Below, Mercer entered the shaft.
His flashlight beam sliced upward.
“Lily!”
She shoved the phone into her pocket and climbed.
The ladder ended beneath a rusted grate.
Dawn light glowed beyond it.
Gray.
Cold.
Beautiful.
Lily pushed.
The grate did not move.
She pushed again.
Nothing.
Below, Mercer began climbing.
Buck shouted from the bottom, “She’s trapped!”
Lily reached into her jacket collar, fingers searching.
There.
A small seam.
She bit the thread and tore it open.
A black key slid into her palm.
Not brass.
Not silver.
Black.
Modern.
