Chapter 12 - THE VENTILATION SHAFT
Working with frantic speed, Clara jammed the edge of the crowbar into the seam, leaning her full weight into the iron. With a sharp, screeching groan of bending metal, the bolts snapped one by one. The heavy grate clattered onto a pile of discarded burlap sacks below.
The opening was pitch-black, narrow, and smelled of decades of accumulated dust and hot iron.
"I’ll go first to clear the cobwebs," Clara said, boosting herself into the rectangular duct. The metal groaned under her weight, the tight quarters pressing painfully against her bandaged torso. Every breath was a fight, but she reached back down, extending her hand. "Come on, baby. Grab my arm."
Lily climbed up fluidly, her small body sliding through the sheet-metal tunnel with far greater ease. Holding the flashlight between her teeth, Clara shuffled forward on her elbows and knees, guiding her daughter through the labyrinth of ducts.
They crawled forty feet straight, turned right at a heavy junction box, and reached a second iron vent looking down into a silent, dimly lit room.
Clara peeked through the slats. Below lay the inner utility corridor of the National Commerce Bank’s subterranean vault facility. Massive reinforced concrete walls painted industrial gray framed the room, dominated by a heavy electronic junction panel flashing green LED indicators.
"No guards inside," Clara whispered, her voice tight. "The room is completely isolated from the main lobby."
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Clara pushed against the lower vent panel with her boots until the rusted rivets popped free. She slid down the wall, dropping silently onto the polished concrete floor, and caught Lily in her arms as the girl slid down behind her.
They were inside the bank’s deep-security core.
