Page 114 of Snow

Snow unlocked the wheels, and then together, they leaned into the large unit. It was heavier than Nova expected, and at first the damn thing barely moved.

“Push,” Snow grunted.

“I am pushing.”

“Push harder.”

Nova shot him a look. “You know, yelling push isn’t actually contributing additional strength.”

Snow laughed. “Jesus Christ. Again, on three. One, two—”

The shelving unit suddenly lurched, and Nova stumbled forward.

“You didn’t say three!”

“Didn’t need to.”

“That’s not how counting works.”

“File a complaint.”

“I might.”

They shoved the shelving far enough aside to expose a steel door.

“Well, shit,” Nova said.

“Yeah.” Snow moved in front of her, his demeanor changing almost immediately as he studied the door. He reached for the handle, tested it once, then frowned. “It’s not locked.”

Nova peered around his shoulder. “I mean, why would he lock it? Nobody’s supposed to know it’s here.”

Snow glanced back at her.

She shrugged. “If you’re arrogant enough to build a secret room on an offshore platform, you’re probably arrogant enough to assume nobody will ever find it.”

“Good point,” Snow said as he pulled the door open and stopped. “Fuck!”

That one word wiped away what little humor Nova had left. She stepped around him and stared.

The room wasn’t huge, but there was a lot packed into it. Worktables ran along two walls, covered with tools, wires, electronic components, pieces of equipment, and other things she couldn’t begin to identify. Open cases sat on the floor, and against the far wall were two of the same blue barrels she had seen in the photographs she had taken inside Brett’s office.

But it was the UUV that held her attention. It sat near the center of the room.

Nova had seen the photographs. She knew what they were looking for. Still, standing only a few feet away from it made everything suddenly feel much more real.

She was surprised that it wasn’t very big. Something capable of doing as much damage as Snow had described should have been enormous and terrifying. It shouldn’t look like something that one man could move around himself.

“Don’t touch anything,” Snow said.

Nova looked at him. “Trust me, you don’t have to tell me twice.”

He already had his phone against his ear. “Bear, we found it.”

While Gabe talked, Nova slowly moved farther into the room, careful not to get too close to anything. She had dealt with plenty of dishonest people throughout her career. She had seen greed ruin business partnerships, destroy families, and turn otherwise intelligent people into complete idiots.

But this? This was a whole other thing.

Brett had built something knowing exactly what it could be used for, and apparently the possibility of innocent people dying hadn’t bothered him enough to stop.