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"In the yard?" Brutus hurried to the window and peered through the bars. Angry, he spun around. "Shit, you had to put it on a presentation plate, which costs us at least 20 minutes."

Sam shrugged calmly. "Until the guards know who that is, we're over all the mountains."

Brutus hurried to Lapuente's bookshelf and pressed the leather back of a dark red book. Part of the wall swung open to reveal a vault. With flying fingers Brutus turned the knob to the right and left. Apparently he knew the combination.

Sam crossed his arms angrily. "Did you do all this just to get his dirty money? You let me slaughter him just to get rich?" Sam's voice cracked with indignation.

"My motivations do not interest you." Brutus growled and began packing thick bundles of money into a briefcase. Sam watched him stunned.

With a quick movement he flew around and grabbed Sam's wrist. He pulled her to the door. Sam resisted. Angry, he stared at her. "I'll stick to our agreement, Scherenlady, I'll get you out of here."

Sam followed him. They ran down corridors and corridors, down stairs, until they reached the door of the staff entrance. Panting, she stopped behind Brutus, who entered the code. His service gun was sticking up from his hip and stretched out to meet her.

Sam reached out and pulled her out of the holster. The door swung open and Brutus turned around.

"You knew what he was up to and did not tell me." Sam gave him a cool look and released the weapon.

"Sam, behind the forest Anita is waiting with the engine running, we have no time."

"True," Sam replied, "our time is over." She squeezed and shot him in the chest.

Gurely, Brutus fell over. Sam started running. In the prison sirens sounded. Someone must have discovered Lapuente, or better, what was left of him. The forest was about 300 meters from the prison.

Sam ran for her life and thanked Brutus for the many hours of intense fitness training.

She was slow in the forest. The branches and leaves were so dense here that no moonlight fell to the ground. Sam stumbled several times, losing Brutus' weapon and tearing her clothes. Panic crawled up sticky from below. This fucking forest just did not want to blow her.

Perhaps he had been exposed too long to the follies of the wicked and the insane and had become a living part of this sick prison world. With a shrill cry, Sam threw himself against the branches and fought his way through doggedly. Like a robot she put one foot in front of the other. So close to the finish, only a few meters. Finally she stumbled out of the forest on a wide dirt road.

Frantically she looked left and right. No car, no Anita. Sam dropped himself. Brutus had lied. Exhausted, she remained lying. Should the guards find them here and bring them back?

Sam heard wood break. Would the shit forest get her now? She raised her head. Headlights blazed in the darkness. Tired, she looked at the lights. Probably Brutus had whistled her to someone who had quickly driven to the designated spot to collect Sam.

Sam closed his eyes as the car stopped short of her. She felt herself being rolled around by hands. She opened her eyes and looked into Miguel's face.

"She lives!" he shouted. Anita's gentle eyes peered down over Miguel's shoulder at Sam.

Sam welcomed the approaching impotence and gave himself up to their blackness.