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Chapter 17: The Defector
They crossed three state lines in thirty-six hours.
No phones. No digital trace. No name used twice.
Kilo passed out in the backseat more than once, and Rina kept the pressure on his side, blood-soaked gauze wrapped tight. Eliot drove like a man possessed—silent, focused.
Their destination: Savannah Blake.
Former Kane Corp Division Head. Fired. Vanished.
Now living under the radar in a fortified winery tucked deep into Colorado's forgotten hills.
"Why her?" Rina asked as they approached the compound gate.
"Because she knows what Phase III was really about," Eliot said. "And because she hates Kane almost as much as I do."
The gate opened before they even knocked.
Savannah Blake stood in the doorway of her stone house with a rifle slung across her shoulder and a glass of red wine in her hand.
"Well, well," she said, smirking. "If it isn't Kane Corp's most wanted babysitter. And the girl they never quite erased."
Rina tensed.
"I'm not here for riddles," Eliot said.
"Good. Because I'm done hiding too." Savannah stepped aside. "Let's burn something down."
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Inside her home: maps, files, stolen blueprints. Savannah wasn't just hiding—she was planning.
"I kept copies," she said, sliding a folder across the table. "Insurance. And leverage. Project Calyx was just the start. Phase IV is already active. And trust me—you're both on the list."
Rina flipped through the documents.
A familiar name.
> Dr. Adrian Voss – Lead Scientist, Phase IV.
Her father's former partner.
He didn't die in the crash like everyone said.
He disappeared.
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