THE VAULT OF SECRETS

Chapter 3: The Vault of Secrets

The SUV cut through the morning fog of Manhattan like a sharp knife. Inside it was quiet. Silas sat in the back with Avery staring at his tablet though he hadn't scrolled in five minutes. Avery looked out the window, her hand holding the strap of her bag where the Sterling access card was. She felt nervous.

"You are really quiet for someone who was talking about my 'ego' for twenty minutes, " Silas said, his voice cutting through the sound of the tires.

Avery didn't look at him. "I am thinking about the chances of you firing me before we get to the bank."

"If you are right about the mistakes you are too valuable to fire " Silas said, finally looking at her. "If you are wrong you are too dangerous to let out of my sight. Either way you are staying close."

The SUV stopped in front of the Zurich-Manhattan Bank, a building that looked old and rich. As they got out the cool morning air hit Avery's skin. She felt the eyes of the security guards on her—a girl in a blazer who looked like she belonged in a library, not a high-security vault.

Inside the lobby was quiet the floor marble that echoed every step. A manager in a suit greeted Silas with a bow.

"Mr. Thorne, thank you for coming quickly. The alert was triggered in the Sterling sub-level. The system found a try that wasn't in our current active database."

Silas's jaw got tight. "Who was it?"

"We don't have a picture, sir. The try was made remotely via an encrypted key " the manager explained, leading them toward the private elevator. ". The system found where the key came from. It belonged to Arthur Sterling himself."

Avery felt scared. Her grandfather had been dead for years. If the key was active it meant the "Friend" who had sent her the letter was already moving.

The elevator went underground. When the doors opened they were met by a steel gate. Silas stepped forward giving his thumbprint and a retinal scan. The gate opened, showing a room with gold safety deposit boxes.

"Wait here " Silas told Avery, his tone firm.

He walked toward the end of the vault speaking in low tones with the manager. Avery stood by the door, her heart racing. This was her chance. She knew from her fathers stories that the Sterling box wasn't just opened with a key; it needed a sequence.

She looked at Silas. He was distracted looking at a computer terminal with the manager. Avery reached into her bag. Felt the card. On the back in letters that only appeared in the bright light of the vault were three numbers: 7-22-91. Her fathers birthday.

She moved toward a terminal near the entrance—a guest log station. She didn't need the vault. She needed to know what was being moved. She swiped her card through the side slot, her breath catching.

The screen turned on. Access Granted: Sterling, Avery.

Documents started to scroll. It wasn't stock certificates. It was a ledger of every "gift" the Sterling family had given to the Thorne patriarchs over thirty years. It was a roadmap of bribery, blackmail and the true reason her father had been destroyed: he had refused to sign over a piece of technology that Silas was currently using to build his empire.

"What are you doing?"

Silas's voice was behind her ear.

Avery jumped, almost dropping the card. She tried to clear the screen. Silas's hand reached over her shoulder slamming onto the terminal to keep the display on. He was so close she could feel his body heat.

He looked at the screen, his eyes widening as he saw the Sterling crest at the top of the ledger. Then he looked at the card in her hand.

"Avery Cole " he whispered, his voice. Dangerous. "Cole isn't your name. It's a name. Your father was Alistair Sterling."

The secret was out. The "Friend" had warned her not to let them know. The vault had betrayed her.

Avery turned in the space between him and the terminal, her back against the cold metal. "He was a man than your father ever was, Silas."

Silas didn't pull away. Instead he leaned closer his eyes searching hers with an intensity that made her knees weak. "You didn't come here for a job. You came for a war."

"I came for what's mine " she hissed.

Before Silas could respond the vault's lights flashed red. A mechanical voice echoed through the chamber: Security Breach. Sub-level Lock-down Initiated.

The heavy steel gate at the entrance slammed shut with a boom. The manager was nowhere to be seen.

"Silas?" Avery asked, her bravado flickering into fear.

Silas looked at the door back at her his expression grim. "My uncle Julian doesn't believe in the end, Avery. He didn't just trigger the alert to bring me here. He triggered it to bury both of us."

As the oxygen vents hissed shut Avery realized that her life had just begun: she was trapped in a vacuum-sealed vault, with the man she was supposed to destroy and they only had air for twenty minutes.