They were keeping her isolated, ensuring she stayed away from the secure inner circle where my loyal guards operated.

“She was tracking her,” I said. “Every step.”

“Oh my God,” Nora whispered, pulling Lila closer.

Lila looked up at me with large, innocent eyes, unaware of the threat resting against her chest.

“Is it a bomb, Daddy?” she asked.

“No, sweetheart,” I said, keeping my voice as calm as possible. “Just a broken toy.”

I carefully detached the chain from her neck.

I laid the open transmitter on top of a concrete ledge near the brick shaft.

If Caleb’s men were monitoring the signal, they would think Lila was still standing right by this wall.

The heavy brass handle of the vault door rattled violently again.

A muffled voice shouted an order from the corridor outside.

“They’re trying to force the hinges,” Daniel said, raising his weapon toward the steel barrier.

Marcus leaned heavily against his chair, his face pale from blood loss, his hand pressing a cloth to his wounded side.

“They have the breach charges,” Marcus groaned. “They brought them from the armory.”