Chapter 11 - The police were not police.That realization saved our lives.
The first round hit the wall behind me.
I shoved Daniel down.
Rex moved before I could command him.
He charged the nearest officer.
The man fired.
Rex twisted.
The bullet struck the concrete.
Rex hit him.
Hard.
The second officer raised his weapon.
I fired first.
He dropped.
Daniel grabbed the third man's ankle.
Pulled.
The officer fell.
I kicked his weapon away.
Then silence.
Smoke drifted through the tunnel.
Rex stood over the first man.
Blood on his muzzle.
I checked his body.
Uniform.
Badge.
No identification.
A tiny black mark was tattooed behind his ear.
Again.
Daniel stared at it.
“They're everywhere.”
“Who?”
“The network.”
“Then we burn it down.”
He shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
“What?”
“The network doesn't exist in one place.”
He pointed at the walls.
“It's embedded.”
“Where?”
“Courts. Police. hospitals. banks.”
He looked at me.
“Military.”
I looked at the notebook.
“Then how do we stop it?”
Daniel smiled.
“We don't.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“We expose it.”
He took the notebook.
“There are records here.”
“Enough?”
“No.”
He flipped several pages.
“But there are names.”
“Whose names?”
“The people who built Echo.”
He turned the page.
And there it was.
A list.
Twelve names.
I recognized six.
Four were generals.
Two were senators.
One was a Supreme Court justice.
The remaining names belonged to CEOs and intelligence officials.
At the bottom was one final name.
Elena Ward.
I felt something inside me collapse.
Daniel looked at me.
“She wasn't working for them.”
“What?”
“She was working inside.”
“To protect us?”
“To destroy the network.”
I stared at the name.
“But she shot you.”
Daniel touched his wound.
“Nonfatal.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“The bullet missed every major artery.”
I realized what he was saying.
“She didn't try to kill you.”
“No.”
“She was trying to convince them she betrayed us.”
Daniel nodded.
“So Kane believes she is loyal to him.”
“And we believe she's working for us.”
“Maybe.”
I looked at him.
“You don't trust her.”
Daniel smiled.
“Neither should you.”
Rex suddenly raised his head.
We both froze.
A distant metallic sound echoed through the tunnel.
Footsteps.
Many.
Daniel looked at me.
“They're coming.”
“How many?”
He listened.
“Twenty.”
I checked my ammunition.
“Then we move.”
“Where?”
I looked at Rex.
The dog was staring down the tunnel.
Not toward the approaching soldiers.
Toward a wall.
Again.
He scratched.
Once.
Twice.
I touched the concrete.
A hidden panel opened.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
On the wall was a symbol.
PROJECT ECHO.
Underneath:
AUTHORIZED SUBJECT 04 ONLY.
Daniel stared at me.
“You're going in alone.”
I nodded.
“Why?”
“Because the door says so.”
He looked at Rex.
“And he goes with you.”
We entered.
The door closed behind us.
A voice came from the darkness.
My mother's voice.
“You took your time.”
I stopped.
Rex growled.
A light turned on.
My mother stood ten feet away.
Alive.
May you like
Holding a gun.
And behind her stood Elena.
