A gust of rain blew through the broken east windows. The cold air hit Eli's face so sharply that he gasped. He saw Mara standing near the last window, holding her clipboard beneath her jacket to keep it dry. Ronan was beside her, and Cutter had one boot on the sill, preparing to leave so he could help on the other side.
Ronan saw Eli first.
The relief that crossed his face lasted less than a second. Then it was replaced by the controlled anger of a man who had just discovered that the child he was trying to protect had gone back into danger after being told not to. Ronan started toward him, stopped when he saw the small remote in Eli's hand, and stared.
"Where did you get that?"
"Harland Brackett," Eli said. "He's in the control room. He came through the rear hatch after I got down there."
Mara was beside them before he finished speaking. "Did he hurt you?"
"No. He gave it to me. He says it controls a backup for the north corridor."
Mara took the remote with care and placed it in a secure pocket without pressing anything. She looked toward the staircase, then back at Eli. "Do not touch anything else. The deputies will need this exactly as it is."
"The emergency shutdown is active," he added. "The display went dark. I don't know if that means everything stopped, but the warning disappeared."
Ronan's eyes closed briefly. When he opened them, his voice was very quiet. "We will talk about you going down there alone after we get out. Right now, we leave."
Cutter swung through the window, gripped the outer frame, and lowered himself into the waiting arms of the people below. He moved aside immediately to make room. Mara checked the club roster for the last time, confirming that sixty of the sixty-three members had already reached the outside gathering area and that Cutter's exit made sixty-one. She looked at Ronan, who nodded toward the opening.
"You first," he told her.
"I still have the count."
"I'll take it."
She handed him the clipboard. Their exchange was brief and efficient, the kind made possible by years of working together. Mara stepped through the window with the controlled movements of someone who had thought through the landing. On the ground, she turned immediately to receive Eli, holding both hands upward and calling his name.
He stood at the sill and looked down. The drop appeared much larger from this side than it had from across the room. Rain had softened the ground into a churned patch of dark mud, and the yellow lights outside made it difficult to judge distance. He could hear dozens of voices farther up the slope, but none sounded clear enough to separate. For a moment the boy who had walked calmly into a hidden room vanished, leaving only a twelve-year-old who did not want to jump six feet into the dark.