Page 29 of Raider Unleashed

“What do you mean?” Denlo demanded.

Wells shrugged. “I mean I have no idea if it’s just a steel door with a bunch of locks or if there’s iron bars inside that will drop into the floor if the door is tampered with.”

Denlo went right up to Wells and pointed the gun an inch from his head. “You’d better get working then. We don’t have all night. And if metal bars drop into the floor, I’m going to kill you.” For emphasis, Denlo jammed the gun into Wells’ temple.

Sweat dripped onto the barrel from Wells’ face but he nodded. He pointed at some tools with a shaking hand and Baker handed them over.

Raider backed up and took Piper with him. Baker came back to stand next to them. They watched Wells for the next twenty minutes before Raider finally took pity on the guy. “Denlo, it might be easier for me to blow the door.”

Denlo turned to him.

“This section of wall isn’t load-bearing. I can blow an access hole here.” He tapped the wall next to the steel door. “It will be a hell of a lot faster than this. The only issue is that some of the boxes inside might get damaged.” It was a risk but Raider figured Wells was on borrowed time at this point. Denlo hadbeen pacing back and forth with this gun down at his side and his finger on the trigger. Raider couldn’t tell if the safety was on, but chances were good the man was just that negligent.

Baker cleared his throat. “That’s a much better idea. I mean, then we get out of here much faster and we don’t need to worry so much about being discovered.” He licked his lips. “If we can’t break into the vault then we should get what we can.”

Denlo whirled around and stared at him.

Shit.Baker shouldn’t have brought up the vault. The man knew it, too, because he started swallowing convulsively.

Raider opened his mouth to try and convince Denlo when Piper cut him off. “They’re right. This whole job is a mess. The guy who’s feeding you info has been wrong about everything. He sucks. He’s the reason this isn’t working. Might as well cut our losses and take what we can.”

Denlo’s gaze bounced from person to person, his mouth opening and closing like he was trying to make up his mind.

“At least we get something out of this if we blow the door,” Raider commented. He didn’t have a lot of C4 left but he could make it work. He had enough of everything else.

Finally, Denlo narrowed his eyes but nodded once. Raider landed on his feet when he dropped back into the basement and wasted no time collecting the explosives and the rest of the materials. Piper was waiting for him the in bank’s office and took the equipment he handed her. Once he climbed to the top of the ladder and hoisted himself back into the bank, he hurried to the main lobby.

Five minutes later, the door was rigged.

“Move back into that corner,” he suggested to Denlo, Wells, and Baker, waving to the safest spot in the open lobby. He kept Piper close to him under the pretense of needing her help to lay the wires. He guided her around the corner and into the office space.

He gave her a nod and called out, “Fire in the hole,” and then hit the button. The explosion was louder than the last one and the debris, including the door, went flying past.

Raider waited another second for the dust to settle and then came around the corner. Denlo was already striding into the safety deposit box room. Baker and Wells were also inside.

Raider glanced at Piper. “Might be a good time to split and let the team handle this.” He murmured.

She shook her head. “John was clear. I have to see the thumb drive first.” She stepped into the room and Raider followed her. None of this was making him feel any better about this mess but hopefully, it would all be over soon.

The thirty-by-thirty room felt even smaller with all five of them inside. Boxes lined all four walls. Like post office boxes only without a little window on the door. A marble-topped island sat square in the middle of the room so people could set the boxes on it when they were in there. Only a few of the containers had sustained any damage, and it didn’t appear like there was anything of any value inside them. Just some paperwork on the floor among the wood and debris.

Denlo was searched for something. He came to a stop in front of a particular set of boxes. “Number two-eighty-three.” He tapped it. “I need this opened,” he said as he turned to look at Baker and Wells.

They looked at each other and then Baker said, “Let me get the drill.” He was back a few moments later, drill in hand.

Wells stepped out of the way and started looking around the room. He went to the boxes that were damaged and started digging around in them. He frowned. “There’s nothing here,” he said quietly to Raider who was standing next to the hole in the wall. The drill was aloud and masked the sound of his voice. Raider had to lean in slightly to hear it. “I mean all this shit and there’s nothing here. I don’t get it. Denlo doesn’t even reallyseem upset about the vault.” Wells searched Raider’s face. “What the hell is going on?”

Raider shrugged silently. There was nothing he could say that was going to stop Wells from connecting the dots at this point. Wells stared at Baker working on the box. Then he turned back to Raider. “He’s been after what’s in the box all along, right? He just thought the boxes were in the vault.”

Again, Raider stayed silent.

“He was going to kill us, wasn’t he? I mean once he got whatever he wants from the box. The story about all the cash in the vault was bogus, right? He was going to get what he came for and kill the rest of us.”

Raider leaned in slightly. “Just stay calm. This will all be over shortly. Then you and Baker get the hell out of here as fast as you can, okay?”

Wells stared at him, but he remained quiet.

The drilling stopped and Baker opened the small door. Denlo muscled him aside and pulled out the long, flat box and then took it over to the island. He put it down and pointed to the lock. It took Baker no time at all to drill the lock and Denlo threw the lid open.

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