The Ascent by Adam Plantinga

Author:Adam Plantinga [PLANTINGA, ADAM]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2024-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

23

When they were on the other side of the closed door, Rachel slid to the floor, eyes shut, hands to her face. Then she fumbled for another cigarette and lit it. Julie sat close enough to the nurse to inhale the plume of nicotine. Both looked utterly spent. Van Dyne threw up, most of it going on his shoes. Jamerson was pacing. LeMaines seemed rattled and Aguilar didn’t look much better. Only Coates remained stoic, even after having to shoot two men. Argento kept the zip gun out in case Micah reversed course and came through the door into the stairwell. The door was locked and there wasn’t supposed to be a key on any of the guards’ rings to get off the second floor and above. But the doors weren’t reliable in this place, and even if they were, he wouldn’t put it past the gymnast to figure out a way to walk through walls. He’d already figured out a way to get from the first floor to the second.

“Any more like him in here?” Argento asked LeMaines.

“No,” LeMaines said.

Coates began to speak. Probably a call to action. Urging them to keep moving. But he looked at the assembled group and stopped. Sensing they needed to downshift after what they’d just seen.

“Those were clean shoots, brother,” Jamerson said to his partner, taking Coates by the arms and searching his face. “I’ll take the stand and say the same. Everyone here will.”

Coates didn’t reply.

“Are you okay?” Julie asked Coates from her position on the floor.

“First-rate,” Coates said, although his thoughts seemed elsewhere. Argento had been where the trooper had been. Typically after a police shooting, the officer involved got medical attention if he needed it, then was hustled away from the scene by a supervisor to whom he’d give a brief statement and then be taken to a down room where he could decompress, eat if he was hungry, and call his family and tell them he was okay. None of that was going to happen here, which meant Coates would have to stay in the field and function even after doing one of the most stressful things a cop could do. Argento figured he was up for it. Coates had some time on the job and came off as composed and resilient. But he was going to have to watch him.

The heat was stifling in the stairwell. Coates wiped his brow. “Pass some water around,” he told Jamerson. It was a good sign. It showed that Coates was already able to step out of himself and think of the needs of the group. Jamerson fished into the go bag and distributed some bottles. Everyone drank greedily. Aguilar poured a bottle over his head and shook off the excess water.

Argento turned to Van Dyne, who was finished puking. “Thanks for the help back there. Although you might be the worst fighter I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re welcome,” the chaplain said, wiping a string of vomit from his mouth with his shirtsleeve. The inmate’s head butt had left a large red blotch on his forehead.

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