Chapter 27
Boone
The clock keeps ticking.
Every second feels louder than the last.
I stare at the coordinates on Wren’s screen, running the math in my head.
Three hundred miles.
Mountain roads.
Nightfall coming.
Storm building over the ridgeline.
I already know the answer.
“We need something fast,” I say.
Russ exhales through his teeth.
Wren shakes her head immediately. She taps the timer. 5:49:12
“Phase Three activates when that hits zero.”
“And then?” Russ asks.
“Then the system installs command authority,” Wren says quietly.
Her eyes lift to mine.
“And whoever holds that command node controls the response network.”
Which means the Architect wins.
Every emergency service.
Every traffic grid.
Every power reroute.
Controlled.
Weaponized.
I push away from the table.
“Then we don’t drive.”
Russ raises an eyebrow.
“Got a teleportation device hidden somewhere?”
Adam already knows where I’m going.
“You thinking air?”
“Yes.”
Wren blinks.
“A helicopter?”
“Only way we get there in time.”
Russ whistles.
“Well that sounds fantastic.”
A beat.
“Small problem.”
I look at him.
“We’re in the middle of the Montana mountains.”
“Exactly.”
He spreads his arms.
“Where exactly do you plan on finding a helicopter in the next five minutes?”
I pull my phone from my pocket.
Because there’s one person who owes me.
I step toward the window while it rings.
Outside, the wind howls across the mountains like the storm knows something big is coming.
The line clicks.
“Grant,” the voice says.
Logan Carter.
Former SEAL pilot.
Current problem solver.
“Carter,” I say. “I need a bird.”
Silence.
Then—
“How fast?”
“Now.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“Three hundred miles. Southbound intercept.”
“What’s chasing you this time?”
I glance back at Wren’s screen.
The expanding red circle.
The countdown.
Los Angeles flashing in the center.
“A national infrastructure collapse.”
Another pause.
Then Logan exhales slowly.
“…You really know how to ruin my afternoon. We don’t tell Scout about what’s going on, or she will jump right in the middle of this.”
“Can you do it? We won’t tell Scout.”
“Yes.”
Relief moves through my chest like oxygen.
“Where?”
“Small landing strip fifteen minutes east of you,” Logan says. “Old wildfire staging field. You know it?”
“I do.”
“Good.”
Rotor blades echo faintly through the phone.
“I’m already airborne.”
Russ’s eyes widen.
“You’re kidding.”
“Thirty minutes,” Logan says. “Maybe twenty-five if the wind behaves.”
The wind slams the cabin again.
Hard.
I glance outside.
The storm clouds rolling over the peaks.
“Wind’s not behaving.”
“Yeah,” Logan says dryly. “I noticed.”
Wren stands slowly behind me.
“What did he say?”
“He’s coming.”
Her shoulders relax just slightly.
But the timer keeps counting down.
5:44:03
Adam grabs his jacket.
“Then we move.”
Russ claps his hands once.
“Well boys and girls…”
“Looks like we’re going flying.”
We move fast.
Laptops packed.
Weapons checked.
Gear thrown into bags.
The cabin turns into controlled chaos in under thirty seconds.
Wren closes the laptop but hesitates.
I notice.
“What?”
She looks at the screen one more time.
The relay node jumps again.
Her voice tightens.
“It moved.”
“How far?”
She turns the laptop toward me.
The mobile command signal just advanced again.
Closer.
Much closer.
Russ leans over.
“Oh that’s not good.”
“How bad?” I ask.
Wren swallows.
“He’s accelerating.”
Adam frowns.
“Meaning?”
She looks at the countdown timer.
Then back at us.
“He knows we’re coming.”
The wind howls outside.
The mountains darken under the approaching storm.
And somewhere in the desert—
A mobile command center is racing toward Los Angeles.
Now racing even faster.
I grab Wren’s hand and pull her toward the door.
“Then we better move faster.”
Because in less than three hours—
The Architect either loses everything…
Or becomes the most powerful man in the country.