I nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

“Thinking of getting her out?” he asked, after a pause.

I looked at Jed Davis, who was sitting across the room.

He nodded.

“That’s the idea,” I said. “I went out there this afternoon and had a look. It’ll be tough.”

“You won’t get her out alive,” Coppinger said, “if you get her out at all.”

“But that s our only chance.”

“I know.” He stroked his nose, stared down at his feet. “Even if you got inside help, it’d be impossible.”

I eyed him. “What inside help?”

He lifted his narrow shoulders. “There’s a guard I know…” he began, then shrugged. “What’s the good? It couldn’t be done.”