Chapter 35 - Ambush in the Engadin
"Move!" Julian shouted, grabbing the ledger and thrusting it into a reinforced leather satchel.
I reacted instantly. My maternal instincts had heightened my reflexes over the past year; I knew that if the vault sealed, we would be suffocated or trapped at the mercy of whoever had overridden the bank's mainframe.
I dove through the narrowing gap between the steel door and the frame, landing hard on the polished marble floor of the corridor. Julian followed a split second later, his heavy coat catching on the latch before tearing free.
Gunfire erupted from the elevator vestibule at the far end of the subterranean corridor.
Bullets ricocheted off the reinforced granite walls, sending sharp plumes of dust into the air. Two guards from the bank lay incapacitated near the security turnstiles.
"Down!" Julian pulled me behind a thick structural pillar as three men clad in tactical gear and unmarked balaclavas advanced, suppressing fire with silenced submachine guns.
Suddenly, the security door on the north emergency stairwell blew inward with a deafening percussion blast.
Angela charged through the smoke, two of our private security operatives flanking her. She fired three rapid, disciplined shots, dropping the lead assailant instantly.
"Sophie! To the service lift!" Angela barked, reloading with mechanical precision. "The street is compromised! Local police have been delayed by false bomb threats across Paradeplatz—this is a coordinated hit!"
Julian drew a compact Walther PPK from his jacket, returning fire to cover our retreat. "We can't go up to the street level! They have snipers covering the tram lines. We take the underground tunnel to the freight bay!"
We sprinted through the labyrinth of utility corridors beneath Zurich’s financial hub. Every breath burned my lungs, but my thoughts were entirely with my son waiting at the hotel.
"Noah," I gasped, clutching the satchel to my chest. "Angela, where is Noah?"
"Mark and Chen have him secured in the armored Sprinter," Angela shouted back, her weapon scanning the corners as we descended a metal flight of steps toward the freight docks. "They moved him the moment the alarm tripped. We have a private jet spooling up at Zurich-Kloten, but the highway is blocked. We have to go east—over the Julier Pass into the Engadin."
We burst out into the underground loading bay just as an armored Mercedes SUV screeched to a halt beside us. Mark kicked open the passenger door.
"Get in! Now!"
I scrambled into the back seat, my arms immediately wrapping around the baby seat where Noah was strapped, wide-eyed but calm, clutching his plush velvet bunny. The relief that flooded my veins was so intense I nearly broke into tears, but there was no time.
Julian leaped into the front passenger seat, slamming the door just as a barrage of high-caliber rounds slammed against the bulletproof glass of our rear window, spider-webbing the outer layer but failing to penetrate.
"Drive!" I commanded.
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The heavy SUV tore out of the underground depot, bursting into the freezing Zurich rain and rocketing toward the highway leading straight into the snow-capped, treacherous passes of the Swiss Alps.
***
