No movement.No thumps.Not a single word.
Shit, shit, shit.
Then …
The click of a safety getting pulled back.
Then another.
And another.
Lucky … where the hell are you?
I need to get out of here.Put some space between me and six guns.
Or else slow them down a little.
The vault door slams closed with a force that rumbles beneath my feet.It won’t keep them away for long, but I just need it to be long enough to get to the elevator.
Lucky blinks back in as the shooting starts.
“What the hell happened?”
“They heard you, and I had to improvise.”
I start running for the elevator, Lucky at my side, when he skids to a stop.
“Wait.”Lucky slows, incredulous.“Why are we running?Take my hand.”
Oh, right.I forgot.
It actually hurts to stop, my heart pounding and my entire body telling me to move.The vault door starts to swing open, screams filling the room.
I catch sight of the man Sterling described, imposing in his helmet as he stalks confidently toward us.Then Lucky transports us back upstairs.No scary men here.Just the terrifying afterimage of one seared onto my trembling heart.
The foyer is empty, but everything is louder now, the shadows outside creeping in closer.Footsteps crashing up the stairs.
We’re about to be in the middle of a gunfight.
I start pacing.“What about the hostages?”What about Sterling?
Lucky watches the entrance.“All out.That’s what took me so long.I was arguing with one guy who wouldn’t leave.”
Wait.“What?”There’s someone still back there?
“Beats me, but I had to get back to you.I’ve got to hope Sterling sorted him out.Nothing stopping the professionals coming in now.”
“Maybe we should get out of here …” Stopping the bad guys seemed like such a good idea a few minutes ago, but the very real and imminent threat of having my face blown off makes a girl reconsider some things.
The door to the stairwell crashes open.It’s hidden in the far back corner of the room, behind the tellers.Well, that would have saved me some trouble with the elevator, but it’s not like I can do anything about it.
Who would I even complain to?The fire department?City council?The mayor?
Hi, I recently thwarted a robbery at the Reserve Bank but was disappointed with the internal design.One out of ten for inconvenient stair placement during a rescue.
I run toward Lucky but drop to the floor as bullets cut through the air.He blinks away just in time, and I manage to get behind a pillar just as dust surrounds me.
The men storm out of the stairwell, laden with their loot, and at the sight of them, there’s a roar of shouting outside.A voice starts yelling commands via a megaphone.
