Chapter 14 - The Second Void
The rain had turned into a torrential downpour by the time the tactical SUV skidded onto 4th Street. The sky above Lake County was pitch black, illuminated only by the flashing red and blue emergency light bars of half a dozen patrol cars blocking off the street perimeter.
4th Street was an older, brick-paved avenue lined with historical civic buildings. On the west side sat the massive, fortress-like concrete structure of the Lake County Regional Treasury Vault. On the east side sat the Meadow Creek Elementary Annex.
And directly between them, hidden beneath an unassuming brick maintenance shed, was the primary intake junction for the city’s water distribution system.
Ethan and Cordero leaped out of the SUV, joining Officer Leah Rayden, who had arrived on scene with the first tactical unit. Rayden’s head bandage was gone, replaced by a subtle scar, but her eyes were sharp and fixed on the iron door of the maintenance shed.
"We’ve got the perimeter locked down," Rayden reported, her submachine gun raised. "The shed door lock was freshly torched with an acetylene torch. Fresh boot tracks lead down into the main valve vault."
"Did he bring explosives?" Cordero asked, checking his sidearm.
"K-9 unit alerted on volatile organic compounds near the threshold," Rayden confirmed grimly. "He’s got industrial mining charges down there, Lieutenant. Enough C4 to level a city block."
Ethan stepped forward, looking at the city engineering map spread across the hood of a patrol car. "Ray, look at the underground elevation profile. The main water intake pipe runs twenty feet below the street level. If Brody detonates charges against the main retaining wall, he’ll blow out the pressure barrier. Millions of gallons of water will flood the underground utility space, eroding the soil beneath 4th Street in minutes."
"He’s trying to create a massive sinkhole," Cordero realized, his face turning pale. "The treasury vault wall will collapse inward under the water pressure, allowing him to pull the sealed cash reserves down into his drainage exit channel—and taking the foundation of the school down with it!"
"The school was evacuated ten minutes ago when the priority alert went out," Rayden noted. "It’s empty."
"It doesn't matter!" Ethan said sharply. "If that road collapses, the main gas mains running along 4th Street will rupture! The whole block will blow!"
"Tactical team is four minutes out!" Cordero barked. "We can't wait four minutes! Rayden, Miller—with me!"
"I’m coming down," Ethan said firmly, grabbing a heavy tactical flashlight and an emergency entry pry bar from the SUV trunk.
"Ethan, you’re a dispatcher, not SWAT!" Cordero shouted over the rain.
"I spent six hours analyzing the original engineering blueprints for this entire system while you were at the hospital four years ago!" Ethan yelled back, locking eyes with the lieutenant. "I know every valve, every overflow bypass, and every dead end in that shaft! You need me down there, Ray!"
Cordero stared at Ethan for two long seconds, then threw him a tactical kevlar vest and an emergency comms headset. "Put it on. Stay behind me. If shots are fired, you get flat on the dirt."
They approached the rusted iron door of the maintenance shed. Cordero kicked it wide open.
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A vertical iron ladder led down into a pitch-black, narrow concrete shaft. From the deep subterranean darkness below came the low, ominous roar of high-pressure water rushing through massive iron pipes—and the distinct, unmistakable scent of commercial explosives.
Ethan clicked his flashlight on, gripping the iron ladder. "Going down," he whispered.
