Chapter 7 - SIX MINUTES
A red timer appeared on every ballroom screen.
06:00.
Guests screamed.
They rushed toward the doors.
Security officers tried to maintain order.
Adrian seized Isabelle by the shoulders.
“Stop it.”
Isabelle pushed him away.
“You told me the vault was empty.”
“It contains records that connect both of us.”
“Then we burn the records.”
“There are three hundred people here.”
Isabelle looked around the ballroom.
“Three hundred witnesses.”
The timer reached 05:32.
In the monitoring room, Caleb opened a map of the hotel’s lower levels.
“The gas will enter the vault first.”
“Then the ventilation system will spread it upward.”
Lena looked at Evelyn.
“Can we shut it down?”
“The controls are inside the vault.”
Caleb pointed toward a narrow tunnel.
“That passage leads there.”
Evelyn grabbed a flashlight.
“You are staying here.”
Lena stood.
“No.”
“You are injured.”
“And you are pregnant.”
Lena stepped directly in front of her.
“I know the kitchen ventilation system.”
“You do not.”
Evelyn hesitated.
The timer reached 04:58.
Caleb pulled a keycard from his pocket.
“I will go.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You said Isabelle forced you to help.”
“She did.”
“But I still signed every document.”
“I still looked away.”
He placed the keycard into Evelyn’s hand.
“If the vault locks behind me, keep the guests away from the east wall.”
“Why?”
“That is where the pressure will break through.”
Before Evelyn could stop him, Caleb entered the tunnel.
He crawled quickly toward the vault.
Lena opened the ventilation controls.
“We can reverse the airflow.”
“It may keep the gas below ground.”
“How long?”
“Two minutes.”
“Do it.”
Lena entered a sequence.
The fans roared.
In the ballroom, curtains began moving as air rushed toward the floor vents.
Isabelle stared upward.
She realized what Evelyn was doing.
“Find her.”
Two masked men entered the utility corridor.
Evelyn saw them on camera.
She switched off the corridor lights.
Then she spoke through the hotel intercom.
“All staff members, activate emergency protocol seven.”
Throughout the hotel, employees moved at once.
Kitchen workers blocked service doors with steel carts.
Housekeepers guided guests away from elevators.
Maintenance workers opened smoke barriers.
The wealthy guests who had ignored them all evening suddenly depended on them for survival.
Victoria grabbed a housekeeper’s arm.
“Get me out first.”
The housekeeper removed Victoria’s hand.
“Get in line.”
The timer reached 02:41.
Caleb arrived at the vault door.
He swiped his keycard.
ACCESS DENIED.
He tried again.
ACCESS DENIED.
He looked at the camera.
“Isabelle changed the authorization.”
Evelyn’s voice came through his earpiece.
“There is a manual release behind the west panel.”
Caleb ripped the panel open.
Sparks flew.
The masked men reached the monitoring-room entrance.
Lena locked the door.
A bullet struck the glass.
Evelyn grabbed the pistol from the counter.
The timer reached 01:34.
Caleb pulled two wires from the wall.
“Which one?”
Evelyn studied the old blueprint.
“Blue.”
“They are both blue.”
Another bullet shattered the outer layer of glass.
Lena backed away.
The timer reached 00:47.
Caleb closed his eyes.
Then he pulled the left wire.
The vault door opened.
Gas poured into the tunnel.
Caleb disappeared inside.
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The timer reached zero.
And the ballroom floor exploded upward.
