Vanessa tore Mia’s princess dress in front of the whole school. / Chapter 35 / 51

Chapter 35 - THE CIPHER IN THE BLOODLINE

Back at the field operations tent, Hayes hammered his fist onto the folding map table.

"Every checkpoint between here and the interstate is locked down," Hayes barked into his headset. "He didn't head for the highway. Look at the tire tracks Sector 2 found near the old logging bridge. He went up the ridge."

Leo Miller struggled to sit upright, waving away the EMT who tried to push him back down. "He’s heading for the Sinclair research bunker at Point 9. It was decommissioned during the federal investigation twelve years ago, but the mainframe runs on an independent geothermal line. It’s the only terminal left that can process the ledger."

"We need firepower," Hayes said, reaching for his sidearm with his good hand. "I’m calling in the State Police tactical wing."

"No!" Leo seized Hayes’s wrist. "If Julian sees tactical lights, he will trigger the clean-slate protocol. The bunker is rigged with industrial halon gas. If he feels cornered, he will vent the atmosphere inside before the teams reach the outer doors."

I stepped between them, picking up the satellite radio receiver. "There’s another entrance, isn't there?"

Leo looked up at me, his scarred face tightening. "The drainage spillway. The one beneath the old ironworks. But the water pressure—"

"The river dropped two feet when the weir was opened," I interrupted, my voice steely. "I walked the catwalk. I know the layout of the drainage pipes. If you can give me the access override code for the sub-level maintenance vents, Hayes and I can get in before Julian initiates the system scan."

Leo hesitated, staring into my eyes. Then, reaching into his pocket, he produced a heavy, tarnished brass key hanging from a frayed piece of paracord.

"This doesn't unlock a door," Leo said, pressing the cold metal into my palm. "It grounds the primary relay. If you turn this in the electrical breaker before he activates the terminal, the terminal will overload. But you only get one chance. If the current trips, the whole facility goes dark—and Julian has night-vision equipment calibrated to that bunker."