Chapter 12 - Fire in the Sub-Vaults
The narrow subterranean hallway erupted into a hurricane of deafening gunfire, muzzle flashes, and screaming ricochets.
Declan’s team fired in synchronized unison. Victor’s four bodyguards were shredded by high-caliber suppressive fire before they could fully raise their weapons.
Victor screamed in pain, clutching his broken wrist, and scrambled backward toward the heavy blast door of the inner vault chamber. He lunged for the fallen detonator with his left hand.
Declan surged forward like a charging panther, tackling Victor to the concrete floor before his fingers could reach the switch.
The two men crashed into the steel frame of the vault door. Victor, fueled by desperate, cornered madness, pulled a hidden ceramic dagger from his boot sleeve and slashed wildly at Declan’s throat.
Declan leaned back, the blade grazing the collar of his ballistic vest, and drove a savage right hook into Victor’s jaw. The bone cracked with a sickening crunch.
Victor staggered, spitting blood, but lunged again with the knife.
Before the blade could reach Declan, a sharp gunshot rang out.
BANG.
A 9mm bullet struck Victor’s shoulder, spinning him around and pinning him against the reinforced steel vault door.
Sadie stood ten feet away, both hands wrapped around her sidearm, smoke curling from the barrel, her eyes burning with icy precision.
“That was for my mother,” Sadie said, her voice steady.
She took one step forward and fired a second round through Victor’s right knee.
BANG.
Victor collapsed to the floor with a strangled scream, clutching his shattered leg, the ceramic knife clattering harmlessly against the stone.
“And that,” Sadie added, “was for my father.”
Declan stepped between them, picking up the remote detonator and disarming the sequence with a quick press of the override button. He tossed the dead unit to Leo.
“Secure the perimeter,” Declan ordered his men. “Clear the charges off the support columns.”
“On it, boss!” Leo shouted, directing the squad to disarm the thermite blocks.
Declan turned to Victor, who was writhing on the bloody concrete floor, glaring up at them with hatred.
“The war is over, Victor,” Declan said coldly.
Sadie walked up to the vault control console. The digital timer on the screen read 00:03:12 before the automated default sequence would trigger.
“The keys,” Sadie said, looking at Declan.
Declan reached into his inner pocket and pulled out the solid gold Hayes signet ring that had belonged to his grandfather—the physical seal of the ruling family.
He inserted the ring into the circular lock on the right side of the panel and turned it ninety degrees clockwise.
A heavy mechanical click resonated within the console.
“Secondary authorization confirmed,” the automated system spoke in a neutral synthetic voice. “Awaiting primary biometric lineage verification.”
Sadie stepped forward. She placed her right palm flat against the glowing glass scanner.
A bright blue laser scanned the ridges of her hand, reading her dermal patterns, sub-surface vascular structures, and mitochondrial markers.
For three agonizing seconds, the console hummed.
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“Biometric signature verified: Alessandra Moretti. Lineage confirmed. Aegis Holdings master protocols unlocked.”
With a deep, resonant hydraulic groan, the massive twelve-inch steel vault door unlatched, swinging slowly inward to reveal the inner sanctum of the old families’ treasury.
