UNDERCOVER TO MY HEART

BLOOD MONEY

A silver steel bullet tore through the bank glass a second before the motorcycles smashed through the front lobby.

The roar of eighteen heavy engines shattered the quiet night as Jack, Marcus, and the Iron Serpents rode straight through the glass entrance of the downtown financial tower. Shards of glass rained down like ice across the polished marble floor while cartel security guards scrambled for cover behind heavy concrete pillars.

Hold the lobby! Jack yelled, dropping his armored bike onto its side and drawing his sidearm. Keep their shooters pinned down right here!

I have the main elevators covered! Marcus barked back, unslinging his tactical shotgun and firing three heavy rounds that forced two guards back into the stairwell. Go find Vance before he clears out the cash!

While gunshots echoed wildly through the marble lobby, Bella slipped away into the shadows of the rear utility hallway. She carried a heavy steel screwdriver in her hand, her eyes searching the ceiling until she spotted the square metal grate of the main ventilation shaft. She popped the screws out in five fast seconds, pulling herself up into the dark ductwork before any guard could spot her position.

Clara, I am coming, Bella whispered to herself, crawling through the dusty metal shaft as fast as her hands could move.

She followed the sound of weeping echoing through the ventilation lines, turning sharp corners until she looked down through a slotted ceiling vent into a dark basement holding room. Her younger sister, Clara, sat bound to a wooden chair in the center of the room, her eyes wide with terror as two armed guards stood near the reinforced door.

Bella did not wait for an invitation. She kicked the metal grate down with both boots, dropping straight onto the first guard's shoulders. The heavy impact slammed his face into the concrete floor, knocking him out cold.

Drop your weapon! the second guard shouted, turning his rifle toward her.

Bella swept his lead leg with a swift foot strike, sending him falling backward onto the desk. She drove her elbow hard into his chin, disarming his rifle and shoving him against the wall until his eyes rolled back into his head.

Bella! Clara sobbed through the thick tape covering her mouth.

I have you, Clara, Bella panted, slicing the plastic wrist restraints with her pocket knife. Listen to me very carefully. Take the rear stairs straight to the roof. An emergency beacon is active up there, and federal units will land on the helipad in ten minutes. Do not stop for anything.

What about you? Clara asked, her body shaking as she grabbed Bella's arm.

I have to finish this, Bella said, shoving a spare key card into Clara's hand before pushing her gently toward the open doorway. Go right now!

Bella turned around and sprinted down the lower service hallway toward the underground vault sector.

Meanwhile, Jack reached the heavy steel doors of the sub-basement vault, his weapon raised as he checked the empty corridor. Stacks of black duffel bags filled with cartel cash sat piled high near the master loading bay, but there was no sign of Director Vance.

Vance! Jack shouted, his voice echoing off the massive steel walls of the vault. Show your face!

A sharp metallic clack echoed through the hallway overhead.

You are too late, Jack, Director Vance's cold voice crackled through the overhead security speakers.

Jack spun around, but a pair of massive, three-ton blast doors slammed shut with a deafening hydraulic thud, sealing him inside the airtight vault room. The heavy steel locks clicked into place, trapping him in the dark enclosure.

Enjoy your stay, Vance sneered over the speaker system.

A loud hiss suddenly filled the sealed vault. Thick, heavy clouds of white fire-suppression gas began spraying from four overhead vents, rapidly pushing the breathable air out of the closed room. Jack rushed to the thick glass viewing window, slamming his shoulder hard against the reinforced pane, but the glass did not even c***k.

Jack! Bella screamed, bursting into the vault control corridor just in time to see the white gas filling the room where Jack stood choking.

Bella rushed to the master control panel, her hands flying over the manual override buttons to vent the gas, but the screen flashed bright red with an access error code.

It requires the primary supervisor key card, Bella gasped, looking around the control corridor.

Looking for this, Agent Bella? Director Vance asked softly from the far end of the hallway.

Vance stood near the wall, his dark suit pristine, holding a thick black key card in his right hand. Right beside his boots, a small iron access door was propped open, revealing an active building incinerator chute where orange flames roared in the deep shaft below.

Put the key card in the slot, Vance, Bella demanded, raising her pistol and aiming it straight at his chest. Override the lock right now!

If you shoot me, you will never get this card, Vance laughed, holding the black card directly over the open incinerator chute. The second my fingers open, this card drops into three thousand degrees of fire. Jack suffocates in forty seconds, and you take the blame for the entire heist.

Drop the card into the slot, or I swear I will end you right here! Bella shouted, her finger trembling against the trigger as she watched Jack collapse to his knees behind the thick glass window.

Make your choice, agent, Vance sneered, loosening his grip on the plastic card right over the roaring flames.

Bella did not hesitate. Instead of firing a lethal shot at his chest, she shifted her sights in a fraction of a second and fired two rapid rounds into Vance's right knee and wrist.

Vance shrieked in sudden agony as the bullets shattered his joints, knocking his body sideways against the concrete wall. The black key card .slipped from his bleeding fingers, spinning through the air directly toward the open chute. Bella lunged forward across the slick floor like a sprinter, diving flat on her stomach and extending her right arm as far as it could reach.

Her fingers caught the thin plastic edge of the key card just an inch before it plunged into the roaring flames below.

Bella scrambled to her feet, turning around and slamming the black key card hard into the master control slot on the wall panel. She punched the red emergency override button with her fist, reversing the security protocols.

Override accepted, a digital voice announced over the speakers. Venting primary containment chamber.

The heavy blast doors slowly hissed open, releasing a thick cloud of white gas into the hallway. Jack stumbled out of the vault on his hands and knees, gasping for fresh air as he coughed violently against the floor.

Bella rushed to his side, wrapping her arms tight around his shoulders to pull him up. I have you, Jack. Keep breathing.

I am fine, Jack choked out, wiping his eyes as he looked over at Vance crawling along the baseboard toward the rear exit door. He is heading for the roof!

Not anymore, Bella said, her face hardening as she watched Vance drag his bleeding body through the secondary doorway.

We finish this together, Jack said, taking a deep breath and pulling his sidearm from his holster as they stepped into the stairwell to hunt Vance down for the final time.