Four minutes and fifty-eight seconds.
The digital countdown glowed above the vault door in cold white numbers.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
The ticking clock seemed to swallow every other sound.
Adrian’s eyes remained fixed on the reinforced steel entrance.
“This is another bluff.”
The elderly voice answered through the speaker almost immediately.
“I’ve spent thirty years making certain no one would ever mistake me for a man who bluffs.”
Lucas was already examining the electronic control panel beside the vault door.
“The system isn’t connected to the bank anymore.”
The manager looked horrified.
“What do you mean?”
“It has been overridden from an external server.”
Lucas stepped back.
“Someone planned this long before we arrived.”
Amelia looked down at the journal resting insi
