Chapter 2 - The Empty Vault
Elias reacted with lightning speed, rolling violently to the right just as another bullet shattered the marble pillar behind him.
The deafening gunfire sent the remaining restaurant staff fleeing in blind panic through the kitchen doors.
I clutched Sophie tightly against my chest, feeling the terrifying heat of the implant burning through her thin dress.
Elias yelled for me to follow him into the thickest part of the gray smoke screen.
We crawled over shattered plates and overturned tables, desperately making our way toward the emergency exit.
The cold night air hit our faces as we burst out into the dark alleyway behind the building.
Elias led us to a heavily armored black SUV that looked completely out of place next to the dumpsters.
He threw open the heavy doors and ordered us to get down in the back seat.
I demanded to know how a supposedly homeless man possessed a military-grade tactical vehicle.
He ignored my question and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, tearing out of the alley at terrifying speed.
The digital scanner on the dashboard beeped loudly, showing exactly seven minutes remaining on Sophie's spinal implant.
I desperately asked Elias if there was any way to surgically remove the device right now.
He shook his head grimly and explained that the implant was wired directly into her central nervous system.
Any attempt to cut it out without the master remote would trigger an immediate, lethal electrical shock.
Our only option was to give my mother exactly what she demanded.
We needed to get to the downtown central bank and retrieve Rebecca's last will and testament from my private safety deposit box.
I pulled out my phone and tried to call the police, but Elias snatched it from my hand and tossed it out the window.
He warned me that my mother practically owned the local police precinct, and calling them would only alert her death squads to our location.
We sped through the red lights of the financial district, tires screeching as we pulled up to the imposing marble steps of the bank.
I grabbed my security keycard and rushed through the revolving doors with Elias right behind me holding Sophie.
The night manager recognized me immediately and led us down to the high-security underground vault.
My hands shook violently as I inserted the heavy brass key into box number four hundred and twelve.
I turned the lock and pulled the metal drawer out, praying that the document was still there.
The metal drawer slid open smoothly, but it was completely empty.
There was no will, no documents, and no trace of my late wife's final requests.
Instead, a single black envelope rested at the bottom of the steel container.
I tore it open and found a photograph of Rebecca taken just hours before her fatal car crash.
Someone had scribbled a message across her face in dark red ink.
The message thanked me for making this so easy, and it was signed by my dead mother.
May you like
I stared at the empty box in utter disbelief as the vault doors suddenly began to close on their own.
The night manager smiled apologetically and pulled a suppressed pistol from his suit jacket.
