Chapter 269: The Exfiltration

The realization hit me with the force of a physical blow.

The air in the vault went cold.

The Empress hadn’t just triggered an audit to expose Cho. She had anticipated that the Golden Koi would try to fix the ledgers. She had fed Cho false information about the IA team’s schedule, knowing Cho would pass it to me.

It was a trap. She wanted to catch the ghost of the Golden Koi inside a federal evidence vault.

My pulse was loud in my ears.

"They’re thirty seconds away from the security desk," Claire warned. Her voice was tight in the comms.

"We can’t go back out the front door," Ethan said, his eyes wide in the green glow of the NVGs. The green made his skin look sick. "If we engage federal marshals, we’re dead."

I looked around the vault. It was a reinforced concrete box. There were no windows, no secondary doors, and no drainage grates.

The walls were bare. The ceiling was low. The air smelled like dust, paper, and metal.

"Overwatch, I need a structural schematic of this vault, right now," I demanded, moving toward the back wall. My boots made no sound on the concrete.

"There’s an emergency ventilation shaft built into the ceiling above aisle six," Nia reported rapidly. I could hear her breathing fast. "It’s designed to vent the room in case of a chemical fire. It leads straight up to the ground floor motor pool."

I sprinted to aisle six, looking up. The ceiling was fifteen feet high. A heavy steel louvered grate covered a three-foot-wide ventilation shaft. Dust sat on the edges of the grate.

"Boost me," I told Ethan.

Ethan dropped the empty duffel bag. It hit the floor with a soft _thud._ He locked his hands together, and braced his legs. His shoulders were tense.

I took two running steps, planted my boot in his hands, and he launched me upward with everything he had.

The air rushed past. For a second I was weightless.

I caught the edge of the steel grate. My muscles strained against the sudden deceleration. My shoulders burned. I hung there for a second, feet kicking.

Then I pulled my multi-tool from my vest with one hand. _Click._ I jammed the pry-bar attachment under the edge of the grate and wrenched it downward. The rusted screws snapped. _Pop. Pop._ Each one gave way with a sharp crack.

The heavy grate swung open, hanging by a single hinge.

Dust fell into my face. Dry. Gritty.

I pulled myself up into the narrow, dusty shaft.

The metal was cold. The space was tight. It smelled like old air and rust.

"Come on!" I hissed, reaching my hand down. My voice was barely a whisper.

Ethan took a running jump, leaping as high as he could. I caught his wrist. The jolt nearly pulled me out of the shaft. My arm almost tore.

I braced my boots against the sheet metal. It bowed under my weight. _Creeeak._ I hauled him up, dragging him into the vent just as the heavy steel door of the vault began to swing open.

We froze, holding our breath in the cramped, pitch-black shaft.

The metal pressed against my back. My chest. I could feel Ethan’s shoulder against mine.

Below us, the beams of high-powered flashlights cut through the darkness of the vault. White light swept across the floor. It moved fast.

"The door was unlocked," a harsh, authoritative voice echoed off the concrete walls. The voice bounced. "Secure the perimeter. Check the cages."

Boots hit concrete. _Thud. Thud. Thud._ Multiple sets.

We didn’t wait to see if they looked up.

We began to crawl silently up the vertical incline of the shaft, using our elbows and knees to brace against the smooth metal. It was agonizing, claustrophobic work. The shaft was barely wider than my shoulders.

Every scrape of fabric against the metal sounded deafening in my own ears. _Screech._ Then another. _Screech._

Dust filled my nose. I had to breathe through my mouth.

My arms were burning. My knees hurt.

We climbed for what felt like hours, but was likely only three minutes. The shaft was dark. No light. Only the sound of us and the distant voices below.

"The shaft terminates at a maintenance grate in the motor pool garage," Claire guided us. Her voice was a whisper now. "The garage is currently empty. The night shift patrol cars are all out on the streets."

I kept climbing.

I reached the top of the shaft. My hands pressed against a heavy iron grate. It was cold. I pushed. The metal groaned softly. _Groooan._ It was louder than I wanted.

I paused. Listened. No reaction from below.

I pushed again and pulled myself out onto the oil-stained concrete floor of the precinct garage. The air was different here. Cooler. It smelled like gasoline, oil, and rubber.

Ethan scrambled out behind me, gasping for air. He was sweating.

The garage was big. Dark. Rows of parked police cruisers. White and blue paint. The emergency exit sign glowed red in the corner.

We didn’t linger.

We moved through the shadows of the parked police cruisers. Staying low. My back stayed to the pillars. The concrete was cold through my knees.

We reached a side maintenance door. Metal. I tried the handle. It turned. _Click._

We slipped out, and melted into the dark, rain-slicked streets of the city.

The night air hit my face. Wet. It smelled like rain and asphalt.

Water dripped from the eaves. _Drip. Drip._ Puddles reflected the streetlights.

We walked fast. Not running.

My jacket was damp from the tunnel. It was cold against my skin.

We had replaced the cash. Cho was safe.

But as we walked back toward the Outer Harbour, the mechanical hum at the base of my skull vibrated with a cold, relentless rhythm.

The Empress had almost caught me. She was playing chess, and she was thinking three moves ahead.

Playing defense was no longer an option.

The city was quiet. Too quiet. No sirens. Just the sound of our steps and the rain.