Chapter 17 - Five Minutes
Four minutes and fifty-one seconds remained.
Nolan pulled himself upright.
“I’m okay.”
“Stay behind cover.”
“I said I’m okay.”
Pike disappeared through a side door.
I wanted to pursue him.
But the servers mattered.
If they burned, years of evidence vanished.
Nolan connected a portable drive.
“Too much data.”
“How long?”
“Longer than we have.”
I looked at the racks.
“Find the master index.”
He typed quickly.
Four minutes.
Forty seconds.
A file directory appeared.
Accounts.
Payments.
Targets.
Officials.
Operations.
I saw dozens of names.
Some I recognized.
Others I wished I didn’t.
Nolan transferred the index first.
Three minutes.
Fifty seconds.
A door opened behind us.
I turned.
Grant stumbled into the room.
Blood covered his shirt.
One wrist still carried a broken zip tie.
“You?”
I raised my weapon instinctively.
Grant lifted his hands.
“Santos got me out.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Pike escaped through the connecting tunnel.”
“Where?”
Grant pointed toward the rear corridor.
“He’s going to the river access.”
I looked at Nolan.
“Get the files.”
Then at Grant.
“You stay here.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“He’ll kill Lily if he gets away.”
“You lost the right to say her name.”
His face broke.
“I know.”
For the first time, I believed him.
Not because he deserved forgiveness.
Because he finally understood forgiveness might never come.
I followed Pike.
Grant followed me anyway.
The tunnel descended beneath the building.
Water covered the floor.
A metal door stood open at the end.
Outside, dawn was beginning to lighten the horizon.
Pike ran toward an SUV near the river.
I shouted.
“Federal agent!”
He turned.
Raised a second weapon.
Grant stepped between us.
The gun fired.
Grant collapsed.
I fired twice.
Pike fell beside the vehicle.
Silence returned.
I ran toward Grant first.
Blood spread across his side.
He looked at me.
“Lily?”
“She’s safe.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“Good.”
Sirens approached.
He reached toward my sleeve.
“I’m sorry.”
I stared down at him.
“Save it for your testimony.”
A weak laugh escaped him.
Then medics arrived.
Behind us, smoke rose from the data center.
Nolan emerged holding the portable drive above his head.
“We got it!”
The list survived.
May you like
Pike survived too.
And by sunrise, the conspiracy Grant had helped build was finally beginning to collapse.
