The safe emitted a sharp, high-pitched beep.

A red light on the panel began to blink rapidly.

“Incorrect code,” the digital screen read.

I frowned, looking back at Daniel who had followed us to the doorway.

“You said it was her birthday,” I said.

“It is,” Daniel insisted, his face turning pale again.

“The day she was born.”

“Try the other format,” Hayes suggested.

I entered the digits again, reversing the month and day.

The red light continued to flash.

A soft, mechanical clicking sound started from behind the metal door of the safe.

It was too fast to be a locking mechanism.

It sounded like a timer.

My eyes widened as I looked at the digital display.

A countdown had appeared on the screen.

Thirty seconds.

“It’s a remote wipe protocol,” Miller yelled, reaching for his toolkit.

“She set a secondary lock.”

“If the wrong code is entered twice, the drive inside self-destructs.”

“Get the bypass cable!” Hayes ordered.

Daniel lunged forward, his face panicked.

“No, wait!” he shouted.

“There’s another code.”

“She told me a different date last week.”