Chapter 8 - The Vault at Saint Jude
The rain intensified as they switched vehicles, abandoning the sedan for an armored suburban with tinted windows and utility plates. Claire sat beside Christian in the backseat, a laptop open between them, its screen casting a blue glare across their faces. On the display was the architectural blueprint of the Saint Jude Depository, an underground private storage vault built into the bedrock beneath the financial district.
""Julian kept the physical share certificates and the bearer bonds in Box 408,"" Claire said, tracing the vault's ventilation shafts with her finger. ""He never trusted digital custody for the primary family deeds. He was arrogant, but he wasn't entirely stupid.""
""Kane’s men are already at the facility,"" Christian warned, pulling up traffic camera feeds from the corner of Wall and Broad. Two black SUVs were parked illegally outside the brass-framed entrance of Saint Jude. ""Victoria gave them the override keycards ten minutes ago. She’s inside the building right now.""
""Victoria doesn't have the biometric sequence,"" Claire stated firmly. ""My father designed Saint Jude’s dual-custody mechanism thirty years ago. Box 408 requires two registered blood relatives to scan simultaneously. Julian is one. The other was supposed to be Arthur.""
""Arthur had a stroke twenty minutes ago in the hotel lobby,"" Christian said quietly.
Claire’s head snapped toward him. A sharp, suffocating pain pierced her chest. ""Is he alive?""
""He's in an ambulance en route to Presbyterian under armed guard,"" Christian answered, his voice devoid of pity. ""Kane’s operatives spiked his water glass before the banquet ended. They didn't want him having a change of heart. That leaves only one living relative who can authorize Box 408.""
Claire stared at her own hands resting on the keyboard. Her left palm still bore the faint trace of the seal she had handled earlier. ""Me.""
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""If you go inside that vault, Kane's people won't let you walk out alive,"" Christian warned, leaning in close, his voice dropping an octave. ""They'll force your hand onto that scanner, take the physical bearer certificates, and put a bullet through the back of your skull before you hit the lobby floor.""
""Then we make sure they never reach the vault doors,"" Claire said, shutting the laptop with a decisive snap.
