Page 58 of Hollow State

"Works for me," Darwin said.

"There's a loading bay not far from where you are. I need you to make a left turn in two corridors. Got it?"

"Yup."

"Zadie's monitoring the RCMP system," Gideon said. "Quinn reported he saw a male, forties, glasses, white lab coat, northbound through the connector, so the search right now is mostly concentrated in that area, but they’re spread out. They aren't missing a beat on this one."

"I'm a couple minutes from the loading bay." Darwin turned down the corridor. No one was there, so he picked up the pace, his limp now pronounced.

Two-thirds of the way down, on the left, the hallway opened into a staff break room.

It was almost empty. A few people scattered at tables with their phones face up. A television on low in the corner. A row of chairs near the opening with coats over the backs of them and bags shoved underneath. A navy ball cap sat on one of the seats.

Darwin took it without slowing down and refused to feel bad about it. He was forty feet from the bay doors when he heard, "Sir. Can you hold up for a minute?"

He glanced over his shoulder. "Is there a problem?" Darwin asked as he stared at a young guard.

"You haven't heard about the security breach?" the young man asked as he approached.

"I did, but I'm in a hurry." Darwin waved his folder as if that were going to save him. "I have a patient who needs me."

"You're headed outside."

"A shortcut I learned during my residency years ago." Darwin wasn't lying. There were plenty of ways to get from one point in the hospital to another by going outside and around.

From the man’s narrowed stare and the fact that he was moving faster, Darwin could tell he wasn't buying it. "I'm still going to need you to stop so I can check your credentials," the guard said.

Darwin continued to inch closer to the doors and was so grateful when they clicked. "Sorry. I gotta go." He turned and pushed through the doors. "Gideon, tell me you can lock those⁠—"

"Done," Gideon said. "Now, run. I'm sure that guard has a passkey, and he'll be outside in less than fifteen seconds."

Darwin took off through the loading vestibule. He pulled the folder out from under the white coat, got his arms out of the sleeves and tossed the jacket into the garbage can.

Then he put on the cap, pulled the brim down, and ran toward the street where he hoped he could blend into the masses.

The mist had thickened while he was inside. It sat on his shoulders, beaded on the back of his neck, and pooled around his ankles.

He took in slow breaths through his nose and blew them out his mouth. He glanced up at a post. "What about the street cameras?"

"Zadie's hacked into them," Gideon said. "You're a ghost."

"It's never felt so good to be invisible."

"Ten minutes to our location at that pace," Coulter said.

Behind him, a siren screamed, followed by a second one. Darwin's heart sank. He glanced over his shoulder, but both police cars had turned down a different street.

"Just keep walking," Coulter said.

A woman walked in the other direction with a stroller under a plastic cover and a bag of groceries hooked on the handle, and immediately he thought about Liam and Sarah, and their two kids.

Liam had put himself on the line for Darwin. Just like Prewit had. Thing was, Darwin would do the same for them. He'd do it because he knew the men they were. What they believed in. What mattered.

There was nothing to question, and Darwin needed to stop being so self-centered in his thinking. It didn't help him or the people he cared about. If anything, it built more walls between him and those he loved.

Sarah had been right about that.

He kept his head down, and at the next corner, he turned right.