Page 21 of Silent Target

Because she sent one message into the dark believing someone would answer.

And I did.

I look away first.

“We leave before sunrise.”

“Where are we going?”

“West Virginia.”

“Why?”

“Mac Stenson may be there.”

Her expression sharpens. “The listening station.”

I go still. “You know about it?”

“I heard Graves mention a transfer site earlier tonight. He called it an old station outside Black Hollow.”

“That location isn’t in any current federal database.”

“It was decommissioned decades ago.”

“Officially.”

“You think they’re holding Mac there?”

“I think Graves has gone to considerable trouble to make us believe Mac betrayed Shadow Division. If Mac is alive, he can tell us why.”

My phone vibrates.

One encrypted message appears.

Fathom.

SAFEHOUSE COMPROMISED. MULTIPLE VEHICLES INBOUND. GET OUT NOW.

I grab Evie’s bag and reach for her.

She sees my face. “What is it?”

“We’re leaving.”

“Caleb—”

“Now.”

The first explosion tears through the front of the house before we reach the kitchen.

Glass erupts through the room.

The floor bucks beneath our feet.

Evie cries out as I throw her down and cover her with my body.

Smoke engulfs us.