Chapter 3 – THE TIMER ON THE COAT

“Three minutes!” Daniel yelled, ushering the last of the screaming guests through the reinforced doors toward the greenhouse.

The digital timer stitched into my father’s old winter coat blinked bright red.

02:59.

“It’s a localized charge,” Luca said rapidly, his eyes scanning the thickness of the coat. “If it detonates in the open foyer, it’ll take out the support columns. The entire roof will collapse.”

Answer one: Arthur Vance wasn’t bluffing about the explosives. He had kept my father’s coat as a sick trophy for ten years, waiting for the perfect moment to weaponize it against me.

“We have to throw it in the elevator shaft,” Daniel suggested, his weapon drawn. “The concrete walls will absorb the blast!”

“The elevator is stuck on the second floor,” Luca argued. “If we throw it down the shaft, it drops to the sub-basement. That’s where the main gas lines are. It’ll level the entire estate.”

Open two: If we can’t leave it in the foyer and we can’t throw it down the shaft, how do we dispose of it in two minutes? And where is Arthur Vance right now?

02:30.

Mateo buried his face in my apron, trembling violently. I wrapped my arms around the eight-year-old, shielding him.

“The vault,” I said suddenly, looking at Luca.

Luca frowned. “What?”

“The family vault in the sub-basement,” I spoke quickly. “Vanessa said Arthur was trying to break into it. Is the vault door blast-proof?”

“Yes,” Luca said. “It’s solid titanium.”

“If we put the coat inside the vault and lock the door, the explosion will be contained,” I reasoned. “It won’t hit the gas lines.”

“We’ll lose everything inside,” Luca said. Millions in bearer bonds, family heirlooms, cash.

“You’ll lose your son if this roof comes down,” I fired back.

Luca didn’t hesitate for a single second. He looked at the millions of dollars of wealth represented by that vault, and he chose Mateo without blinking.

“Daniel, take Claire and Mateo to the greenhouse!” Luca ordered.

Luca sprinted toward the explosive. He scooped up the blood-stained coat, ignoring the flashing timer.

01:45.

Luca ran toward the basement stairs.

“Come on, Claire!” Daniel grabbed my arm.

“No!” Vanessa shrieked from the corner, scrambling to her feet. “Arthur is down there! If you lock the vault, you’ll kill him!”

She pulled a small, pearl-handled revolver from her clutch purse—a gun she had smuggled past her own fiancé’s security. She aimed it directly at Daniel’s back.

“Drop the gun, Daniel,” Vanessa hissed.

Daniel froze.

Vanessa turned her wild eyes to me.

“You’re coming with me, Claire,” Vanessa ordered, her hands shaking. “We’re going to the basement. I am not letting Luca trap my husband in that vault.”

“I have to stay with Mateo,” I pleaded, pulling the boy closer.

“Leave the kid,” Vanessa snapped. “Walk!”

She pressed the barrel of the gun against my spine. I had no choice. I looked at Daniel, begging him silently to keep Mateo safe. Daniel gave a tiny nod.

Vanessa marched me down the basement stairs. The air grew colder, smelling of damp stone and expensive cigars.

We reached the sub-basement hallway.

At the far end, standing in front of the massive titanium vault door, was Arthur Vance.

He looked exactly like the photograph, just grayer and more desperate. He had a heavy blowtorch in his hand, trying to cut through the electronic lock.

Luca was standing twenty feet away, holding my father’s rigged coat.

00:45.

“Arthur!” Vanessa screamed.

Arthur turned. When he saw Luca holding the explosive coat, his face went completely pale.

“Put it in the vault, Arthur,” Luca commanded, his voice echoing in the stone corridor. “Open the door, or we all die.”

“I can’t open it!” Arthur yelled in panic. “The biometric lock needs your fingerprint! That’s why I brought the blowtorch!”

Answer one: Arthur hadn’t breached the vault yet. The distraction had failed, and he was locked out.

“Then we have thirty seconds to run,” Luca said, turning to sprint back up the stairs.

“Nobody moves!” Vanessa shrieked, firing a warning shot into the ceiling. Plaster rained down on us.

00:25.

“Vanessa, are you insane?” Arthur yelled. “It’s going to blow!”

“Open the vault, Luca!” Vanessa demanded, pointing the gun at my head. “Open it, or I shoot your housekeeper right now!”

Luca stopped. He looked at me, then at the timer on the coat in his hands.

00:15.

He didn’t have time to argue. He didn’t have time to fight.

Luca walked quickly to the vault. He pressed his thumb against the biometric scanner.

The heavy titanium bolts clacked loudly. The massive door swung open.

Luca threw the explosive coat deep inside the vault.

“Get in!” Vanessa ordered Arthur, pointing at the open vault. “Grab the bonds!”

Arthur didn’t need to be told twice. He sprinted inside, grabbing handfuls of bearer bonds from the shelves, stuffing them into his duffel bag.

00:08.

“Arthur, get out!” Vanessa screamed.

But Arthur was greedy. He reached for a heavy velvet box on the top shelf.

00:05.

Luca didn’t wait. He grabbed my arm, yanking me violently out of the doorway.

With a roar of effort, Luca grabbed the heavy titanium handle and slammed the vault door shut.

The biometric locks engaged instantly.

Arthur Vance was locked inside with the bomb.

00:01.

Luca threw himself over me, pinning me to the concrete floor just as a muffled, heavy thud echoed from behind the titanium steel.

The floor vibrated. Dust fell from the ceiling.

But the vault held.

Arthur Vance was dead.

The silence that followed was absolute.

I lay on the cold concrete, my heart pounding in my ears. Luca’s heavy, protective weight was shielding me. He slowly lifted his head, checking to ensure I was unhurt.

Then, we heard a small click.

We turned our heads.

Vanessa was standing five feet away. Her husband was dead behind a wall of steel, and she had nothing left to lose.

She pointed the pearl-handled revolver directly at Luca’s chest.

“You killed him,” Vanessa whispered, tears streaming down her face.

She pulled the trigger.

And a loud, metallic click echoed in the empty corridor.

She pulled it again. Click.

Vanessa stared at the gun in horror.

“Empty,” a voice said from the stairs.

Standing on the bottom step, holding a handful of small silver bullets, was Mateo.

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