held the door for them to enter.
“What’s the police response time when an alarm goes off?” Anderson asked.
“Three minutes.” Jones said without breaking a step.
“How many exits are there?” Clark said, speaking for the first time.
“Two, the main entrance where you came through and a fire exit at the back, which is very secure and never used.”
“How many employees work at night?” Anderson asked.
“None.” Jones said. “The cleaning staff are employed by the bank as full time staff so there are no outsiders who can access the bank.”
They walked along a short hallway and then turned left. The door to the vault room was accessed using voice recognition. The vault door was twenty ton, bomb proof and the lock intricate. Looking at it, Anderson knew that their cube would be safe here.
Jones took them through all the security measures of the room, a tinge of pride evident in his voice. He had every reason to be proud, Anderson thought, their security was top notch. When they left the bank, it was with a light step for Anderson. His light mood didn’t last long. His phone bleeped from his pocket and when he saw Mary’s number, his blood went cold.
“Mary, is everything OK?” Anderson said.
“I’m having a lot of cramp like pains.” Mary said from the other end.
“Hold tight, I’m coming to get you.” Anderson said.
Turning to his team, he said, “Its Mary, I need to take her to hospital. The baby might be coming.”
The trio sprinted to their car. Anderson cursed the decision to park so far from the bank. They jumped into the car and Jackson took off. He drove like a mad man, hooting at every driver who crossed his path. They made it in less than fifteen minutes, and before the car screeched to a halt, Anderson was already out. He ran to the entrance, fumbled with the front door key and finally got it in.
“Mary!” Anderson called racing through all the rooms downstairs, before running up the stairs. She was sprawled out on their bed, writhing in pain.
“Mary I’m here.” Anderson said.
She was a petite woman, barely over 5 feet. He gathered her in her arms and carried her down the stairs and into the waiting car. They took off again, nobody speaking in the car. After several minutes, the pain seemed to abate and like someone with a split personality, Mary sat up greeted Clark and Jackson at the front. The pains came again just as they were entering the hospital and then just as fast, they disappeared.
“We’ll grab a cab back; you guys go on to the bureau.” Anderson said, helping Mary out of the car.
Mary was examined and to Anderson’s disappointment the contractions turned out to be false alarms.
“Labor is imminent, but not today.” The doctor said, a kindly middle aged Indian.
“I don’t know if I can go through that again. It felt so real.” Mary said, also disappointed.
“Most likely the next time it happens, it’ll be the real thing.” The doctor said. “Was it painful or uncomfortable?”
Mary thought about it. “I’m not really sure. Sometimes they were.”
“When it’s labor, believe me, you’ll know. The pain will increase with time, not decrease. OK?”
They both nodded. Anderson took his wife back home, and using the same cab he was dropped in the office. His cell phone went off again just before he entered the bureau. He listened intently and then disconnected the call.
His face had paled. He went in and located his partners in the open plan office. They saw him approaching and looked astonished to see him back that soon.
“It was a false alarm.” He said before they could ask.
He sat on the desk and sighed.
“Boys I just got a call. It looks bad. Apparently word is out on the streets that something big is going down at Diamond bank. They know. The mob knows. They are planning a raid.”
Jackson clicked his mouth. Clark’s shoulders fell.
“Obviously they know what’s in the cube?” Clark said.
Anderson nodded. “The night
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