Chapter 5 - The Vault of Sins
The distinct beep of a C4 timer echoed through the thick steel door.
Matteo grabbed the watch and shoved it into his pocket.
"Get to the back of the room," he ordered Elena.
He overturned a heavy metal filing cabinet to create a makeshift barricade.
The explosion was deafening, blowing the steel door completely off its reinforced hinges.
A cloud of concrete dust filled the subterranean room.
Three mercenaries in dark armor rushed through the smoke, firing blindly.
Matteo returned fire with deadly accuracy, dropping the first two men instantly.
The third mercenary dove behind a concrete pillar and tossed a fragmentation grenade toward their barricade.
Elena reacted with terrifying speed.
She scooped up a heavy metal trash can and threw it perfectly over the rolling grenade.
The explosion was muffled by the thick steel container, saving them from the deadly shrapnel.
Matteo used the distraction to flank the pillar and eliminate the final shooter.
The room fell into a heavy, ringing silence.
"We cannot stay here," Matteo coughed, waving the dust away.
"They tracked the biometric chip in your suit jacket," Elena realized, pointing to a tear in his lapel.
Matteo immediately ripped the expensive jacket off and threw it onto the floor.
"We need a vehicle," he said.
They climbed up an emergency ladder that led to a grate in a desolate alleyway.
Matteo hot-wired a rusted delivery van parked near a dumpster.
They drove in tense silence until they reached a cheap motel on the outskirts of the city.
Matteo paid for a room in cash and locked the flimsy wooden door behind them.
He sat on the edge of the sagging bed and finally pulled the Seiko watch from his pocket.
"Let's see what people are willing to die for," he muttered.
He used a small pocketknife to pry off the rusted back casing of the watch.
Hidden beneath the broken gears was a microscopic data card wrapped in protective foil.
Elena pulled a sleek laptop from her stolen backpack and booted it up.
She inserted the micro-card using a specialized adapter.
The screen illuminated, displaying a massive, encrypted ledger.
It wasn't just a list of cartel transactions.
It was a detailed record of every corrupt judge, police chief, and politician in Chicago who had taken Viper money.
And sitting at the very top of the payroll list was Marco Reyes.
Suddenly, Matteo's burner phone vibrated violently on the nightstand.
He answered it on speakerphone, his jaw clenched in fury.
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"Hello, Matteo," Marco's arrogant voice filled the small motel room.
"I have your younger sister, and if you ever want to see her alive again, you will bring me that watch."
