“You really shouldn’t have brought him here, though. Particularly since you sent my guards off. He is a dangerous man, handcuffed or not.”

“There was really no other place to take him. And after you left my ass in that hellhole, well, there weren’t a whole lot of options once we broke out.”

“So you . . . broke out? The police are looking for you?” he said nervously.

“I would think they are. I mean, we killed five or six guards along the way.” He turned to Stone. “Was it six?”

Stone said with an impassive expression, “Eight. I got two more while you were strangling the warden.”

Knox turned back to a stunned Hayes. “Okay, so it was eight. I gotta tell you, we weren’t in there all that long, but that place just drives you insane. Frigging out of your mind. I would’ve killed my own mother.”

Hayes took his arm away, his hands visibly shaking. When he spoke, his voice shook as much as his hands. “Listen, Knox, I know what happened was unfortunate. But it was necessary until I could get a handle on what to do with Carr. As you can imagine, it was a highly delicate situation. In fact, I was about to send my men up there to do an extraction. Rest assured, I was not going to let one of my best men rot in that place one second longer than necessary. I swear to God.”

Knox shook his head sadly. “I appreciate that, sir. I really do. But it would have helped to know that before I killed all those people to get out of the place.”

Hayes’ face was paper white now. “I’ll talk to someone for you. We’ll figure something out. This is a national security issue.”

“I doubt that’s possible now. In fact, that’s why I brought Carr along with me.”

Hayes glanced sharply over at Stone. “I don’t quite understand.”

“Well, I might forgive you. But he sure as hell isn’t about to. So since we’re both wanted for murder, I mean . . .”

“What the hell are you saying, Knox?”

Stone answered. “What he’s saying is we’ve already done eight. Who the hell cares about one more, especially if it’s you?”

Hayes staggered back against the wall, his hand to his chest. “Knox, you can’t allow this. I am your superior.”

“You were my superior. At least in rank. In reality, I’ve always considered you quite inferior.”

“How dare you—”

Knox uncuffed Stone and then slipped a knife from his pocket and handed it to him. Stone automatically gripped it in his favored killing position.

“Knox!” Hayes screamed.

Stone advanced. “Do you know how many times I’ve done this on behalf of the United States government?”

“Knox, for godsakes.”

“You should have given the man his medal,” Knox said.

Hayes screamed, “I’ll give you your damn medal, Carr. It’s yours.”