More gunshots prove him right.
“Shit. Cole?” Kurt times his instructions for the gap between the repeating alarm and the automated voice.
“Still clear this side.”
“Come back then.”
Finally.
I bite at my lip, then catch myself doing it, knowing Declan would only smile if he saw. I’m still angry at him for being such a jerk earlier, but he’s right by the stairway door, and those security guys are trigger-happy. The worst thing is there’s nothing I can do. My hand twitches toward my pistol, but I cross my arms instead, and force myself to breathe slowly.
More shots fire, and I jump. Kurt winces. The fire alarm is loud enough to risk swallowing anything Declan says, and I cover my earpiece with my palm.
“This door isn’t going to hold forever. Plan?”
“Cole’s on his way,” Kurt replies tersely. “If you have to shoot, remember: no fatalities unless it can’t be avoided.”
“Yeah, I haven’t forgotten.”
Great. Now he’s crippled by Kurt’sdon’t killstanding order.
I know the security won’t hesitate.
“I’m through!” Dario calls, and Kurt heads straight for the vault. I follow, keen to get whatever Kurt’s so obsessed with so we can all get out of here. As fast as damnpossible.
Cole runs by, heading to support Declan, and gives me a nod and a cheeky grin. I don’t even try and smile back.
Dario’s peeling off his respirator, his welding mask already discarded on the floor. There’s barely anything left of the thermal lance, the end of it still glowing red-hot.
Kurt grabs the vault handle and inch by inch, the heavy door opens. The strobe lights in the ceiling illuminate the interior with flickering pulses, gold bars glinting on shelves against the walls. There must be a few hundred of them stacked in neat piles, each the size of a smartphone. Kurt ignores them, instead pulling out a velvet bag, looking inside.
“Found the diamonds.” He hands it to Dario. “There’s three more like that. Check them, would you?”
Dario fishes them out, opening each in turn, and whistles through his teeth. “Good haul, Kurt.”
“Hurry up,” I say urgently.
But Kurt’s rifling through the other shelves, looking for what he really wanted all along. He finds a manila envelope, tips it up, and what looks like a USB drive falls into his hand, flat and about the size of a deck of cards. His grip closes around it, making a fist, and he pauses long enough to exhale in relief. I can’t remember the last time he showed such naked emotion.
“Diamonds all here,” Dario says. “We taking any of that gold?”
“Leave it,” Kurt replies. “It’s a kilo a bar. Even ahandful of those will make the jump harder.”
Dario takes a couple regardless, winking at me.
“Here, Genesis.” Kurt hands me a bag of the diamonds. It’s small enough to shove inside the pocket of my jacket, and I tuck it away, barely noticing the weight. Kurt pulls open the other side of my jacket, slides the drive into my inside pocket, zips it carefully closed, and taps it twice. He doesn’t say a word, just makes eye contact.
I’m holding a quarter of the diamonds—about four million dollars’ worth—and a little black box that apparently justifies all this.
“Can we get out of here now?”
“Yeah, what she said.” Cole’s voice.“We’re getting company here any minute.”
“We’re done,” Kurt replies. “Pull back, head for the north wall.”
“On our way.”
“Dario, leave that shit alone, and let’s go.”
