Yet I could see in her eyes, positioned so close, this was costing her, too. Shame, because she was hurting me, combined with an unholy glee, as some part of her reveled in it. Her nature and her nurture. Just like mine.

My sister drew a fifth line, and I tasted blood upon my lips.

The last edge of the window frame gave way, the entire panel collapsing with a shatter of glass. Then they were upon us, men in black armored suits screaming at me—Shana—even as others jerked Shana—Adeline—away, and I heard my sister cry, high-pitched, distressed:

“Help her, please, help her. She smuggled in a razor somehow. I think she may have cut her throat. Dear God, please help!”

A big man loomed over me, visor down, face obscured as he shouted.

“Hands, fucker. I wanna see your hands!”

I merely smiled, picturing the sight I must make, with the red blood rimming my white teeth.

A Shana-worthy moment to be sure.

Then I was grabbed and hustled away.

As my sister, Dr. Adeline Glen, staggered into the hall, still inside the prison but already on her way to freedom.

Chapter 33

WHEN D.D. SAW PHIL’S NAME appear across her call screen, she snatched up her cell phone, fully expecting to hear that he’d finally located Samuel Hayes. Instead:

“Shana Day has escaped.”

“What?”

“Shortly after nine this morning. Attacked her sister with a razor, then swapped their clothes so that Adeline was dressed in her prison jumpsuit, while Shana appeared to be Adeline. After that, it was a simple matter of walking out the door.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Phil sighed. “That sums it up nicely. Adeline is still in the prison infirmary, getting treated for her injuries. I’m heading over there now to talk to Superintendent McKinnon—”

“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes,” D.D. answered quickly.

She could nearly see Phil’s smile across the airwaves. “See you then.”

He ended the call. She flung down the phone and bolted off the sofa.

“Alex, Alex! I gotta shower and change. Help, please. Help!”

• • •

SUPERINTENDENT MCKINNON MET THEM in the MCI’s lobby. Given the big doings for the day, D.D. was surprised that the place looked much the same as usual. Other than the armored guards standing out front, of course, and an occasional helicopter conducting a flyby overhead.

“The perimeter team has already been activated,” Superintendent McKinnon informed them briskly, the immediate response team being the go-to unit for prison escapes. “They found Adeline’s vehicle badly damaged several miles down the interstate, but still no sign of Shana.”

“Badly damaged?” D.D. asked.

“Shana hit several other cars attempting to exit the parking lot, let alone what she might have done on the freeway. She’s been locked up since she was fourteen, remember? Most likely, this was her first time behind the wheel.”