Damien and Jake watched from the tree line about a quarter mile away.
Police arrived at 2:47 AM. Multiple vehicles. SWAT team. The whole operation. They had the access codes Damien provided. They had the layout. They had everything they needed.
“This is it,” Jake whispered beside him. “This is where it ends.”
The police moved into the facility with tactical precision. Officers swarmed through every entrance. For ten minutes, there was silence except for radio chatter.
Then the first officer emerged.
Then another.
Then more.
Their faces said everything. The facility was empty.
Damien’s stomach dropped.
“No,” he whispered. “That’s not possible.”
More officers came out. They were moving slower now. Less urgently. One of them was actually laughing. Laughing.
An officer emerged carry
