Page 218 of Silent Target

The sound of rotor blades rolls across the valley.

Two dark civilian rescue helicopters sweep above the ridge.

Their doors open.

Lines drop toward the clearing.

Falcon looks up. “I’ve never loved that sound more.”

Maverick waves toward the lead aircraft.

“About time.”

A crew chief leans through the door.

“The slope is collapsing! Move!”

No one has to tell us twice.

Cobra carries the evidence case.

Fathom keeps one hand on it all the way to the first helicopter.

Mac helps Rook toward the second.

Caleb stays beside me until we reach the line.

“You first,” he says.

“We go together.”

The ground shakes.

The bunker collapses beneath us.

I grab the line.

Caleb locks one arm around my waist.

The helicopter lifts us from the mountainside as the summit folds into itself.

The Forest Service cabin vanishes.

Then the bunker.

Then the openings where Victor and the Inner Guard emerged.

The headquarters of the First Circle disappears beneath millions of tons of rock.

But the First Circle isn’t gone.

Charles Whitmore escaped.

Walter Graves escaped.

Part of Protocol Ash succeeded.

Some of their operatives are still hidden inside governments, militaries, courts, and corporations.