CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Mikel and Paula had reached his promised land.
Two miles away from the Institute, he’d had her take a sharp left onto a barely visible track. One mile down, he had her stop. He walked southwest 500 feet, located the three mesquite trees, and began to dig with the shovel he’d asked her to have waiting in the trunk.
Three feet down, he could feel the resistance of metal against metal. He reached down and retrieved what he’d hidden – a fireproof strongbox. It held portable drives containing a complete backup of all his research and files, vials of the serum and two extra syringes modified to inject it with, a full set of alternate identity documents – social security card, driver’s license, birth certificate – and $100,000 in cash.
Triumphantly, he returned to the car, a
