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She pulled in, parked with her license plate away from the road, jumped out of the car, and ran into the phone booth. She left the door partway open so the light wouldn't go on and used the penlight to call 911. The call co
"Who's calling?" the dispatcher asked.
"It doesn't matter. I know for a fact that an inmate named Richard Williams is going to escape from-"
"Miss, where are you calling from?"
"Please, just listen. If you don't, a very dangerous criminal will escape from prison."
"Miss, I'm sorry, what is the nature of your emergency?"
"It's at the prison."
"You're at the prison, Miss?"
"No, there's about to be a crime committed at the prison. You have to send the police-"
"Are you in any danger, Miss?"
"No, but there's going to be a crime-"
"I'm sorry. This line is for emergency services only. If you wish to report a crime, please call-"
Nat repeated the number, hung up, and fished another quarter out of her pocket, then called the State Police station. When the call co
"No, he's not. Who's calling?"
"I can't say. There's going to be a prison break tonight at Chester County Correctional and-"
"Gi
"No, please listen. I'm not Gi
"Who are you then, if you're not Gi
"It doesn't matter, just listen to me. Send a car over to the prison right away."
"Gi
Nat held the dead phone, desperate. Who else could she call? She watched the road nervously. A minivan went by. She dialed information for the number, fished another quarter out of her pocket, then placed a call to the federal marshals in Philly. When the call co
"Excuse me, who is this?" the marshal asked.
"I can't say. Please, you have to believe me. You have a car guarding Richard Williams at Chester County Correctional, right?"
"Who wants to know?"
"Okay. There's going to be a prison break there tonight. There’s conspiracy between a CO., the assistant warden, and a drug dealer to get Williams out-"
"A conspiracy, huh?" The marshal sighed. "How do you know about this conspiracy?"
"I figured it out. I was in a hole from the Underground Railroad and-"
"I'm very sorry, Miss, but we're busy here. I urge you to seek professional help."
"No, I'm not crazy! Please, listen, Richard Williams-"
"Please, seek help." The line went dead.
Nat hung up the phone. She didn't know what to do. She aimed the penlight and read the inky cell phone number she'd written on her hand, fainter since her shower, and called Angus. She watched another car going down the road as the phone rang, feeling her emotions well up. The call co
"Angus, I don't know where you are or when you'll get this." Nat paused. She considered telling him about the tu
She hung up, emotionally shaky. Something made her want to call her father, which was palpably insane. But she couldn't go backward, so she had to go forward. She had to stop the escape and if she couldn't get anyone to help, she'd have to do it herself. But she didn't feel brave enough to go into the belly of the beast. It wasn't like her, and she knew it. They were right, when they said that, all of them. She was a scholar, a historian at heart. This wasn't just bleaching your hair and wearing dumb hats. This could get dangerous.
Her thoughts strayed to the hidden room under the ground and all those carved initials, each one a person who had summoned extraordinary courage. They fought for justice, in far worse circumstances. If they could do it, she could do it. She'd been teaching the History of Justice for three years, and she had never understood why before. It was for history to repeat itself. Right now.
She set her jaw, left the phone booth, and hurried back to the car. She drove with an eye on the rearview mirror and slowed when she turned the curve and spotted the prison, set in the middle of a field of melting snow. She drew closer and saw the razorwire and the lights, and near the entrance door, the dark sedan of the federal marshals. She couldn't get to them without going past the guardhouse, but she couldn't do that. She had no idea which C.O.s were in the conspiracy, and Graf might have one of his guys on lookout, since tonight was the night of the escape.
Nat eyeballed the prison layout as she drove past at a reasonable speed, not wanting to draw undue attention. The building was located far from the road and she couldn't sneak up to it on foot. The prison's design ensured that anyone who tried to break out of prison would be exposed; of course, any idiot who tried to break into the prison would be exposed as well. She figured that the tu
She drove by the entrance to the prison, looking for any sign of a tu
She didn't see the tu
Chapter 41
Nat had to work quickly. She drove farther up the road until she found a break in the evergreens, then pulled the car onto high ground, using the trees on the right as cover from the guardhouse. She opened the glove compartment and ransacked it. Old Trident gum pieces, loose CDs, two condoms, a tube of Bath amp; Body hand cream, and a pack of matches fell onto the passenger seat.
Bingo. But she needed a few more items. She got out of the car and started looking. It was dark but she pulled out the penlight and cast it around the side of the road. Gravel, melting snow, and mud appeared in the penlight s circle of moonshade, but no luck. She kept looking, then saw a large grayish rock. She kicked it hard with her foot, once, then again. She succeeded only in shifting it slightly, which meant it would do fine. She got down on all fours and clawed at the snow around the rock until she finally unseated it, then lifted it up with a tiny grunt and hurried back to the car as fast as she could.
She retrieved her purse, with the construction file still in it, and slung it over her shoulder, then picked up the rock, edged out of the driver's seat with it, and set it on the floor of the car. She gathered all the stray branches; old leaves, and sticks she could find, stuffed them in the passenger seat, then took the manila folder from the construction file and set it in the middle of the sticks. She struck a match and lit the folder, which caught fire quickly. Then the kindling began to flame, too.