Chapter One Hundred One
Havoc
The mountain burns.
Not in flames.
In exposure.
Lights flood the compound.
Radios crackle.
Helicopters cut across the sky like judgment finally showing up late.
Real late.
Bodies are secured.
Tunnels mapped.
Evidence pulled from every hidden corner.
And the box?
That’s what changes everything.
The CIA agent stands beside me, tablet in hand, voice low.
“We’ve confirmed three of the names,” he says.
“Senators. Defense contractor. Deputy director.”
I don’t react.
Not outward.
Because I already knew.
You don’t build something like this without power behind it.
Without protection.
Without people who think they’re untouchable.
“What happens now?” I ask.
He exhales.
“Now?” he says. “Now it gets complicated.”
Of course it does.
“Charges?” I push.
“Yes.”
“Arrests?”
A pause.
Then—
“Some,” he admits.
That’s not good enough.
I turn to him.
“Not some.”
His jaw tightens.
“This isn’t as simple as kicking in doors.”
“No,” I say. “It’s simpler.”
He frowns.
“You expose them.”
Silence.
Because that’s the part they don’t like.
That’s the part they can’t control.
“You release this,” I continue, nodding toward the maps, the names, the evidence, “and they don’t get to hide.”
“They’ll fight it,” he says.
“Good.”
“They’ll bury it.”
“Try.”
“They’ll come after anyone connected to this.”
I step closer.
Let him see it.
“They already did.”
A beat.
Then—
“You’re serious,” he says.
I don’t answer.
Don’t need to.
Because he sees it.
Because he knows.
This doesn’t stop here.
Not for me.
Not for us.
He studies me for a long second.
Then—
“I’ll push it up the chain,” he says.
“Push harder.”
A faint, humorless smile touches his mouth.
“You’re not easy to work with.”
“Good.”
I turn away.
Because this part?
This is theirs now.
The politics.
The fallout.
The cleanup.
What matters to me?
Is done.
The tunnels are empty.
The trucks are gone.
The cages are open.
The people are safe. But they will probably never be the same.
And the man who ran it?
Isn’t getting back up.
That’s enough.
For now.
I look out over the mountain one last time.
Then I turn.
And I go home.