It was night—late enough that the streets outside had emptied, but just early enough for the Central Bank’s lights to still burn behind glass and steel.

Perfect. Zade had watched, waited, rehearsed this exact moment in his mind for months. The shift changes. The timing of the guards. The blind spots in the security cameras. He knew them better than the staff themselves.

He moved like a shadow slipping through cracks—silent, precise, cold. The front doors gave way under the threat of his weapon, and within seconds, the room erupted in chaos.

“Down! Now!”

His voice cracked across the lobby like a whip. Every head turned. Every body dropped. A scream started but choked off halfway as he stepped forward, gun raised, eyes scanning for movement.

Control. You control the room, you control the outcome.

He made a beeline for the steel-reinforced vault plate, his boots hammering against the polished floor.

“You,” he barked at a trembling manager in a cheap tie, “open it. Now.”

The man fumbled with shaking hands, keys rattling. Zade’s finger hovered near the trigger, not out of nervousness—but anticipation. Every second the vault stayed closed was a second closer to failure.

Then—movement. To his left.

His head snapped around. A girl—young, no more than twenty—frozen near the counter. Eyes locked on him, wide and terrified. She wasn’t moving, not screaming, not even breathing.

Why the hell is she still standing?

Something in her expression made him pause. Not defiance. Not pleading. Just raw, unfiltered fear.

Without hesitation, he pivoted and lunged, grabbing her by the arm. She let out a gasp, too soft, too late. He yanked her against him, her back hitting his chest, his gun pressed hard against her temple.

Her breath caught. She stiffened.

Leverage. That’s all she is now.

“Anybody moves—she dies,” Zade growled, voice low, guttural, dangerous.

The room froze solid.

He turned, dragging her with him toward the vault. She stumbled, heels scraping the floor, but he didn’t slow.

“She’s coming with me. Open that vault or you watch her drop.”

The steel silence of the lobby swallowed his threat like a prayer in a church. Everyone obeyed. Everyone always obeyed.

Zade didn’t blink. Not now. Not until the vault opened. Not until the job was done.