Nico was through the door before Luca could say another word.
Mara followed three steps behind, her bare feet hitting the cold corridor floor before she'd even thought about shoes.
They moved fast through the west wing, Luca keeping pace despite his bandaged arm, his face still carrying that look she never wanted to see on him again.
The panic room door was open.
It hadn't been forced or blown off its hinges like the east wing doors the night before. Instead, the heavy steel door simply rested against the wall, as if someone had walked out calmly and left it behind.
Two guards were inside. One sat slumped against the wall, dazed and clutching the back of his head from a clean strike behind the ear. The other was checking the room's perimeter with a flashlight, his expression caught between embarrassed and terrified.
"She walked past me," the dazed guard said, before anyone asked. "I turned around for ten seconds. She just walked past me."
