Rod, Rex and Rhoda

by Bob Brill

Exit Strategy

The place is immense. Corridors leading to corridors. Stairways, up, down and sideways. No exit signs. White-coated staff strolling the halls. We slow to a walk. Rhoda has stashed the gun in her purse. She takes me by the arm. “What we need to do is find Hollister’s office and get our data capsule back. We’ve got no case without it.”

“But Rhoda. Not doable. Pumphrey has no doubt raised the alarm by now. Hollister will have armed guards waiting for us. Guards all over the place looking for us. You going to shoot it out with the Rumex police? Forget it. We’ll be lucky to get out of here.”

“But what about the story? No proof, no story.”

“Yeah, but no escape, no story either. We’ll be taking a ride in a tampered transporter. Let’s take that down stairway.” When we reach the ground floor, I spot a sign that says Restaurant. “This way, Rhoda. Restaurant implies kitchen. Kitchen implies back door, you know, where they stash the garbage pails.”

Rhoda is reluctant to give up her story, but she’s far from stupid. “Okay, let’s get out of here. We can try again another day.”

“Try again? Not me, Rhoda. If we get out of here, I’m never coming back.”

We move through the restaurant and into the kitchen. I can smell the garbage. “You sniff that stink, Rex? That’s the smell of freedom.”

“Hey, get that dog out of here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before anyone can ask who we are, what we’re doing in the kitchen, we’re out the back, into an alley full of dumpsters, across a flower bed, and into the rear parking lot. Rhoda’s car is around the other side. We’d never make it on foot. They’ll be waiting for us out front.

The whole Rumex complex is surrounded by a high fence. Only way out is past the booth where guards check all incoming and outgoing traffic.

We start trying car doors. Luck is with us. Right away we find an unlocked car with keys in the ignition. Seems there’s always at least one in every parking lot whose careless owner invites the world to a free ride. Rhoda climbs behind the wheel. I dive in back and hold Rex down on the floor. Rhoda guns the engine and tears around the side of the building just as we see guards pouring out of the kitchen with weapons drawn.

As we whip around into the front parking lot, Rhoda heads for the guard booth. A truck is blocking the exit lane. Two guards stand by the truck with side arms drawn, signaling us to stop. As Rhoda comes screaming toward them, they dive out of the way and get off a few wild shots. At the last possible microsecond she swerves into the entrance lane and crashes through the lowered gate. We’re nearly out of there when an unsuspecting driver turns his car into the entrance lane and we smash into it.

Proceed to Chapter 10...