Page 68 of Her Chosen Protector

“Yep, they plan to dig their way in and then set the charges,” Leo said. “But they won’t work, will they?” Leo wanted reassurance.

“Leo, you need to keep an eye on things. They might not be digging just a hole for a man to climb down and set charges, they could be clearing the area so that the tank could shoot a mortar at the vault. Either way, it’s a hell of an undertaking. It’ll take hours.”

“Or how about they’re digging out a ramp so that the tank could angle its cannon at the vault and shoot at it that way?” Eden suggested.

Leo laughed, but Asher just rubbed his jaw.

“I see you trying not to laugh. They could be doing that. Wouldn’t that give them a more precise shot? You know Perez doesn’t want to destroy the contents of the safety deposit boxes.”

“She has a point,” Leo said.

“How is Señora Azua?” Eden asked.

“She’s out of surgery. She’s supposed to wake up on her own in two hours. If she doesn’t the surgeon has okayed a shot of adrenaline.”

What the hell? “Why not now?” Asher asked. They didn’t have time to wait.

“He said it would be a bad mix with the anesthesia still in her system. They have to wait.”

Eden stood up and put her hand around his waist. “It’s going to be okay. I swear, they’re going to do the ramp. We have time.”

“Asher, no matter what they’re trying, we have time,” Leo assured him.

“Yeah, but what you just said is that the bank has basically collapsed in on the basement. What’s the assessment on us getting out through the vault door?”

Again, there was a pause. “Hold on, I’m patching you through to Ezio.”

“Why—”

“Asher,” Ezio started. “Nic, Raiden, and I are on our way to you.”

“Okay,” Asher said slowly. “How? What’s available?”

“Not a lot,” Ezio admitted. “The stairs from the lobby to the documents floor are non-existent.

Kane blew a hole through so we could climb down through there. The documents floor has some crawl space.”

Asher knew immediately why those three were the ones who were doing the crawling—they all had leaner body types than the rest of the team. Solid muscle, but leaner. “How far along are you? Is there any way to get some kind of protective gear for Eden to wear?”

“Already taken care of,” Ezio said.

Shit, he should have known that. Still, he worried about Eden.

“We hope we can be there by the time Señora Azua wakes up to tell us the vault combination, but it’s slow going.”

“Be careful.”

“Always.” Ezio signed off.

“How much more juice does your satellite phone have?” Leo asked.

“About two hours,” Asher told him.

“Turn it off for an hour and forty-five minutes. Nothing to be done in that time.”

Asher hated the idea of being out of contact for so long, but when the real action started, he’d need the phone.

“Okay. I’ll turn it on in an hour and a half.”