The Sacred Vault_ A Novel - Andy McDermott [74]
He squinted, blinking away more sweat. The first obstacle: the metal baffle plates welded into the duct about thirty-five feet away. He would have to use the cutter to remove them.
Six more inches. Another six. His shoulders ached, but he had to endure the pain - the duct was too narrow for him to shift his weight. His back itched furiously, sweat building up inside the bodysuit.
Keep moving. Pull. Pull. Another foot covered—
The duct floor flexed under his weight. A flat metallic clonk echoed through the vent. He froze.
‘Eddie!’ Karima’s voice was anxious. ‘What was that?’
‘Are the guards moving?’ he whispered.
‘Yes! One of them just stood up!’
‘Eddie?’ called Jablonsky. The noise sounded like something being dropped. He looked at the monitors. Eddie was still in the booth, apparently not having heard anything. The noise wasn’t him, then. So what was it?
‘Maybe a locker popped open,’ Vernio suggested. It had happened before.
‘I’ll take a look.’ Jablonsky set off down the aisle.
Rad switched the laptop’s video grid to show the untampered feeds from all the cameras so he could track the guard. ‘Eddie!’ Karima said. ‘He’s moving, he’s coming towards—’
The boat suddenly lurched as waves slapped the hull. A shaft of dazzling light shone through the open porthole. ‘You on the boat!’ boomed an amplified voice from outside. ‘This is the NYPD Harbor Unit. Come out on the deck, right now!’
13
Eddie heard a faint clacking somewhere below: the guard’s footsteps.
Getting closer.
What had happened to Karima? She had cut off mid-sentence. ‘Karima!’ he hissed. ‘Can you hear me? Karima!’
The beam of light shifted as the NYPD boat closed in. ‘I say again,’ the cop barked through his bullhorn, ‘this is the police! Show yourselves!’
Rad looked at Karima. ‘What do we do? If they board us—’
‘Forget that!’ cried Matt. The spool of fibre-optic line was unwinding in fits and starts. ‘Their boat’s snagged the line! If it breaks, we’ll lose the link - and the cameras’ll come back on!’ He spun the drum to pay out more line. The fibre-optic thread was strong and flexible - but ultimately it was nothing more than glass, and would snap if overstressed. ‘Try to stall ’em until I can get this loose!’
Karima and Rad shared nervous looks, then Karima opened the hatch, taking off her headset before slowly climbing to the deck. A dazzling light shone in her face. Through the glare she made out a larger blue and white boat alongside their vessel. ‘Come on out where we can see you, miss,’ ordered the cop.
‘Is there a problem?’ she called as Rad emerged behind her. Glancing back through the hatch, she saw Matt still desperately turning the spool.
‘Yeah, you could say that. Weighing anchor in the middle of the East River ain’t a smart move.’ On the police boat’s deck, two officers moved to board the smaller craft. The light played over the two Jordanians. ‘Now, would I be right in thinking that you’re not American citizens?’
The footsteps got closer. Eddie forced himself to remain statue-still, trying to suppress even his breathing.
Click-click-click . . . click . . . click. The guard had stopped - almost directly below him.
The first cop jumped aboard, making the boat sway. He regarded Karima and Rad with evident suspicion, then looked across at the dark crystal tower of the Secretariat Building. Even without speaking, his thought processes were clear: Arabs . . . sky-scraper . . . terrorists. One hand moved to the butt of his holstered gun. ‘You better have a damn good reason for being out here.’
Jablonsky put his hands on his hips, looking round. None of the lockers was open. Maybe the noise had been a gust of wind through the ventilation system, or something heavy being moved on the floor above.
He was about to return to his post - then decided that since he was up, he might as well do a round of the archives.
He started towards the reading area.
‘All right, okay, I’m coming!’ came a voice from below deck. Matt clambered through the hatch, glaring at the