Chapter 18 - The Alpine Escape
Bullets chipped away at the marble pillar,
sending white powder raining down over our shoulders as the tactical operatives advanced down the narrow vault corridor.
“We’re pinned!” Director Keller screamed from the floor,
curled into a tight ball of pure panic.
“They’ll execute us all!”
“Shut up and stay down,
” I barked,
leaning around the corner and firing three rapid shots to keep their heads down.
Clara wasn't panicking.
She was tapping furiously on her portable terminal,
her eyes locked on the vault’s facility management schematic.
“The security detail accessed the primary elevator,
which means the secondary freight lift behind the vault is currently unlocked,
” she reported,
her voice completely steady amid the gunfire.
“Where does it lead?”
“The underground loading bay where our Mercedes is waiting.
”
“Can you override the security gate?”
“Already did,
” she snapped,
hitting a final key sequence.
A heavy metallic clatter echoed from the rear of the vault as a concealed maintenance hatch popped open with a pneumatic hiss.
“Go!” I ordered,
pushing Clara toward the hatch.
She scrambled through the opening without hesitation,
her heels clicking rapidly against the metal floor of the freight lift inside.
I fired a final suppressing burst down the main corridor,
buying us precious seconds,
before diving backward through the hatch just as a volley of bullets shredded the doorframe where I had been standing.
I slammed the emergency close button on the lift panel.
The heavy steel door slid shut with a definitive thud,
cutting off the gunfire as the elevator surged upward at breakneck speed.
We rocketed through the bedrock of Zurich,
bursting out into the subterranean loading bay of the Edelweiss Trust a minute later.
Our armored Mercedes sat waiting with the engine idling,
our driver frantically watching the rearview mirror.
We flung ourselves into the backseats as the doors slammed shut.
“Drive!” I yelled.
The driver punched the gas,
tearing through the security gate and launching us out into the crisp,
sub-zero streets of Zurich just as a convoy of unmarked tactical SUVs descended upon the front entrance.
We vanished into the Alpine morning traffic like ghosts.
Clara leaned back against the leather seat,
letting out a long,
breathless laugh as she adjusted her glasses.
“Well,
” she murmured,
looking over at me with a triumphant grin.
“That was certainly more exciting than balancing quarterly tax returns.
”
“You have a strange definition of exciting,
Clara,
” I said,
shaking my head with a reluctant smile.
“And an even stranger definition of accounting.
”
She patted her leather briefcase,
where twelve billion dollars of shadow capital now sat safely in our hands.
“Good accounting always balances out in the end,
Mr.
Vale.
”
May you like
“Especially when you audit the underworld.
”
