Page 76 of Ground Zero

Maverick sprinted toward the helicopter.

Sheridan stood alone in the conference room, feeling the weight of Cook’s dismissal. She’d been given permission to go to Norfolk—but first Cook wanted to see what played out regarding Adams right now.

He’d left with barely a glance, taking most of the agents with him to coordinate the response at the pier and the alert to Norfolk. Only a few support staff remained in the building, and they had left the conference room.

She pulled out her phone, typing quickly.

Are you safe?

No response. The message showed delivered but not read.

Her hands trembled slightly as she typed again.

Please, let me know you’re alive.

Still nothing.

The silence weighed on her. Maverick could be wounded, captured, or worse.

And Sheridan was stuck here, officially sidelined.

But Cook’s absence gave her an opportunity. She pulled out the USB drive she’d found in the server room and plugged it into her laptop. Files populated the screen immediately.

PROJECT ELECTION—CLASSIFIED

Her breath caught. This was it—the file about Maverick’s parents.

She opened the first document and quickly scanned it. Darius Adams, Maverick’s father, had been a cryptanalyst for the NSA. He’d discovered a pattern of military contractors manipulating threat assessments, creating false flag operations to justify their contracts. He’d compiled evidence, prepared to expose everything.

The car accident that killed Darius and his wife happened two days before he was scheduled to testify before a closed Senate subcommittee.

The second file was worse. Photos from the “accident” scene. Analysis showing the car’s brake lines had been cut. A coroner’s report that noted inconsistencies. But the accident was never investigated further.

Maverick’s parentshadbeen murdered.

The implications cascaded through her mind.

Whoever had killed them was still operating, still covering their tracks. They’d chosen Maverick as their scapegoat specifically because of his connection to his father’s investigation.

It was cruel, calculated, and personal.

Her phone remained silent.

Still no word from Maverick. The shooting at the pier had stopped, according to the radio chatter, but that could mean anything.

Maverick could be captured. Escaped. Dead.

A knot of emotion lodged in her throat.

Sheridan forced herself to focus on the files, looking for any clue about who at Blackout might have been involved in the murders twenty years ago. There had to be a connection between then and now, between Project Election and Ground Zero.

A footstep in the doorway made her look up.

William stood there. He’d left earlier under Cook’s directive.

Now he stared at her, his face unreadable and his hands at his sides.

Sheridan’s hand moved instinctively toward her weapon. William was the one who’d left her the drive. He knew about Danny’s murder. He knew about Project Election.