“I think that’s the point,” Adam said. “Do something that anyone trying to escape can’t have planned for ahead of time.”
He tensed as he moved closer, ready to strike if this last guard gave any hint that he wasn’t going to go along with it.
Then the guard shrugged. “It all seems like a lot of trouble over nothing to me, but I guess I’m not the one out walking in the rain. Out you go.”
He opened the door for them and stood back to let them go. Again, Adam forced himself to walk normally, making his way out with Julio and pacing around in the direction of the institution’s parking lot.
“Have your keys ready,” Adam said. “It’s only a matter of time before they raise an alarm.”
Julio nodded, getting out the key to his car and holding them ready in his hand. They both kept moving towards the parking lot, still not running yet, because there was a chance that someone might be watching, even now. At this time of night, the parking lot was almost empty. Only a few cars sat there, belonging to the staff, with large spaces in between.
“We did it,” Julio said, with obvious joy. He turned to Adam as if he might kiss him. “We actually-”
That was when Adam slashed his stolen scalpel across Julio’s throat, fast as a striking snake. He stepped aside as blood spurted from the wound, not wanting to get sprayed by it. The guard’s hands went up to his throat, as if he could keep the blood inside his body that way. Shock and pain filled his face, followed by a hurt expression, presumably as he realized just how he’d been used.
“I wish I had enough time to do this properly,” Adam said, clutching Julio to him and stabbing him twice more for good measure. This wasn’t the way he preferred to kill. “But I’m in kind of a hurry, and honestly, I never found you that interesting.”
At least he could hurt Julio a little more that way. Adam kept a strong grip on him, holding him as close as a lover might have. He watched until the life left Julio’s eyes, watching for that split second that represented the shift from a live person to a dead thing.
Adam lowered Julio to the ground. He reached down to take his key fob and clicked it, watching for the lights that told him which car to take. He also took the time to take Julio’s cuffs and stun gun. Both might come in useful soon enough. Abandoning the body, Adam made his way over to the car, a beaten-up BMW, and got inside.
He started to drive off, moving quickly now, because it was only a matter of time before his escape was discovered. Adam regretted that rush. He hated other people forcing his hand like that. He liked to be the one who decided what happened, and when.
He’d had to kill Julio quickly. There hadn’t been time for more. But where he was going next, there would be plenty of time. He’d make sure of it.