Chapter 48
Fire in the Vault
The first gunshot shattered the eerie silence of the vault.
Elena shoved Richard down as bullets ricocheted off the steel walls, sending sparks flying. Naomi dove for cover, clutching the hard drive to her chest.
“Move!” Elena shouted, drawing her weapon.
The vault door was still open, but their escape route was blocked—two armed men in tactical gear stormed inside, guns raised.
Naomi didn’t hesitate. She fired first.
The sharp crack of her shot echoed through the small space, and one of the men dropped, clutching his shoulder. The other lunged forward, firing wildly.
Elena ducked, returning fire. The impact sent the second man stumbling back, but more footsteps pounded down the hallway.
“We’re boxed in!” Richard gasped, panic creeping into his voice.
Naomi’s expression was fierce. “Not for long.”
She grabbed a smoke grenade from her belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it toward the entrance. A thick, gray cloud erupted, swallowing the room in dense fog.
Elena grabbed Richard by the arm and yanked him to his feet. “Go, now!”
Through the smoke, she could barely make out the flashing emergency lights. Security alarms were blaring.
Jordan’s voice crackled in her earpiece. “I’ve locked down the upper exits, but you have less than five minutes before reinforcements arrive. There’s a service tunnel on sublevel two. Take it.”
Elena didn’t question him. “We’re on it.”
Naomi led the way, firing two more shots into the smoke as they rushed out of the vault. The hallway was chaos—guards shouting, alarms wailing, the acrid scent of gunpowder thick in the air.
Richard stumbled, coughing. “They knew we’d come.”
Elena clenched her jaw. “Of course they did.”
They sprinted toward the stairwell, but the second Elena shoved open the door, she skidded to a stop.
Two more men waited below, guns already aimed.
Naomi swore under her breath. “We’re running out of options.”
Elena’s mind raced. Think. Find the advantage.
She glanced up. The air ducts.
“Cover me,” she whispered.
Naomi didn’t hesitate. She fired a rapid volley of shots down the stairwell, forcing the guards to duck for cover.
Elena leaped onto the railing, gripping the ledge above. With a grunt, she hoisted herself up, swinging into the open duct.
“Richard, you’re next!” she called.
He hesitated. “I—I can’t—”
Naomi shoved him. “You can.”
With Elena’s help, Richard scrambled into the vent. Naomi followed, just as bullets shattered the wall beneath them.
Elena didn’t stop. She crawled forward, heart pounding.
Behind her, Naomi was already checking the drive, making sure it was intact.
Jordan’s voice came through again, urgent. “They’re blocking all exits. But I have one last option. The rooftop.”
Elena grimaced. “That’s not an exit, Jordan. That’s a dead end.”
A pause. Then—
“Not if you trust me.”
Naomi glanced at Elena. “Do we?”
Elena’s lips curled into a grim smile. “We don’t have a choice.”
She kept moving.
They were getting out of here—one way or another.
