Page 97 of Anchor
“Now,” Vos murmured, “let’s see what she’ll trade to save him.”
CHASE MED – OR 3 – 0449 HOURS
Beth waited for the nurse to open the tray. Her hands immediately moved to prepping the drill. Tuck was still squeezing Reid’s heart manually, his gloves slippery with blood.
“We’ve got no pulse on our own,” Pete said. “Cerebral pressure’s at seventy-two. If we don’t relieve it, we’re going to lose brain function in under two minutes.”
Beth gave the nod. “I want this burr hole clean. Foley, guide it. Keep us midline.”
“Clot’s likely behind the left ventricle. That’s where they struck him and fractured his skull,” Foley murmured. “It’s pressing down hard.”
Beth’s voice was a knife: “Then we make room.”
The surgical drill whined. Bone dust scattered. A pressure vent hissed.
THIRTY-ONE
COMMAND FLOOR – SYSTEM PORT C – SAME TIME
Claire hovered over the terminal, sweat on her brow, eyes darting between the compound profiles and bloodwork. She knew it now. This thing wasn’t just lethal. It was built to collapse someone fromthe inside out.
Ian walked in. Exhaustion and something unreadable filled his face. “For you.” He placed a protein drink beside her.
Behind her, Terry’s hands trembled over the keyboard. Then he seemed to snap. He stepped back, pulled his comm unit out, and looked up at his friend.
Ian answered the look immediately. “Terry?”
“There’s a treatment,” Terry said, breathing fast. “Langley was testing this compound under a deniable ops program. Cognitive breakdown agents designed for controlled disassembly.”
“What?” Ian roared.
Claire turned in her chair to watch and listen.
“It wasn’t supposed to be used on allies,” Terry said. “It’s black ops. Top-shelf. But there’s a reversal agent. It’s a projectedserum base, untested but modeled. They called it V-6 Echo. Ian, it can pull Reid back.”
Ian’s voice dropped to a knife’s edge. “Where is it?”
“There’s a copy of the biochemical model on a private server. Langley. It’ll be under…” Terry hesitated. “My clearance. My name.”
Ian didn’t even pause. “I’ll get it. If you’re lying to us?—”
“I’m not,” Terry said. “Not anymore.”
“You son of a bitch.” Claire stared at him, her face filled with rage and betrayal—and with the breathless, impossible hope that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t too late to pull Reid back from the edge. And for the first time in hours, she let herself believe.
Ian disengaged the lock and pulled the door open from the inside. Killian stood there in his black jacket, unreadable. Noah was beside him, silent and steady.
Terry Fields looked up from the corner of the room, already on his feet. He didn’t argue. Didn’t speak. He just nodded once and stepped toward the door.
Ian gave Claire a last glance,something unresolved and quiet in it. Then he turned and followed them out, the door closing behind him with a final, deliberate hiss.
He didn’t speak as he walked. His phone was already out. His eyes burned as he texted Martin:Head to Langley now. Pick up V-6 Echo. Fields’ name and clearance.
To Zach:Make sure it’s released.
Then he watched Killian and Noah lead Terry away. The betrayal stung. Terry wasn’t going to walk away clean.
SECURE INTERROGATION ROOM
