Chapter 15 - Six Seconds
Adrian tackled the man before the signal sent.
Maybe.
We couldn't know.
The bomb timer on Martin's vest lit up anyway.
00:06.
"Everybody back!" I screamed.
Martin looked at Lena.
Then at me.
"Tell Daniel I'm sorry."
00:05.
Lena slammed both feet against the rear door.
Locked.
00:04.
Vanessa grabbed a metal emergency tool from our SUV.
"Window!"
I struck the rear glass.
Once.
Twice.
00:03.
The corner shattered.
Lena kicked through it.
00:02.
I grabbed her arms and pulled.
She came halfway out.
00:01.
Martin reached under his jacket.
The timer froze.
00:00.
Nothing happened.
For one impossible second, the entire street was silent.
Then Martin started laughing.
Not because it was funny.
Because he was alive.
"Dummy trigger," he gasped. "He wanted us to panic."
Lena crawled out through the broken window and punched him in the shoulder.
"You could've led with that."
"I wasn't sure."
Police flooded the street.
Real police this time, along with federal tactical agents Adrian's contact had finally reached.
The man near the trash can was arrested.
But Hale was gone.
Martin agreed to talk.
In a secure interview room, he told us why he betrayed Daniel.
Hale had his younger brother in a private addiction clinic under a false name and threatened to kill him if Martin refused.
"I fed Hale information," Martin said. "But I also fed Daniel enough to keep the investigation alive."
"You kidnapped my mother," I said.
His face tightened. "Caleb did. I kept her breathing."
"That's not a defense."
"I know."
He gave us one thing that mattered.
Hale's emergency archive was not digital.
It was stored in a private vault beneath the Sterling Foundation's old headquarters.
Eleanor looked stunned. "That building has been empty for eight years."
Martin nodded. "Not beneath it."
Vanessa asked, "What's in the vault?"
Martin looked at Adrian.
"Enough evidence to bury Hale."
May you like
Then he looked at Eleanor.
"And enough evidence to bury you with him."
