Chapter 13 - Six Minutes
Hale ran to the main door.
Locked.
Ward checked the emergency exit.
Also locked.
Olivia ignored the countdown and searched the room.
"He's not trying to scare us. He's trying to make us run without taking evidence."
Ortiz yanked a storage drive from the terminal.
"Then let's disappoint him."
At four minutes, they found the loading-bay override had been physically disabled.
At three minutes, a deep mechanical rumble started beneath the floor.
Hale looked down. "Fuel pumps."
Bay 17 had once serviced vehicle reserves.
Someone was flooding the drainage trench with accelerant.
Ward swore. "He is going to burn the whole building."
Olivia spotted an old freight conveyor leading toward the adjacent bay.
"There."
The access hatch was bolted.
Hale grabbed a steel bar.
Together they forced it open.
Two minutes.
Ortiz crawled first with the evidence drive.
Ward followed.
Hale pushed Olivia toward the opening.
"Go."
"Not without you."
"Commander—"
"Move."
They entered the conveyor tunnel with forty-three seconds left.
The first explosion hit before they reached the far end.
Heat punched through the shaft.
The blast threw Olivia into the metal wall.
Her ears rang.
Hale dragged her forward.
They spilled into Bay 16 as flames rolled behind them.
Ortiz was laughing from pure shock.
"I am never complaining about inventory again."
Ward looked at the drive in her hand. "Tell me that survived."
Ortiz held it up.
"Built to military standards."
Back in the secure lab, the drive opened without encryption.
Voss had been arrogant enough to assume the fire would erase it.
The files contained payment ledgers, forged approvals, accident reports, and surveillance lists.
One folder was labeled MITCHELL.
Inside was a scanned copy of Daniel's final investigation.
At the bottom was an audio file recorded the night before he died.
Olivia pressed play.
May you like
Her father's voice filled the room.
"If anything happens to me, Elias Voss is responsible."
