Chapter 28 - The Siege of Cascade Ridge
The Volvo tore down Interstate 5 toward the state capitol, the rain hammering against the cracked windshield in sheets of blinding grey water.
Inside the car, Vivian unzipped the inner lining of her leather briefcase. She pulled out a small, tarnished brass key stamped with an eagle and the letters: *US-EXEC-DEP*.
"When Mom knew her cancer had returned three years ago," Vivian said, staring at the key in her palm, "she didn't call Arthur. She knew Arthur was under constant watch by Croft’s investigators. She called me. I met her in a diner outside Yakima. She gave me this."
"The master deposit key to the State Archives vault," Arthur murmured, his eyes widening in astonishment. "Eleanor had the duplicate?"
"She had the only original," Vivian corrected him. "Grandfather didn't trust the county clerks. In nineteen-sixty-three, he deposited the sovereign land-grant covenants directly into the subterranean vault of the Washington State Historical Archives building—which sits directly beneath the Capitol rotunda, connected to the legislative chambers by a sealed underground tunnel."
"If we can enter the archives vault and deliver the master key and the 1962 Injunction to the State Archivist before ten o’clock," David realized, leaning forward between the front seats, "the State Archivist is legally mandated by the state constitution to halt all ongoing judicial proceedings concerning the disputed territory!"
"Exactly," Vivian said, checking the rearview mirror.
Her jaw tightened.
"We've got company."
Two hundred yards behind us, barreling through the heavy highway spray, three black GMC Yukons were clearing the morning traffic, their strobe lights flashing behind darkened grilles.
Croft’s extraction team had found our signal.
"David!" Arthur barked, tossing the deer rifle into the back seat. "They won't fire on the public interstate, but the moment we take the Capitol campus exit, they will ram us into the sound barrier!"
"Take the Capitol Lake bypass!" I shouted, recognizing the interchange ahead. "The state patrol headquarters is located two miles north! If we enter the state perimeter, Croft’s private mercenaries can't use heavy weapons without bringing the entire tactical division down on their heads!"
David grabbed the steering wheel from the passenger side, helping Vivian wrench the Volvo across three lanes of traffic just as the lead Yukon lunged forward, clipping our rear quarter-panel with a terrifying screech of tearing metal.
The Volvo spun ninety degrees across the wet asphalt, the tires screaming against the rain, but Vivian held the drift with savage, white-knuckled skill, stomping the accelerator as we cleared the concrete exit ramp toward the marble monuments of the Capitol grounds.
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Behind us, the Yukons blew through the intersection, ignoring red lights, their heavy V8 engines roaring in relentless pursuit.
"Hold on!" Vivian screamed as she aimed the Volvo directly at the decorative wrought-iron gates protecting the underground service ramp of the State Archives building.
