The smell of burnt gunpowder and hot metal instantly filled the air.

The man crumpled forward, his gun clattering onto the floorboards.

Ryker stepped over him, his boots clicking on the floor.

He grabbed the man by the collar of his tactical vest and dragged him inside.

With a swift kick, Ryker slammed the heavy steel door shut again.

He threw the manual deadbolt into place, the thick metal bar sliding home with a heavy thud.

“One of Gideon’s clean-up crew,” Ryker said, checking the man’s pulse with two fingers.

“Is he alive?” I asked, my knees shaking.

“He’ll live,” Ryker said, pulling a set of heavy plastic zip-ties from his belt.

He bound the man’s wrists tightly behind his back.

Tessa stayed huddled over her laptop, her face pale under the blue glow of the screen.

“They found us too quickly,” she whispered, her fingers trembling over the keyboard.

“They had help,” Ryker said, pointing to the bypass tool still hanging from the outer keypad.

He picked up the intruder’s dropped radio and turned the volume dial to zero.

The safe room felt smaller now, suffocating and hot.