Chapter 7 - THE VAULT
"Drop the gun, Lorenzo, or we all go to hell together," Silas rasped, coughing blood.
Lorenzo’s eyes darted to the remote in Silas’s hand, then to Evelyn, who was shielding a terrified Leo. The untouchable mafia boss, a man who had never yielded to anyone, slowly lowered his rifle.
"Good boy," Silas sneered, struggling to his feet. He gestured with his chin toward Evelyn. "Bring the girl and the boy. We are going to the vault. Now."
Ten minutes later, Silas’s surviving men shoved Evelyn, Lorenzo, and Leo into the back of an armored van. Silas sat across from them, clutching his bleeding shoulder, the detonator resting in his lap. The ride to the city's financial district was suffocatingly tense. Leo clung to Evelyn, his small fingers digging into her shirt. Lorenzo watched Evelyn, a profound, unspoken gratitude etched into his hard features.
They pulled into an underground parking garage beneath a massive, non-descript skyscraper. Silas marched them into a private elevator, swiping a stolen access card. They descended far below street level, the air growing freezing cold.
The elevator doors chimed open to reveal a sterile, steel hallway ending in a massive, circular titanium vault door.
"Open it," Silas commanded Lorenzo, shoving a gun into his back.
Lorenzo stepped up to the panel. He placed his hand on the biometric scanner. A green light flashed.
User One Verified, a mechanical voice chimed. Awaiting Heir.
Silas grabbed Leo by the collar, dragging the screaming boy forward.
"Stop! Don't hurt him!" Evelyn yelled, lunging forward, but a guard slammed the butt of his rifle into her stomach, dropping her to her knees.
Silas grabbed Leo's small hand and slammed it onto the scanner.
User Two Verified. Access Granted.
The massive vault door hissed, gears grinding as it slowly swung open. Inside, the walls were lined with safety deposit boxes, but in the center on a pedestal sat a single, sleek black hard drive. The master ledger. Billions of dollars in illicit accounts, property deeds, and blackmail material.
Silas’s eyes went wide with greed. He stepped into the vault, leaving the detonator in his pocket. He reached for the drive.
"It's over, Lorenzo," Silas laughed, picking up the drive. "I own Chicago."
"Silas," Evelyn gasped from the floor, clutching her stomach. "Look at the drive."
Silas frowned, flipping the hard drive over. Stuck to the bottom of it was a faded, bloody cocktail napkin.
Your fiancée set a trap. Don't use north exit.
Silas’s eyes widened in confusion.
"You see," Lorenzo said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he stepped into the doorway of the vault. "You aren't the only one who plans ahead. Dante didn't just track your van. He brought me here twenty minutes before you arrived, while my body doubles led you on a wild goose chase."
Silas looked down. The hard drive in his hand was flashing red. It wasn't a ledger.
It was a rigged EMP charge.
"Close your eyes, Leo!" Lorenzo yelled, grabbing the boy and yanking Evelyn back behind the thick titanium door frame.
The EMP detonated.
It wasn't a fire explosion. It was a blinding flash of electromagnetic force, accompanied by a deafening, high-pitched screech. The blast instantly fried every piece of electronics in the room. The lights shattered. Silas’s detonator sparked and smoked, rendered completely useless. And the electronic locking mechanism of the massive vault door disengaged.
Lorenzo grabbed the enormous steel handle of the vault door and hauled it shut.
Silas screamed from inside, rushing the door, but he was too late. The titanium vault locked shut with a booming, permanent thud, sealing Silas and his men inside a tomb of their own making.
Silence fell over the dark hallway.
Lorenzo slumped against the vault door, sliding to the floor, exhausted. Evelyn pulled Leo into a tight hug, tears of immense relief flooding her eyes.
"We did it," she whispered.
But as the emergency backup lights flickered on, a slow clap echoed from the hallway behind them.
Evelyn turned. Standing by the elevator, surrounded by six armed Chicago police officers, was Celeste Vane.
May you like
She was holding Evelyn’s mother's rosary—the one Evelyn had dropped at the restaurant.
"Bravo, Lorenzo," Celeste purred, stepping forward, her emerald dress ruined but her smile as venomous as ever. "You took care of Silas for me. Now, I have the police, I have the city... and I have you."
