Chapter 13: The Emergency Exit
Chapter 13: The Emergency Exit
Nathan forced himself to breathe slowly.
Panic would waste the little air he had.
He crossed the bunker, sweeping his flashlight across the old emergency generator. A thick layer of dust covered the machine, but the floor around it told a different story.
Fresh footprints.
Someone had been here within the last few days.
Nathan knelt beside the generator.
The fuel gauge was empty.
He tried the starter anyway.
Nothing.
The emergency exit beside it was secured by two heavy steel bolts that had rusted into place decades earlier.
He pulled with all his strength.
The bolts didn't move.
Nathan examined the hinges.
One was cracked.
His father had always taught him something about old farm equipment.
"If brute force doesn't work, change the angle."
Nathan searched the bunker until he found an old steel pry bar leaning behind a cabinet.
He wedged it beneath the lower hinge and pushed.
The rust groaned.
Again.
The hinge bent slightly.
One more time.
With a loud snap, the lower hinge broke free.
Nathan threw his shoulder against the door.
It shifted an inch.
Fresh air drifted through the opening.
He smiled for the first time in hours.
Another hard shove.
The emergency exit burst open.
Sunlight flooded the tunnel.
Nathan climbed out onto the eastern side of the creek nearly a quarter mile from the main bunker entrance.
Whoever had trapped him believed he was still underground.
Nathan intended to keep it that way—for a while.
Instead of heading straight home, he circled back through the woods until he could see the bunker from a distance.
Less than twenty minutes later, two black SUVs returned.
Richard Holloway stepped out with Marcus Kane.
Nathan recognized the tattoo of the black snake wrapping around Marcus's neck.
The same tattoo Luke had described after the shooting at Miller's Bridge.
Marcus unlocked the bunker door.
The two men looked inside.
Several seconds passed.
Then Holloway's voice echoed through the trees.
"He's gone."
Marcus cursed.
"There's no way."
"He found the exit."
Nathan watched them argue from behind a fallen oak.
Marcus pointed toward the woods.
"I'll find him."
Holloway grabbed his arm.
"No."
"We're out of time."
"What about the documents?"
Holloway glanced back toward the bunker.
"They'll still be there."
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
They didn't realize he had already taken copies of the government reports.
The men climbed back into their SUVs and drove away.
Only after the sound of their engines disappeared did Nathan return to the bunker.
This time he moved quickly.
He photographed every document he could find with his phone.
Government surveys.
Mineral reports.
Property maps.
Military engineering drawings.
Then he noticed a small metal lockbox hidden beneath one of the filing cabinets.
It wasn't listed on any inventory.
He forced it open with the pry bar.
Inside rested a single reel of microfilm.
Attached was a handwritten tag.
Original Survey - Parcel Seven
Nathan slipped it into his backpack.
If the reports in the filing cabinets were copies, this could be the original record.
By late afternoon, Nathan arrived at Emily's farmhouse.
Emily rushed to the door.
"Where have you been?"
Nathan hugged her briefly.
"I got delayed."
"You disappeared for six hours."
June looked up from the living room.
The relief on her face was unmistakable.
"I knew you'd come back."
Nathan smiled.
"I always will."
He placed the backpack on the dining room table and removed the copied documents.
Emily's eyes widened.
"Where did you get all this?"
"The bunker."
Luke leaned forward.
"So it was real."
Nathan nodded.
"And someone tried to lock me inside."
June closed her eyes.
"I was afraid they'd do that."
Nathan looked at her.
"You knew?"
"They threatened your father the same way."
Silence filled the room.
Nathan slowly turned toward her.
"What did you say?"
June's hands trembled.
"The week before he died..."
She swallowed.
"They locked him in there overnight."
Nathan stared.
"He never told me."
"He didn't want you to know."
"What happened?"
"He escaped before morning."
Nathan looked down at the emergency exit key still lying on the table.
His father hadn't hidden it by accident.
He had hidden it because he knew someone might need it again.
Deputy Collins arrived an hour later.
Nathan spread the copied reports across the table.
Collins whistled softly.
"This is enough to stop the land sale."
Nathan nodded.
"But not enough to convict everyone."
Collins picked up one of the government reports.
"This explains why Horizon Valley was desperate."
Nathan pointed toward another page.
"Look here."
A list of investors appeared.
Most names meant nothing.
One did.
Mercer Holdings.
Collins frowned.
"Judge Mercer."
Nathan nodded slowly.
"So the judge wasn't just bribed."
"He was financially involved."
Collins leaned back.
"This keeps getting bigger."
"It always was."
Just as Collins prepared to leave, his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed almost immediately.
"What happened?"
Nathan watched him carefully.
Collins ended the call.
"The warrants."
"What about them?"
"Carl and Denise were spotted."
"Where?"
"At the county airport."
Nathan stood.
"They're trying to leave."
Collins grabbed his keys.
"State police are already on the way."
Nathan followed him outside.
Twenty minutes later they reached the small regional airport.
Blue lights flashed across the runway.
A private twin-engine plane sat with its engines idling.
State troopers surrounded it.
Nathan searched the crowd.
Carl stood beside the aircraft in handcuffs.
Denise sat on the ground crying.
But something wasn't right.
Nathan looked around again.
"Where's Holloway?"
Collins frowned.
"He wasn't here."
Nathan's eyes moved to the open aircraft door.
Only two passengers had been arrested.
There should have been three.
One of the troopers approached.
"The pilot says another man got off the plane ten minutes before we arrived."
Nathan's stomach tightened.
"Which way did he go?"
The trooper pointed toward a nearby hangar.
"He stole a maintenance truck."
Collins cursed under his breath.
"Holloway."
Nathan looked beyond the runway.
Fresh tire tracks disappeared through an open service gate leading toward the eastern hills.
Toward Parcel Seven.
Nathan realized it instantly.
Holloway wasn't running.
He was going back to the bunker.
May you like
And if he reached it before the police...
The last pieces of evidence could disappear forever.
