Chapter 14 - The Infiltration
The service elevator dinged, and the heavy metal doors slid open with a screech of rusty iron. The air in B4 was freezing, thick with the smell of wet cement and decades of untouched dust.
Marcus pulled his tactical light and sidearm, moving in a low stance down the narrow corridor. Pipes hissed along the high ceiling, dropping icy water onto our heads.
"Stay behind me, Gabriel," Marcus whispered. "If Evelyn is down here, Sterling’s mercenaries aren't far behind."
We followed a fresh set of muddy footprints leading toward a massive reinforced steel door at the end of the corridor—the entrance to the Vance subterranean vault. The heavy deadbolt lock had been freshly tampered with; green industrial acid was bubbling around the keyhole, melting the ancient brass mechanism.
Suddenly, a shadow flickered past the corner.
"Police! Don't move!" Marcus shouted, stepping around the pillar.
BANG! BANG!
Two gunshots shattered the dark silence, ricocheting off the concrete walls. Marcus threw his shoulder against me, knocking us both behind a concrete pillar just as sparks flew off the wall where my head had been a second earlier.
"You're too late, Gabriel!" a woman's voice yelled through the darkness—Evelyn. But her soft, gentle tutor persona was gone, replaced by a harsh, bitter snarl. "The vault is opening! Victor will have his drive in five minutes!"
"Evelyn, listen to me!" I shouted from behind the pillar. "Sterling will kill you the second you hand that drive over! He doesn't leave witnesses!"
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"He promised me my freedom!" she shrieked back. "Carmen promised me that if I got the drive, she would use Sterling's network to pull her out of prison! She’s my mother, Gabriel! She raised me after she stole you!"
My mind froze. "What did you say?"
