, locked it closed, and then stood up to leave.

"Je t'accompagnerai à ta sortie. C'est ma pause déjeuner," he said.

"Just nod and go with him," Marceau said.

I nodded and followed the administrator to the elevator.

"This wasn't the plan," I whispered.

"Quoi?" the administrator asked.

"Just go with him for now," Marceau said. "You'll take the elevator back down when he's gone."

"Qu'est-ce que vous avez dit?" the admin asked me.

"Say, 'Rein'," Marceau said.

I didn't even attempt it because I knew I would butcher the pronunciation.

"Bonjour?" the admin asked.

I knew that word. "Bonjour," I said back.

The elevator opened to the second floor and we got off. The administrator gave me a weird look and walked briskly away.

"He's gone now," I told Marceau as I got back in the elevator.

"Good. Now get back on the elevator."

"Already done. I'm headed back down. The keys are locked in a drawer in his desk and he took the key with him, but I think I can get it open without it."

When the elevator opened, I went to the desk and took a lock pick out of my pocket and started working on the drawer lock, keeping an eye out for guards.

"Did you find the way into the basement yet?"

"Not yet," I said. I finally got the drawer to open and grabbed the key with the number 37. They went to Rockie's cell. I checked for a hidden door and found one under the rug right under me. I looked for a key that would match it, hoping I would be able to find it faster than I could pick the lock. I discarded any keys with numbers on them, figuring they all went to cells. I went through the whole drawer of keys until it was empty. I tossed the keys back in and shut the drawer.

"I can't find the key," I told Marceau.

"Keep searching," he said.

"There's nowhere else to look," I said as I checked the top of the desk in case I somehow missed it, but the desk was clear except for a few papers which I picked up to look under. Still no key.

"I might have to pick the lock," I said.

I leaned down and, out of curiosity, looked up on the underside the desk. Sure enough, there was a key taped to it.

"Wait. I think I found it," I informed Marceau. I peeled the key off and stuck it into the keyhole on the floor. It turned with ease and I felt so relieved. I lifted the door up to reveal a narrow stairway, but heard a guard coming down the hall. I slipped into the basement and shut the door above me. I thought it would be pitch black, but instead, I saw something glowing. I followed the light to a glowing cube.

"I think I found it," I whispered. "How do I turn it off?"

"I'm not sure," Marceau said. "Is there a switch somewhere?"

I picked the cube up, but it didn't look like a device. It was just a glowing gem of some kind.

"Is it supposed to be glowing?" I asked.

"Yes, but there should be a way to turn it off. Are there wires attached to it?"

"Nothing's attached to it. It's just a glowing rock."

"You may need to break it."

"How? I don't have a weapon on me and I can't use my power."

"Throw it against the wall or something. It might be delicate."

I braced myself for the sound and threw the gem onto the floor as hard as I could. Hopefully, the guard above didn't know about the basement.