Page 50 of Ground Zero (Lantern Beach Blackout: Detonation #3)

M averick glanced around the building as he opened the door.

The lights automatically flickered on overhead.

He saw no one.

But that didn’t mean no one was here. They’d need to keep their eyes wide open.

He soaked in the rest of the building.

The warehouse interior was exactly as Maverick remembered—concrete floors, reinforced walls, industrial lighting. But now it housed something far more sinister than training equipment.

Crates lined the far wall, military-grade markings still visible.

Maverick approached carefully, using a crowbar to pry one open. Inside, packed in foam, were shaped charges—professional, military-spec, enough to punch through submarine armor like paper.

“No . . .” Sheridan breathed beside him. “There’s enough here to?—”

“Level most of the base.” Maverick did a quick count. “There’s at least two thousand pounds of explosives here, packaged in six different crates.”

His phone buzzed, and they both jumped.

Ty’s name appeared on the screen.

Maverick hesitated. Ty could be trying to help.

Or he could be working with the FBI to triangulate their location.

“Answer it,” Sheridan said. “We need to know.”

He accepted the call, putting it on speaker. “Ty.”

“Maverick, are you okay?”

He glanced at the explosives in front of him, tension spreading through him. “Define okay.”

“Listen, the FBI is closing in on your location.”

“I know,” Maverick admitted. Then he made a split-second decision. “Ty, I found the explosives Sigma has been stockpiling. They’re at the old EOD training facility, and there’s enough to destroy the whole base.”

Silence. Then, “Are you certain?”

“I’m looking at them right now.”

“We’ve got to stop?—”

“I know.” Maverick’s instincts screamed a warning. “I can’t let Sigma use these. But there’s only me and Agent Mendez.”

“I can send backup.”

But before Maverick could say anything else or share more details, a shadow fell across the doorway. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

They spun toward the voice, their weapons rising.

Maverick expected to see Brass, or Sigma operatives, or even corrupt FBI agents.

He didn’t expect the woman standing in the doorway, holding a Glock 19 with practiced ease.

It was the woman from the helicopter.

Sheridan balked, her mind unable to process what she was seeing.

Rebecca Cameron stood in the doorway.

Danny’s widow.

The woman Sheridan had called to offer comfort.

The woman now pointing a gun at them.

“Rebecca?” The name came out strangled, disbelieving.

“Wait—Danny’s wife?” Maverick asked, clearly recognizing Rebecca from somewhere else.

“That’s right.” Sheridan’s jaw tightened. “The one and only. What are you doing here?”

“Finishing what I started.” Rebecca stepped into the warehouse, her weapon never wavering. The grieving widow was gone, replaced by someone cold and purposeful. “Or rather, finishing what Danny tried to stop.”

“You’re Sigma?” Sheridan’s voice cracked with betrayal.

This didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense.

She had to be seeing things. Rebecca couldn’t be involved in this.

Rebecca laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “Sigma is just a name we use to make people feel like they’re part of something important.”

“Danny was a hero?—”

“Danny was a fool!” The words exploded from Rebecca with years of suppressed rage. “He believed in the system. Believed in this country.”

Sheridan’s weapon remained steady despite her shock. “That still doesn’t tell me why you joined people planning to kill thousands of innocent people.”

“Innocent?” Rebecca’s eyes blazed. “Just because they’re in the military doesn’t mean they’re innocent.”

“This isn’t what Danny would want.” Sheridan’s voice cracked with desperation. She hardly recognized the woman in front of her right now.

Rebecca’s aim shifted slightly toward Maverick. “You understand, don’t you? Your parents died for the same truth.”

“My parents were murdered,” Maverick said.

“So were mine. Well, my dad at least. My mom died of an aneurysm right after I was born. But my dad . . . he was in the FBI. They say he was killed while on assignment. But I know the truth. The government killed him to cover up what they were doing.”

“What were they doing?” Sheridan asked.

“My father worked for Defense Intelligence. He uncovered Project Firebreak—a series of planned domestic terrorist attacks that would be blamed on foreign enemies to justify increased military spending. They made his death look like suicide. Depression, they said. But he’d never been happier. It was all lies.”

“That’s terrible, Rebecca,” Sheridan said. “It needs to be fixed. But that doesn’t mean that more innocent people should pay the price.”

Rebecca’s gaze narrowed. “The system is broken, and sometimes the only way to fix it is to burn it all down.”

“So you’re helping Sigma destroy our country.”

“I’m helping them expose its sins.” She gestured at the explosives with her free hand. “This attack will trigger investigations, congressional hearings, a complete restructuring of military contracting. The corruption will finally be dragged into the light.”

“Along with thousands of bodies,” Sheridan said.

“Martyrs for a necessary cause.” Rebecca’s voice had gone flat, emotionless. “And you two are about to join them. You’re not stopping this attack. It’s too important, too necessary.”

“Rebecca, please—” Sheridan started.

“Drop your weapons.” Her gaze hardened. “Now.”

Sheridan glanced at Maverick, seeing her own realization reflected in his eyes.

Rebecca wasn’t bluffing.

The woman Sheridan had trusted, the widow she’d gone out of her way to help, was prepared to kill them both.