Chapter 17 - THE TRAPPED PROTOCOL
The room's ventilation system hummed loudly as cold air began circulating rapidly through the small steel vault office.
Mr. Cole rushed to the door, grabbing the heavy brass handle and pulling with all his strength, but the electronic lock was engaged.
On the desk monitor, a live video feed connected from the bank vault building across town in downtown Chicago.
Sitting inside the bank vault was Victoria Vance, holding a portable electronic jammer and a pair of industrial metal cutters.
"Hello, Cole," Victoria spoke through the desktop computer speakers with cold, triumphant satisfaction.
"Did you really think I wouldn't track the master vault key back to your private basement office?" she mocked.
"Victoria, you are committing multiple federal crimes! The FBI is already sweeping this property!" Mr. Cole shouted at the screen.
"By the time the police breach that vault door, Clara and her child will have run out of oxygen," Victoria sneered back.
"I’ve overridden the HVAC controls... you have exactly twenty minutes of breathable air remaining in that room."
"Give me the master vault code, Cole, and I’ll turn the oxygen back on," Victoria bargained over the line.
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Clara clutched baby Maya close, noticing the air in the small room was already beginning to feel heavy and thin.
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