Chapter 13 - THE COLLAPSE BELOW
Gunfire erupted near the northern entrance.
Agents pushed us against the stone walls.
Night-vision equipment flashed green.
Someone outside had attacked the tactical perimeter.
The tunnel shook.
A charge exploded above the harvest bell.
Rock and soil crashed into the passage.
The northern exit disappeared behind a wall of debris.
Charles laughed softly.
“They came faster than I expected.”
An agent seized him by the collar.
“Who are they?”
“People who do not negotiate with police.”
The southern tunnel remained open.
Detective Ruiz ordered everyone to move.
Maya carried Emma.
An agent carried Lucas.
Nicole followed with one hand protecting her stomach.
I stayed behind them.
Charles, Eleanor, and Daniel were restrained and moved under guard.
Another explosion struck farther down the tunnel.
A crack raced across the ceiling.
The Prohibition passage had survived a century.
It might not survive another minute.
We reached a fork.
Maya pointed left.
“That leads to the fermentation house.”
Charles spoke from behind us.
“No, it does not.”
She turned.
“What?”
“It was sealed twelve years ago.”
“Then where does it lead?”
“To the reservoir.”
Water began rushing across our shoes.
The blast had damaged an underground irrigation pipe.
Within seconds, the water reached our ankles.
Detective Ruiz chose the right passage.
We moved through darkness.
The tunnel narrowed until we had to walk single file.
Behind us, the sound of flooding grew louder.
Eleanor stumbled.
An agent pulled her upright.
She shouted at him for tearing her dress.
Even while fleeing death, she clung to the habits of entitlement.
The passage ended at a rusted ladder.
An agent climbed first.
He forced open a metal hatch.
Cold air rushed down.
We emerged inside an abandoned barn.
Police vehicles surrounded the structure.
The attackers had disappeared.
They left behind two burning SUVs and military-grade weapons.
One wounded man remained near the vineyard road.
He carried no identification.
His fingerprints had been removed with acid.
Federal investigators found a symbol tattooed beneath his shoulder.
Julia recognized it from the financial records.
A black circle divided by three silver lines.
It belonged to the Meridian Consortium.
The name appeared repeatedly in offshore transfers.
The Caldwells were not the top of the organization.
They were managers.
Property fraud was only one division.
Charles had laundered money for the consortium through wineries, construction companies, and insurance claims.
The four hundred eighty million dollars belonged to criminals across several countries.
By unlocking the account, Julia had exposed them.
Charles watched the wounded attacker being loaded into an ambulance.
“They will never stop.”
Detective Ruiz secured him inside a federal vehicle.
“Neither will we.”
He looked toward me.
“You think she can protect you?”
“No,” I said.
“I think evidence can destroy you.”
He smiled.
“Evidence disappears.”
A federal agent approached with urgent news.
The secure building where Julia worked had lost power.
The backup system failed.
By the time agents reached her room, the computers were destroyed.
Julia was alive.
May you like
But the original blue ledger was gone.
Someone inside the federal team had stolen it.
