Chapter 5
The moment the cry registered in my brain, the defeated handyman vanished. I didn't turn back to look at the house; I simply let go of my truck door and sprinted across the perfectly manicured lawn. The crushed gravel snapped and popped violently beneath my heavy work boots as I rounded the corner of the garage, zeroing in on the old warehouse.
"Daniel!"
Laura’s scream tore through the air behind me. She had been watching from the front window. I heard the front door slam open and Victor’s heavy footsteps pounding against the pavement as he gave chase.
"Hey! Get the hell away from there!" Victor bellowed, his voice laced with sudden, raw panic.
I ignored them. I reached the large, sliding metal door of the warehouse. It was secured with a thick, heavy-duty chain, wrapped tightly around the handles. But the padlock holding the chain together was a cheap, generic brass model—the kind you buy for five dollars at a hardware store. To a security expert, it was an insult.
I didn't have time to pick it. I reached to my belt and unclipped the heavy, hardened steel emergency glass-breaker I always carried. It was designed to shatter reinforced car windows in a single strike.
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I gripped the padlock with my left hand, pulling the chain taut to expose the shackle. I brought the steel tool down with every ounce of force in my right arm. The impact rang out like a gunshot. The cheap brass body of the lock deformed instantly, the internal pins shattering under the blunt force.
With a second, brutal strike, the shackle snapped free. I tore the chain away, letting it clatter loudly to the concrete, and grabbed the heavy metal handle. Victor was less than twenty feet away, screaming at me to stop, but he was too late. I yanked the door open and stepped into the darkness.
