Page 195 of Silent Target

Controlled.

Closer than before.

“The mountain will become your tomb.”

Rook switches off the external channel.

Silence replaces Victor’s voice.

Falcon almost smiles. “Problem solved.”

A bullet strikes the wall beside him.

“Mostly solved,” Cobra adds.

44

EVIE

The mountain groans beneath us.

Not like an explosion.

Like something enormous shifting in its sleep.

Fathom works at the scanner while I search the Chairman’s journal.

The pages are filled with codes, diagrams, names, and the measured handwriting of a man who believed every human weakness could be cataloged.

“Page eighty-three,” I say.

“I see it.”

“No. The margin.”

A rotating sequence of numbers is hidden among Charles Whitmore’s notes.

Fathom enters the first code.

The scanner turns from red to amber.

Then stops.

“No.”

“What?”

“It requires a second authorization.”

Mac moves closer. “He never trusted one lock.”

Fathom reads the request.

“Executive Council approval.”

Mac’s expression hardens. “Only senior members had that clearance.”

“Can the journal provide it?” Caleb asks.