Blood Lines

going on in there?"
    'Nothing, boss," Lambert purred. "My buddy fell down." Below the guard's line of sight, her foot pressed lightly on Vicki's throat.
    'She okay?"
    'Fine, boss."
    'Then pick her up and get out of there."
    Natalie giggled, reached down, and pinched Vicki's stomach. Hard.

    Vicki flinched but ignored it. Her head still rang from its violent contact with the tiles, but for the first time in what seemed like centuries, she was thinking clearly. Lambert and Wills were minor annoyances, no more. Her enemy was a three-thousand-year-old mummy who'd taken the law and twisted it and trapped her in the spiral he'd created. He was going to pay for that. She didn't know who he'd hurt to find her, Henry or Celluci, but he was going to pay for that, too. In order to make him pay, she had to be free and if the system wouldn't free her, then she'd have to do it herself.
    'Thank you," she muttered absently, as Natalie dragged her upright.
    People had broken out of detention centers before.
    * * *
    'Another beautiful day in the Metro West Detention Center. Thanks, guys, we can take her from here."
    The young woman fought against the shackles, hissing and spitting like a large cat. The guards ignored her, hooked their hands under her arms and dragged her away.
    'Fucking pigs!" she shrieked. "You're nothing but fucking pigs and I hope I fucking knocked your goddamned tooth out!"
    Dave Graham sighed and turned to face his temporary partner. "Did she?"
    'Nah," Detective Carter Aiken dabbed at the corner of his mouth and winced as his palm came away covered in blood,
    "but she split my lip."
    'Not a bad right cross."
    Aiken snorted. "Easier to appreciate it from your angle. There's a crapper at the end of the hall, I'll be right back."
    'What're you going to do, stick your head in the toilet?"
    'Who said anything about my head?" Aiken sucked the blood off his teeth and his brows rose dramatically. "I've had to piss since we left division."
    Dave laughed as the other man disappeared around the corner and leaned back against the wall. He liked Aiken. He wished they'd met under better circumstances. He wished he knew what the hell was going on.
    'Well, hello, stranger."
    He straightened and turned. The Auxiliary Sergeant with her arms full of computer printout looked familiar but…
    "Hania? Hania Wojotowicz? Hot damn! When did you make sergeant?"
    She laughed. "Six weeks ago. Actually, six weeks, two days, four hours and," she checked her watch, nearly losing the pile of papers, "eleven minutes. But who's counting. What are you doing way out here? Where's Mike?"
    Obviously, she hadn't heard about Celluci. Fine with him, he was getting tired of talking about it. "Temporary duty.
    You know how it is. What about you?"
    'Detention's having a little trouble with the OMS. Their computer program," she continued when he looked blank, "the Offender Management System. I've come to try and straighten it out."
    'If anyone can do it…" When they'd first met, Hania had been brought in to crunch the data gathered as part of a massive manhunt after a homicide down in Parkdale. As far as he was concerned, what she could do with a computer should be filed somewhere between magic and miracle. Even Celluci, who'd been heard to suggest that all silicon should go back to the beach where it belonged, had been favorably impressed. "How bad is it?"

    Hania shrugged. "Not very. In fact, I've done my part, all that's left is for someone to enter all this," a nod of her head indicated the printouts she carried, "back into the system."
    'Good lord, that'll take days."
    'Not really, most of this paper is blank. It's all personal possession lists and not many people book in here with luggage. Well, there are exceptions…" She flipped a page back and grinned. "Listen to this. Four pens, four pencils, a black magic marker, a plastic freezer bag containing six folded empty plastic freezer bags, a brush, a comb, a cosmetic case containing a lipstick and two tampons, seven marbles in a cotton bag, a set of lock picks in a leather folder, a magnifying glass in a protective case, three notebooks half full, one notebook empty, a package of tissues, a package of condoms, a package of birth control pills, a screwdriver, a Swiss Army knife, a fish-shaped water pistol, cotton swabs, tweezers, a pair of needlenose pliers, a pair of wrapped surgical gloves, a small bottle of ethyl alcohol, a high-powered flashlight with four extra batteries, two u-shaped nails,