Chapter 11 - The Submerged Vault
The water in the chamber was rising rapidly, frothing with freezing brine as the automated valves pumped hundreds of gallons a minute from the surrounding sea. Inside the suspended cage, the chained man raised his head. His face was gaunt, covered in a ragged beard, his skin pale and scarred from months without sunlight.
Marcus Vance looked through the glass, his sunken eyes widening as he recognized the tall, imposing figure stepping out of the elevator.
“Dad...?” Marcus’s voice was lost beneath the roar of the rushing water, but his lips formed the word.
Alexander reached the control console beside the reinforced vault door. The digital interface was flashing red, locked down by Victor’s biological countdown: 00:00:08... 00:00:07...
“Hold his arm to the scanner!” Alexander commanded.
Briggs shoved Victor forward, slamming the tactical watch on his broken wrist against the console’s optical sensor. The machine beeped frantically: Biometric signature recognized. Override code required.
“The code, Victor!” Alexander roared, the calm facade finally shattering into raw patriarchal fury. He pressed the muzzle of his .45 against Victor’s left eye. “Give me the code or you drown in this elevator while I tear that door open with my bare hands!”
Victor sobbed, his broken spirit completely crushed. “Zero... four... one... nine! The day my sister married Marcus!”
Alexander’s fingers flew across the keypad: 0-4-1-9.
A heavy mechanical buzzer sounded, followed by the deep hiss of pneumatic release valves. The primary override engaged with two seconds left on the clock. The overhead water pipes shuddered and shut off with a violent groan. The steel drainage grates on the floor opened, sucking the freezing sea water back into the ocean depths.
The heavy circular vault door unlocked, swinging open with a hiss of compressed air.
Alexander rushed inside, paying no mind to the dirty water soaking his expensive wool trousers. He drew his tactical blade and severed the rusted chains holding Marcus suspended from the ceiling.
Marcus collapsed into his father’s arms. Alexander caught his son effortlessly, holding him tight against his chest just as he had held little Lily hours before. Marcus was shivering violently, his body burning with fever, his pulse dangerously weak.
“I held out, Dad...” Marcus whispered, coughing weakly into Alexander’s shoulder. “I didn't... give them the board codes. I knew you’d find me.”
Alexander’s eyes softened, a rare, single tear cutting through the soot and salt on his weathered cheek. “You did well, son. The nightmare is over. I’m taking you home.”
Suddenly, the heavy iron vault door slammed shut behind them with a deafening boom.
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Outside the glass, Briggs was thrown backward across the platform by a hail of gunfire. Through the observation window, another figure stepped into the control room, holding a smoking assault rifle.
It was Julianna. She was no longer wearing her elegant tweed suit. Dressed in black tactical gear, her blond hair pulled back, she held a remote detonator in her left hand, her face contorted with insane malice.
