Page 368 of Mercy Written in Blood

Sota looked down at the wires. Then towards the Casino.

"Can it be removed?"

Mori came through the doors with an Accord specialist behind him. The specialist looked once.

"No."

"Disarmed?"

"Not here."

"How long?"

"The switch is live. We cannot know the secondary trigger."

The contractor's pulse moved visibly in his neck. Renji held his arm motionless.

Haruki looked towards the road. Cars abandoned. Crowd moving in every direction. Not far enough. The blast would reach the entrance. Perhaps the gaming floor. Riku. The wounded. Everyone unable to move quickly.

"Take him underground," Sota said.

Mori looked towards him.

"What?"

"The service ramp beneath the eastern road."

Haruki understood. The old drainage tunnel. Reinforced concrete. Designed to channel floodwater towards the river. Deep enough to contain part of the blast. Too far for Renji to maintain control if the contractor struggled.

Sota tightened his grip on the man's wrist.

"I'll take him."

"No," Haruki said.

Sota looked at him. There was no triumph in his face. No certainty that death would prove him right. Only fear. And decision.

"You cannot move fast enough," Sota said.

Haruki hated him for making the observation.

Renji stepped forward.

"I will go."

Sota shook his head.

"You are the only one holding his hand closed."

"I can move with him."

"And if your concentration breaks?"

"It will not."

Sota looked at the blood staining Renji's side. Then at Haruki's bandages.

"You both still believe survival is something you owe only to other people."