Anthea nodded, pulling out her phone and staring at the list of names in the contacts. Who could she get in touch with that would be willing to do that? With the Director most likely still out of commission, either the hospital was in chaos or had tightened security. Which meant that Sarah would either be able to sneak into the filing room easily, or that she would have no chance to get anywhere near the elevator.
Anthea pulled her sleeve up, eyes on her watch. 2:13:25.
The phone only had a chance to ring once before Sarah picked it up, her voice sharp. “Whatever happened to that deal where you gave me a heads-up when you tried to bring down the infrastructure of a government conspiracy again? The place is in fucking shambles. I don’t know what the fuck you did but—”
"Will you shut up for a second, please?" A sigh. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. There wasn’t time. There isn’t. When I get a chance to dump this phone for a clean one, I’ll call you back and explain. But right now, I need one last favor from you, please. Then I have to hang up.”
Sarah’s voice softened. “You’re afraid they’re going to trace it… So you’re safe? Hiding? God, Anthea— okay. What do you need?”
"The filing room. It’s in the laboratories— the basement. Take the elevator and press the B key. Filing cabinet ‘S’— I need you to burn my files, which would be under ‘Anthea Schaeffer’ and any that you see under the name ‘Waldo Schaeffer’. Make sure you don’t miss any.”
"Waldo Schaeffer? Who’s—"
"He’s my husband, Sarah. I— I found him, we broke out. Please. Just do this one last thing for me. For my family." 2:13:40. "I have to go. I can explain everything later. Call me when you can. One ring if you were able to do it, two or more if someone or something stopped you. Understand?"
"Filing room, burn anything related to you and Waldo Schaeffer. Ring once after I’m done. Let it keep ringing if Shane or someone else shows up. I hope you know how much you’re asking of me. This isn’t just coming up with ideas or making a distraction. I won’t be able to talk my way out of it if they catch me—"
“I know!" She shut her eyes, realizing how loud she had gotten as she had spoken. Some of the children were staring at her. She lowered her voice again. "I know— I’m sorry. If I could do it myself I would, but that would be reckless. More than asking you to. You’re not under suspicion at all. You’ll be fine. I— I have to go." 2:14:05.
She hung the phone up, letting out a loud, shaking sigh. Sarah had to be okay. They had no reason to suspect her. She’d be fine. Had to be.
The mother wrapped her arms around Aelita again. “She said that she would do it. A friend of mine who’s helped me out a lot. She said she’d get rid of the physical copies for us.” It was all that she managed to get out. Leaving out the fact that if Sarah got caught she’d very likely be tortured and killed. Her only friend and ally during her ten or more years of hell, and Anthea had just pushed her into the line of fire one last time. God. This entire situation was so fucked up. It was sickening. No one was spared.
Right. Names. New names seemed like the last thing she should be worrying about right now. But it did make a good distraction. She wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes away. It had to be a name that didn’t stand out.
She smiled a bit, remembering when she and Waldo had tried to figure out names for their daughter. Debating while sitting in the living room after work or while making breakfast. Calling each other during work to debate sudden ideas. Nadine, Sloane, Emma, Nina, Danielle, Evelyne, Joan…
"Patricia? Evelyne? Joan? I don’t know. What name did you pick? Maybe that’ll help me decide." She gave a small laugh. It was so familiar.
See? things are going to be okay. Sarah’s going to be fine, and you’ve got your family back. Everything has gone well so far. There’s no reason for it to turn sour now. Just calm down.