Page 55 of Knight Watch

“Certainly, do you have your ID?” April tilted her head with a genuine smile.

“Yes.” Sydney handed over her ID, glad that Kingsley and Malco had retrieved her wallet from her apartment that first day. She held her breath while April looked it over and then typed the numbers into the system. Sydney felt like she wanted to vomit as she waited.

April looked up and then down at the computer again. “I just need to get the manager to deal with this one. Security levels of this kind are over my clearance I’m afraid.” She offered another small, friendly smile that showed her dimples. The girl was pretty and probably only around twenty-three or four.

As she walked away, she felt Mason move whisper close to her ear. “This is all normal, standard operating procedure for large accounts. Just relax, Sydney, you’re doing great.”

Sydney let the breath she was holding go and pretended to look around, noting that Mercy and Nick were inside the bank acting as a couple with a stroller. Cain was waiting to pay some money into the bank in the line for the teller. She assumed the rest of the team were outside.

April came back with a man in his fifties, who was slim, and smart-looking with glasses and a beard.

“Miss Rutherford, I’m Clive Watkins and I’m the manager here. I understand you would like to access your safety deposit box.”

“Yes, I would,” Sydney replied fighting the desire to explain herself to this man when she had absolutely no reason to do so.

“Of course. If you would give me a few moments, I’ll grab your file and take you through. I see it’s the first time you’ve been back since you opened it, and it’s been a while. Don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have,” he said with a nod before moving to the set of doors at the back and disappearing. Sydney waited patiently for a few minutes until he returned.

“This way, Miss Rutherford.”

He began to walk away, and she and Mason followed the manager toward the vault. They passed through two sets of doors with guards on them before getting to the vault. The manager used his thumbprint and a key before he was allowed access to the retinal scanner. That safely accomplished, he led them through to the highest security vault and toward the boxes of records. The floor felt squishy beneath her, and she wondered why. She couldn’t remember it from the only time she’d been there, so she turned to look at Mason for an answer.

“Scales,” he said simply.

She immediately understood and realized they weighed everyone going in and out of the room, so they knew if anyone took anything of weight, like wads of cash for instance.

Pulling out a box, the manager handed it to her, and she stilled, panic starting to fill her belly. It was a fingerprint mechanism and she couldn’t remember which one she had used. She looked up at the manager who was watching her expectantly, then to Mason who nodded. Using her thumb, she pressed on the pad and waited, feeling sweat begin to slide down her neck when it beeped.

“It’s been a while. I probably used a different finger.” She looked at the manager and then Mason who looked calm and assured.

“Take your time, Sydney. What finger do you use to unlock your phone?”

“Index.” She gave a laugh of embarrassment.

Mason gave her an encouraging look when she unlocked the box. “There we go.” The manager stepped out of the room to give them some privacy.

Sydney glanced at Mason with relief. “Thank you.”

Lifting the lid and flicking through the papers she saw all she needed to. Inside was evidence of the life insurance policy, and as she searched through the papers, she saw handwritten notes from her mother and father that she had dismissed, unable to read them due to the pain.

Her dad had written other details he had heard his brother say while he was on the phone, and thought no one was listening. It indicated possible bank accounts, bank names, partial names and numbers that would lead the team to where the money was hidden. Because of her father and his sacrifice, Raymond had literally hung himself and given her all the evidence they needed. He’d never considered that his brother had kept an account and that his niece would find it. He thought that he was safe, smart but now they had everything they needed for Raymond Rutherford to be tried for terrorism.

“Wow, jackpot.” Mason’s grin was wide as he continued reading the bits and pieces of paper. “Now let’s get out of here and get you back to Kingsley before he has my balls.”

They waited a few moments before the manager appeared and were halfway back to the central part of the bank when Mason suddenly went stock still and pressed his finger to his ear where he had the comms. Sydney felt her back go ramrod straight as his eyes met hers. What she saw made her heart stop because they contained shock and grief and apology. Everything stopped at that moment because she knew—she knew—that something had happened to Kingsley.

Mason gave her no time to ask questions. She felt his hand on her back and he made sure his body blocked hers as he moved her toward the back exit at a run as shouts could be heard from the behind them.

“Move.” Mason pushed for the exit as a man in a mask stepped out in front of them with a gun.

“Give me the girl.”

Fear sparked a path through her she recognized the voice and she froze for a split second.

Mason as he threw himself in front of Sydney and fought the attacker. “Fuck you.”

Sydney stood frozen not knowing what to do to help. Two gunshots sounded and both men slumped to the ground in front of her. “No,” she screamed as she fell to her knees beside Mason.

“I’m okay, let’s get out of here.” He staggered to his feet and pulled her to the door.