Chapter 5 - Trapped in the Dark
"William!" Emma gasped, plunging into total darkness.
"I'm right here!" William’s voice called out instantly. A second later, the bright beam of his smartphone flashlight illuminated the steel room.
He rushed to the heavy titanium door, grabbing the mechanical handle and pulling with all his strength. It didn't budge.
"The secondary emergency lock has been activated from the outside console," Emma said, her voice tight with rising fear as she checked the digital door interface. "It’s a hard override. It seals the ventilation shafts to prevent fire damage to the documents."
"Ventilation?" William’s head snapped up. "How much air do we have in here?"
"With three of us... maybe two hours," Emma replied, her mind racing. "Who could have locked it? Marcus and Isabella are in security custody at the estate!"
"Not everyone was at the estate," William realized, his face darkening with realization. "Marcus wasn't acting alone. The syndicate has people inside the Foundation's executive board."
From the armchair across the room, Charlotte stirred, waking up to the pitch-black room and crying softly. "Daddy? It's dark... I don't like the quiet room..."
William immediately hurried to his daughter's side, scooping her into his arms and kissing her forehead. "It's okay, sweetheart. Daddy's here. Emma’s here. We're just playing a game."
"We need to find another way out," Emma said, sweeping her flash beam across the heavy concrete walls. "This vault was built in the 1990s. There has to be a physical maintenance access shaft for the climate control units."
"Behind the east shelving units," William said, pointing toward the far wall. "The ductwork runs directly to the building's main boiler room."
Together, William and Emma worked frantically, pulling heavy metal archive boxes off the steel racks and shoving the massive shelving units aside.
Behind the third row, concealed behind a metal grate, was an eighteen-inch square ventilation shaft.
"It's narrow," Emma observed, inspecting the heavy screws holding the grate in place. "I can fit through, but you won't, William. Your shoulders are too broad."
"I don't care about me," William said fiercely. "You take Charlotte and get out of here. Find the police, show them the documents—"
"I am not leaving you here to suffocate, Mr. Sterling!" Emma interrupted, her eyes snapping to his with absolute conviction. "We're all getting out of here together."
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She pulled an antique metal paper cutter from the desktop, jamming the heavy steel lever beneath the corner of the ventilation grate, leveraging her whole body weight against it.
With a sharp, metallic screech, the rusty bolts snapped free.
