SHE WAS ATTACKED WITH A GOLF CLUB—THEN ONE RED BUTTON EXPOSED A DEADLY SECRET THEY'D KILL TO HIDE!

"Everybody out of the building," Ethan said.

Pike kept his hand on the radio. "Nobody moves until I have the evidence."

Claire threw the memory card at his feet. It bounced against his shoe. "Take it. Give me my kid."

Pike stooped to pick it up. That was when Reed fired.

The shot shattered the floodlight, plunging half the dock into darkness. Pike rolled behind a concrete barrier and fired back. Margaret screamed and dropped beside her car. The guard holding Ellie loosened his grip to reach for his own gun.

Ellie bit his hand.

He howled. She tore free and ran toward Claire.

"Go!" Claire shouted.

They met beside a loading ramp. Claire grabbed her daughter, squeezed the inhaler into her shaking hand, and pulled her toward an open side door. Gunshots cracked behind them. Glass rained down from the warehouse windows.

"Take a breath, baby. Slow. Like we practiced."

Ellie drew one shaky breath, then another. "I tried to be brave."

"You were brave. You still get to be scared."

The warehouse smelled of oil, wet timber, and something sweet and chemical. Claire knew that smell from Ruth's fire report: solvent. Pike had planned another blaze.

Ethan appeared at the side door, bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow.

"There's a service exit by the pumps," he said. "Follow the yellow line."

Claire held Ellie tighter. "Don't come near us."

"I won't. Just get her out."

A booming crash shook the pier. Fire rolled up the wall behind him. He shoved a steel cart into the hall, blocking a burning doorway long enough for Claire and Ellie to run.

They followed the yellow safety stripe into a room filled with pumps and huge green pipes. The far exit was chained shut.

"No," Claire whispered.

Behind them a steel shutter dropped from the ceiling. Claire threw herself at it, but it slammed down inches from her hands.

A loudspeaker crackled overhead.

"Floodgate inspection cycle commencing," a recorded voice announced.

Water spilled from a pipe near the floor. Then another pipe opened.