All of you tragically killed in what will look like a confrontation between rival criminal elements. The evidence you released will be dismissed as the desperate fabrications of a gang leader trying to deflect from his own crimes. It's already being spun that way in the media. My people are very good at their jobs. " Creed looked at Harper and Declan. The boy was trying to be brave, but Creed could see the fear in his eyes.
Harper was just angry, which was probably better. "Before you kill us," Creed said, "I want to know one thing. Alpha six, the mission in 1991, was that your father's decision alone, or did you help? " Thaddeus's smile widened. "I was a young man then, fresh out of business school. My father brought me into the family business, both the legitimate side and the other side, the side where real money was made.
He explained that Alpha six was getting too close to our operations, that they needed to be dealt with. I suggested the trap. He executed it. Call it a collaboration. " Hollis stepped forward. "You killed five soldiers because they were doing their jobs, because they believed in honor and duty and all the things you've never understood. " "I killed five soldiers because they threatened my family's livelihood.
Just as I'm about to kill you because you threaten it now. It's nothing personal. It's just business. " "It's always personal," Creed said. "That's what people like you never understand. " He raised his hand, made a gesture, just a small one, and the world exploded into light. Not literally, but every floodlight in the building cut out simultaneously, plunging the basement into darkness.
Bull's team had found the generator, right on schedule. Creed moved, muscle memory from 34 years ago taking over. Three steps to the left, dropping low. Behind him, he heard Hollis doing the same, moving to cover. Gunfire erupted, muzzle flashes in the darkness like lightning.
But the Brennan security guards were shooting blind, firing at where Creed and Hollis had been, not where they were. Return fire came from the upper level. Flint and his team, positioned before Creed and Hollis had even walked in, waiting for exactly this moment. Precise shots, professional work. Not shooting to kill, but shooting to suppress, keeping the security team pinned down.
Creed low-crawled across the concrete floor, navigating by memory, by instinct, by the training that had kept him alive in worse situations. He found Harper and Declan right where they'd been, still tied to their chairs. "Stay down," he whispered, pulling out his pocketknife, cutting through the zip ties. "Mr. Maddox," Harper started.
"Later. Right now, run. " He pushed them toward where he remembered the stairs being. More gunfire, someone screaming, the acrid smell of gunpowder and fear. A flashlight beam cut through the darkness, finding Creed. He rolled left, heard bullets impact concrete where he'd been.
Came up firing his Colt, two rounds center mass. The flashlight dropped, went out. "All teams, extract! " he shouted into the comm. "Package secured. " He ran, following Harper and Declan up the stairs, Hollis covering their rear. Behind them, the Brennan security team was regrouping, finding their own lights, returning fire with more accuracy.
But, they were too late. Creed's team had done what they came to do. Harper and Declan were out, running toward the bikes that Old Johnny had moved into position while everyone was focused on the basement. Creed emerged into the night air, breathing hard, adrenaline singing through his veins. All around the plant, he could see his brothers extracting, fading into the desert night like ghosts.
But, something was wrong. He could feel it. A single gunshot, different from the others, sharper, more precise. Hollis stumbled, caught herself, kept moving. "You hit? " Creed asked, catching her arm.
"It's nothing. Keep moving. " But, there was blood, dark against her tactical gear. Too much blood. They made it to the bikes. Creed helped Hollis onto his Harley, could feel her weight sagging against him.
The others were already leaving, engines roaring, scattering in different directions like they'd planned. "Go," Hollis said. "Get them out. " Creed twisted the throttle. The Harley leaped forward, carrying them away from the plant, away from the gunfire, in the chaos, and the men who'd been willing to kill to protect their secrets. Behind them, he could hear vehicles starting.
The chase would come. But, for now, they'd won. Harper and Declan were safe. The evidence was out there, spreading faster than anyone could stop it. And Thaddeus Brennan Jr.
Had just admitted to multiple murders on what he didn't know was a live audio feed, broadcast to the same platforms that were hosting all the other evidence. Creed had been wearing a wire the entire time. Old Johnny, tech-savvy despite his age, had been streaming it all. They rode hard for 20 minutes before Creed felt Hollis's grip loosening. He pulled over, eased her down onto the ground.
In the moonlight, he could see the wound. Through and through, just above her left hip. Serious, but not immediately fatal if she got medical attention. "How bad? " she asked. "Bad enough.
We need to get you to a hospital. " "No hospitals. They'll be watching them. " "Then, you're going to bleed out. " Hollis smiled, blood on her teeth. "Wouldn't be the first time I should have died. Captain Vaughn was supposed to die in Iraq, remember? " "Maybe she's just been living on borrowed time. " "Stop talking like that. " The comm unit crackled. "Boss, we've got multiple police units converging on the plant, and I'm seeing news choppers.
It's turning into a circus. " Creed looked toward the horizon. He could see lights, lots of them. The story was too big to contain now. The evidence, the confession, all of it broadcast live to thousands of people who'd shared it thousands more times. The Brennans were done.
Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but the rot had been exposed, and eventually, it would be cut out. "There's a clinic," Hollis said, her voice weak. "15 miles east. Guy there owes me a favor. He'll patch me up, no questions. " Creed helped her back onto the bike.
She was lighter than she should have been, all the weight she'd lost living as a ghost for 34 years. They rode through the desert, following roads that turned to dirt, that turned to barely visible trails. The clinic was exactly where Hollis said it would be, a small building that looked abandoned, but had lights on in the back. The doctor was an old man, 70 if he was a day, who took one look at Hollis and didn't ask a single question. Just got to work with steady hands that had probably seen worse.
While he worked, Creed stepped outside, pulled out his phone, called Sheriff Keller. "Boone, it's Creed. " "Jesus Christ, Creed, where are you? The whole state's looking for you. There's footage of a firefight at the old copper plant in" "Harper and Declan Morrison are safe. They're with my people.
They'll need protection, official protection, until this all shakes out. " "What the hell did you do? " "What needed doing. Brennan's finished. You've seen the evidence? " "Half the state's seen the evidence. The attorney general's already calling for an emergency investigation. FBI's getting involved.
Creed, they're also looking for you for about 15 different felonies. " "Yeah, I figured. " Creed lit a cigarette, watched the smoke drift up toward the stars. "I'm going to disappear for a while. Let things settle. When the time's right, I'll turn myself in, but not until I know Harper and Declan are safe. I can protect them.
You have my word. " "Good, because if anything happens to them, Boone, if they get so much as a parking ticket from someone on Brennan's payroll, I'm going to be very unhappy. " "Understood. Where's the old woman? Captain Vaughn? " "Getting medical attention. She'll reach out when she's ready. " "Creed. " "I have to go, Boone. Take care of them. " He hung up before the sheriff could respond, went back inside.