Chapter 8 - The Vault
A heavy steel pipe suddenly swung out from the darkness, striking the hitman directly in the back of the knee.
The hitman roared in pain, his leg buckling instantly beneath him.
A second massive blow struck the side of his head, dropping him unconscious into the mud.
Adrian scrambled backward, clutching the silver key to his chest.
Marcus, his head of security, stepped out of the shadows, dropping the bloody steel pipe.
Marcus had tracked the police scanners and guessed that Adrian would return to the crash site.
Adrian quickly introduced Marcus to Marissa, and the three of them hurried away from the scene.
They spent the remaining hours of the night hiding in an abandoned warehouse, waiting for dawn.
As soon as the sun rose, they made their way to the private bank in the financial district.
The bank opened precisely at eight o'clock, and the streets were already crowded with morning commuters.
Adrian and Marcus waited in a stolen delivery van across the street.
Marissa pulled a baseball cap low over her face and walked confidently through the glass doors of the bank.
Because the account was in her maiden name, her identity had not been flagged by Arthur's smear campaign.
She presented her identification and the silver key to the bank manager.
The manager led her into the heavily secured, subterranean vault.
Ten minutes later, Marissa emerged from the bank carrying a thick manila folder clutched to her chest.
She hurried back into the delivery van, her hands shaking with anticipation.
She told Adrian that the lockbox had remained completely untouched for four years.
Adrian eagerly opened the folder, expecting to find the structural blueprints and metallurgical reports.
He flipped through the documents, his heart pounding in his chest.
Suddenly, his frantic searching stopped, and he stared at the papers in pure horror.
The file contained only Julian's personal notes and a few generic expense reports.
The actual blueprints proving the steel was defective were completely missing from the folder.
Someone had found a way to access the box and remove the most vital evidence years ago.
Marissa stared at the useless papers, tears welling in her eyes as she realized they had failed.
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"He mailed something," she suddenly whispered, looking up at Adrian with wide eyes.
"Two days before he died, Julian mailed a heavy package to your personal estate."
