Chapter 22 · The Video She Buried

The dead drop started screaming before I could get the drive out.

Red light poured across the basement wall. My mother's coordinates flashed once on the cracked screen, then vanished under a stack of emergency alerts. WANTED: NIA VALE. ARMED. HOSTILE. RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HALO BREACH.

Rowan grabbed my wrist. "Move."

"I know."

"You are standing still."

"I am reading."

"You can read while running."

She had a point. Annoying, silver-haired, blood-covered point.

I yanked the black data drive free. The dead drop spat sparks at my fingers. Somewhere above us, a metal door slammed. Boots hit the stairs.

Jessa looked up from the access panel. She had one hand pressed against her ribs and the other wrapped around a pistol she still hadn't pointed at anyone. Her hair was stuck to her cheek with sweat. There was blood on her mouth, though I couldn't tell if it was hers.

"We have maybe thirty seconds," she said.

I shoved the drive into my jacket. "You said this place was clean."

"It was clean when I found it."

"That is not the same thing."

"No, it isn't. It's the part where you blame me later. Right now, we need the door."