Chapter 6 - The Trap Sprung
Ivy stood up immediately, her hand on her weapon. "Volkov."
"In the flesh, my dear," Volkov’s voice echoed through the speaker. "Did you really think I would leave my secondary vault unguarded? I knew your new intelligence asset would find the cipher. She’s very good. But she’s also trapped."
Damon stepped in front of Ivy, shielding her from the door as if expecting bullets to fly through the steel. "Volkov. You step foot in this city, and you won't leave it alive."
Volkov laughed—a dry, hacking sound. "I am already here, Damon. And in ten minutes, the local authorities—who I happen to pay very well—will arrive to find your team inside an illegal vault with ten million dollars in untraceable cash. You will be tied up in federal court for years while I take your ports."
"We need to blow the hinges," Rocco hissed, pulling out a charge of C4 from his tactical vest.
"No," Ivy said sharply. "The vault is reinforced with pressure-sensitive glass lining the frame. Blow the door, and you detonate the chemical fire suppression system. It will dump halon gas into this room and suffocate us in sixty seconds."
Damon looked at Ivy, a mixture of awe and fierce trust in his eyes. "Can you bypass the electronic lock?"
"Give me your terminal knife and the wiring harness from Rocco's radio," Ivy ordered.
Without hesitation, Damon handed her his tool. Ivy dropped to her knees in front of the electronic control panel beside the vault door. Her hands were rock-steady. She unscrewed the faceplate, exposing a tangled mess of fiber-optic wires and circuit boards.
"Three minutes until the police arrive," Rocco warned, monitoring his scanner.
Ivy ignored the pressure. She pulled two wires, stripping the insulation with her teeth, and crossed them against the main relay box. Sparks flew, illuminating her face in the dark vault.
"Come on..." she whispered.
A heavy hydraulic hiss echoed through the steel frame. The heavy deadbolts retracted, and the vault door swung open six inches.
"Go!" Damon ordered.
They scrambled out of the casino, slipping into the alley just as police sirens began to wail in the distance.
Inside the getaway vehicle, the adrenaline still coursing through their veins, Damon pulled Ivy toward him. He reached out, cupping her cheek, his fingers tangled in her dark hair.
"You really are something else," Damon breathed, his face inches from hers.
May you like
Ivy’s breath caught in her throat. The cold, logical walls she had built around her heart for three years were crumbling under the intensity of his gaze. "I told you, Mr. Cole... I know how to survive."
"It's Damon," he murmured, dropping his lips to hers in a fierce, passionate kiss that sent heat burning through her entire body.
