Page 134 - DeepRestFlipFinal

NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN
The old pickup rattled along the unpaved road,
kicking up a cloud of dust. Liam sat in the passenger
seat, his leg propped up, his eyes scanning the rugged
mountain landscape. Cassandra Thorne was behind
the wheel, her face grim, focused.
And in the back, silent and watchful, sat Silas
"Shadow" Vega.
Vega was a ghost. A former black ops operative, a
legend in the shadows, now living off the grid in a
remote cabin. He was a man of few words, his eyes,
sharp and intelligent, missing nothing. He was lean,
wiry, with a close-cropped beard and a network of
faded scars that hinted at a violent past. He moved
with a quiet, almost feline grace.
Cassandra had called in a favor. A big one. Vega
owed her. And he was a man who always paid his
debts.
"You really believe this mumbo jumbo,
O'Connell?" Vega’s voice was a low, gravelly rumble,
his gaze fixed on the winding road ahead.
Liam nodded. "I've experienced it, Mr. Vega. It's
real. And it's powerful. It cured my depression. And it
showed me this facility. And what they're doing to
Evelyn."
Vega grunted. "I've seen a lot of things in my life,
kid. Most of them unbelievable. But a pharmaceutical
company building a secret underground city in the
134