Chapter 13 - Ashes and Echoes
The explosion blew the glass out of every window in the house. A violent fireball surged through the central hallway, ripping through the drywall and instantly igniting the gasoline-soaked carpet in the living room.
Ethan was thrown backward by the concussive blast, slamming hard against the front door frame. His ears rang with a deafening, high-pitched screech as smoke and orange flames instantly filled the ceiling space above him.
Coughing violently through the thick, acrid black smoke, Ethan scrambled to his feet. Through the wall of fire in the kitchen, he saw Cordero hauling Gregory Vance—still tied to the heavy wooden chair frame—across the burning floorboards.
"Ray!" Ethan shouted, rushing into the heat, grabbing the top of the wooden chair frame. Together, Ethan and Cordero dragged the hyperventilating, bruised man out through the shattered front entrance, tumbling down the concrete porch steps onto the wet front lawn just as a second explosion tore through the garage.
Rain poured down on them, cooling Ethan’s burned face as he gasped for air.
Cordero pulled a tactical folding knife from his belt and sliced through the nylon ropes binding Gregory’s wrists and ankles. Gregory collapsed onto the wet grass, sobbing hysterically as fire trucks roared down the street in the distance, their sirens wailing through the cold morning rain.
Cordero grabbed Gregory by his collar, dragging him up until their faces were inches apart.
"Who set that bomb, Gregory?!" Cordero roared above the sound of crackling flames. "WHO WAS IN THAT HOUSE?!"
"Brody’s brother!" Gregory wept, clutching his bruised chest. "Julian Brody’s younger brother... Arthur Brody! He came three hours ago! He found out I helped Marcus set up the tunnel! He blamed me for Julian’s death at the safe house!"
Ethan knelt beside them, wiping rain and soot from his eyes. "Arthur Brody? Julian Brody had a brother?"
"He’s a former state logistics officer!" Gregory sobbed, his hands shaking uncontrollably. "He... he took the secondary tunnel map! He took the ledger with the access codes to the offshore accounts! He said he was going to finish what Julian started!"
"Finish what?!" Ethan demanded.
Gregory looked up at Ethan, his face pale as a sheet. "The bank vault under the regional treasury on 4th Street... they didn't just dig one tunnel, Ethan. Marcus and Julian had Arthur dig a second branch line two years ago. It runs directly beneath the city water treatment plant on 4th Street!"
Ethan felt his stomach plummet.
The city water treatment plant sat directly adjacent to the Lake County Regional Treasury Vault—and right next to the elementary school where Mia Jenkins had just enrolled for kindergarten.
Cordero snatched his radio off his shoulder, his voice filled with terrifying urgency. "Dispatch! Priority zero alert! All units respond to the 4th Street Public Works corridor! Suspect Arthur Brody is armed, explosive-equipped, and active at the subterranean water grid node!"
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Ethan looked down at Gregory Vance, then at the burning house. "Ray, he’s targeting the water infrastructure. If he detonates charges under 4th Street, he won't just breach the vault—he’ll collapse the street support structure right under the school!"
"We’re two miles away," Cordero barked, pulling Ethan toward the tactical SUV. "Get in!"
