CHAPTER SIXTEEN
John Mann stood in front of the huge door to his private vault deep beneath his mansion, leaning on his metal cane as he watched his assistant—a young blonde girl named Anna—input the code to open the vault door. Mann could have done it himself, but in recent weeks, he had started feeling more exhausted than usual. His doctors told him that it was just his old age catching up to him, but they had given him some medications that would give him enough energy to keep up with the demands of his business. Even so, the medications only helped a little and were more a reminder of his own fragility than anything.
And given how close I am to achieving my goals, I cannot let my health fail me yet, Mann thought, glancing at his thin, wizened hands. Not when my mission is so close to
