Page 29 of Forest Reed
The second Jason saiddam,I was already moving. Zoe matched me stride for stride, her hand still tangled in mine as we sprinted for the trucks.
Lane barked into her radio, rallying deputies, but I didn’t wait. Didn’t have time. If North had wired the dam, the whole valley would drown before backup even buckled their vests.
Jason jumped into the passenger seat, map spread across his knees. “Access road’s a mile north. If he’s planted charges, they’ll be at the spillway.”
“How long will it take us to get there?” I growled, slamming the engine alive.
“Ten minutes if we don’t hit traffic.”
We didn’t have ten minutes.
The truck fishtailed on gravel as we tore out of the clearing, headlights off, engine howling. Trees blurred. My pulse hammered with every bump, every second lost.
Zoe gripped the dashboard, voice sharp. “If he blows it, how bad?”
Jason didn’t sugarcoat. “Whole valley floods. Town, farms, roads—all gone. And the death toll—”
“Not happening,” I cut in. My knuckles were white on the wheel. “Not on my mountain.”
Zoe
The road pitchedus hard left, then right, trees whipping past like black claws. My chest ached with every breath, lungs burning from smoke and adrenaline. But all I could see was North’s smile. Calm. Certain.
He’d planned this. Every move at Mirror Lake had been theater, and we’d clapped right along.
“Eyes!” Jason shouted.
I snapped forward just in time to see the glow—orange against the dark, low on the horizon.
Forest’s jaw locked. “He’s already lit them.”
“No,” I said, fierce, desperate. “Not yet.”
We rounded the bend, and the dam rose ahead of us—massive concrete, water roaring just beneath. And there, at the spillway, sparks danced along a chain of wires. A timer blinked red, merciless in the dark.
Two minutes.
Forest slammed the truck into park. “Move!”
We hit the ground running. Gravel tore under my boots, air biting cold against sweat. Jason dropped to the wires, snapping open a kit, muttering curses under his breath.
Forest covered him, rifle sweeping the ridge. “We’ve got company!”
Shadows broke from the trees—North’s wolves, closing fast.
Jason’s voice was tight, panicked. “Too many lines—I need time!”
Time we didn’t have.
I raised my Glock, firing toward the ridge, forcing the wolves down. My voice cracked across the roar of water. “Forest! We hold them—Jason cuts!”
Forest met my eyes. Steady. Fierce. Unshakable.
“Together,” he said.
And then the night exploded again.
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