Scorpia Rising

was bad, but I never thought it was like this. How could we have let this happen to you all this time? And your uncle actually wanted you to be a spy? They’re all as bad as each other . . . Alan Blunt, Mrs. Jones . . . even Mr. Smithers.They should never have allowed it to happen.”
    Alex put an arm around her. “Don’t worry, Jack,” he said. “I’ll get away.” He forced a smile. “I always do.”
    Jack nodded and used the backs of her hands to wipe her eyes. “If we could steal one of the cars . . .”
    “I can’t drive,” Alex reminded her.
    “No. But I can.” Her face brightened a little. “There is just one thing, Alex.” She looked around, checking that the guards were far enough away. “Before you arrived, I was alone in my cell for a time, and there was something I noticed. The walls are brick, but the cement is some sort of mixture of salt and mud. And one of the bars of my window is a little loose.”
    “Can you get it out?”
    “I might be able to. Look!” Carefully, she lifted her shirt to show Alex that there was a knife tucked into her waistband. “I stole it at the end of breakfast, after that creep had left. I can use it to cut into the brick. It’s very soft. And if I can get the bar out, I can squeeze through.”
    “And then?” Alex felt the first stirrings of hope.
    “Somehow I get you out of your cell and off we go. When they flew me here, we passed over Siwa. I actually saw it, and it can’t be more than about ten minutes away by car. If we can get there and raise the alarm . . . We just have to make one phone call. And that’ll be the end of Ratface—or whatever he calls himself. He won’t have time to come after us. He’ll have to get out fast.”
    “What about the car keys?” Alex asked.
    “I noticed that too. They leave them in the cars.” Jack smiled. “You see—they’re not as smart as they think they are.”
    Alex thought about what Jack had just said. Everything made sense, and yet at the same time, something worried him. Three basic errors. The crumbling metal, the car keys, the knife that had gone missing without anyone noticing. It seemed almost too good to be true. On the other hand, Jack could be right. Razim thought he had all the odds on his side. That could be making him careless.
    “All right,” Alex said. “But listen to me, Jack. If you get a chance to leave without me, that’s what you have to do.”
    “I’d never leave you behind,” Jack said.
    “You might have to. If it’s a choice between one of us or neither of us, you’re going to have to go.” He reached out and held her hand. “And please watch out for yourself, Jack. I’ve met people like these before, and I’m telling you, they know what they’re doing. This is Scorpia we’re talking about.”
    “You’ve beaten them twice,” Jack reminded him.
    Alex nodded. “Let’s hope it’s third time lucky.”

    They spent the rest of the day together, sitting in the shade, talking about anything that would take their minds off the clock ticking away, the evening drawing in. Alex tried to forget what Razim had said.
    “. . . more pain than you have ever known . . .”
    They talked about Brookland, about Sabina, about the apartment in Chelsea . . . about anything that would fill the silence. There was no sign of Julius Grief, and Razim seemed to have disappeared too. Maybe they were both inside. The sun was blazing down and there was barely any breeze. But slowly the light changed. The temperature began to cool. At half past three a guard appeared and, in broken English, told them that it was time to go back to their cells. Neither of them wanted to show any emotion in front of these people, so they embraced briefly.
    “Good luck,” Alex whispered.
    “I’ll come for you. I promise . . .”
    They were led their separate ways.
    Alex was taken to his cell. Jack’s was farther down the corridor, on the opposite side. Before the doors were locked, Alex was able to look around him, and he saw, with a heavy heart, that Razim was being true to his word. He was taking no chances. A wooden chair had been placed in the middle of the corridor and there was already another guard sitting there. If he heard the slightest sound, he would raise the alarm.
    The two doors slammed shut. The keys were turned.
    Time slowed down. Alex felt every minute as it lumbered past. He knew that all this was part of Razim’s plan. He wanted him to think about what lay ahead, and Alex tried as