Chapter 45: When She Called

Ruiz clipped a second camera to her vest and looked down at the brick throat beneath Pier Nine. "If either recording survives, my report will describe this as a voluntary descent through a historically unstable drainage structure." Hollis checked the chamber of his pistol. "You're leaving out the sewage." "Historical sewage." At 4:11 in the morning, that was all the comedy the tunnel deserved. Black water slid through the channel below the access ladder. The buried creek smelled of salt, rust, and mud sealed away before Su's grandmother was born. New copper pipe followed the old brick south. Its clamps shone under the work lights. Mo stood beside Su at the top of the ladder. His black jacket hid the strap mark she had traced a few hours ago. His hair was tied again, although one strand had already escaped across his cheek. The camera on his chest carried a…