Page 273 of Broken Oath

Gray floors.

Gray doors.

The entire facility felt dead, as if it had been built beneath the mountain and abandoned by the world.

Wade counted automatically.

Fourteen steps.

One turn.

Twenty-two steps.

A security door.

Another turn.

Habit.

Always habit.

The day you stopped paying attention was the day you died.

They passed a corridor he had never been allowed to enter.

For one second, Wade heard someone coughing beyond the door.

Three sharp coughs.

A pause.

Two more.

A signal his team had used since their first month in captivity.

Alive.

Wade dragged his fingers along the seam of his pants.

Three taps.

A pause.

Two more.

I hear you.

The guard behind him struck him between the shoulder blades with the barrel of his rifle.

Wade stumbled forward but stayed on his feet.

He hid his smile.

At least one of his men was still alive.

The interrogation room waited beyond the final door.

Metal table.