The elevator vibrated upward, footfalls of the guards thudding from downstairs. Time was no longer their ally. It was a countdown, and the stakes grew higher by the second. The files they’d downloaded were now secure, but the escape itself was far from assured.
Lina’s fingers trembled a little as she held the hard drive. “We’ve got what we came for. Now, we need to move fast.” Her voice was a steady rhythm, concealing the anxiety below.
With every ascending floor, he felt the pressure rise the numbers lit up above him in frantic succession. “We don’t have much time. They’ll seal off the exits as soon as they realize what we’ve got.”
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. The lobby, once serene and immaculate, had transformed into a restricted military point. Guards strode purposeful
