Chapter 12 - Darkness Beneath Lake Michigan
The air inside the underground tunnel was cold, damp, and smelled heavily of old river mud and gasoline.
Emergency battery-powered lights flickered along the stone walls every thirty feet, casting long, eerie shadows.
Maya led the way with her sidearm raised, her black clothes soaked through from the library sprinklers.
Behind her, Marcus walked with a steady, unhurried pace, his navy shirt dark with water and his silver hair slicked back.
“You saved my life back there, Agent Lin,” Marcus said, his voice echoing off the curved brick ceiling.
“I saved the state’s primary witness, Mr. Callahan,” Maya corrected him without turning around.
“You’re still under arrest the moment we hit daylight.”
Marcus let out a quiet chuckle that turned into a raspy cough.
“You think those shooters back there were hired by old man Vance?” Marcus asked.
“He was terrified,” Maya noted. “Julian was crying under a piano. They didn't order a hit on their own home.”
“Exactly,” Marcus said, stopping near a iron ladder mounted into the stone wall.
“Those men belong to Director Hayes—your handler at the Bureau.”
Maya froze in her tracks, turning around slowly to face Marcus in the dim amber light of the tunnel.
“That’s a lie,” Maya said, her voice dropping into an icy register. “Director Hayes has spent twenty years in federal law enforcement.”
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver flash drive, tossing it gently toward her.
May you like
“Check the drive when you get to a secure screen,” Marcus said softly. “Hayes isn't trying to put Vance in prison, Maya.”
“He’s trying to clear the Vance family debt so his own offshore syndicate can take over the Chicago harbor docks.”
