Chapter 26 - The Poisoned Well
The live broadcast forced Julian into a corner, but it also made him more dangerous.
The next morning, the city woke up to a catastrophic headline: The Ashby Youth Shelter’s main water supply had been contaminated with an industrial solvent, forcing the immediate evacuation of two hundred children and mothers. The city health department, pressured by Julian’s political allies, declared the entire district a hazardous zone, ordering the immediate closure of Kellerman Square.
Bea and Callie stood at the barricades of the square, watching the hazmat teams walk through the brilliant orange leaves.
"He's poisoning the city to get what he wants," Callie said, tears of anger in her eyes. "He doesn't care who gets hurt."
"This is his final play," Bea said, her jaw clenched. "He wants to prove that our community model is unsafe. If we can’t keep the people safe, the city will revoke our charter."
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"We need to find the source of the contamination," Callie said. "I designed the water filtration system for the shelter. The main intake valve is located in the old subterranean maintenance tunnels beneath the square. If Julian’s people poisoned it, they had to bypass the electronic locks."
"Which means they needed the master passcode," Bea realized. "And only one person outside of our family had that code—the city’s chief water commissioner, who was appointed by Julian’s holding company."
