Chapter 22 · The Switch Isn't His Anymore

"He's not compliance." Vale's voice came out flat, like he'd bitten the words in half before they left his mouth.

"Then what is he?" I still had a fist in his torn sleeve. I didn't let go. My knuckles were white around the fabric and I didn't care. "Vale. What is he?"

The gun didn't move from the gap in the door, but his shoulders dropped an inch, and that scared me more than the shouting had.

"I don't know," he said. "That's the problem."

"You said the switch isn't yours anymore. What switch. What does that even mean."

"It means someone else has the override on this vault." He said it slow, like saying it fast would make it more true. "There's a manual release. River side installed it two years back, after the flood scare. Only three people have the code."

"Let me guess. You're not one of the three."

"I built the panel." His jaw worked. "I am one of the three."

"So who's the other two?"

He didn't answer that fast enough, and I felt my stomach drop before he even said it.

"Rhys," he said. "And whoever Rhys gave the third code to.