Nic nodded, starting to follow Burke’s line of thinking. “Right. You hide it within another legitimate business. And what better place to hide something like that, than within a place that’s already locked up tight with armed guards and a ton of security.”

“But then how do you access the lab or whatever it is?” Carter asked.

“My guess,” Burke said, “is that you start with the watches that emit an almost undetectable NFC signal when they’re close to the wall. The presence of two panels is indicative of a double-keyed interface, like launching a nuke. You have to have two people with a watch, an approved thumbprint, retinal scan, and a security code, which judging by the keypad is quite complicated. Then once the proper verifications have been made, a transport is sent up from the vault to this room.”

“What do you mean ‘transport’?”

“My thought is a specially designed version of a GoBox meant to hold a person, then that person locks his or her self inside a space about the size of a coffin. Only this coffin has a built-in oxygen supply.”

Carter scratched at his goatee and started pacing the floor. “If that’s the case, then our two suspects went down the rabbit hole and are under our feet right now.”

“A distinct possibility.”

“Can you break through their security to get us in?”

“Highly unlikely. If that were possible, then our thieves wouldn’t have needed to go to such elaborate measures.”

“Then what do we do?”

“I was thinking that we could try to speak with the manager and—”

Armed men in all black tactical gear cut Burke’s sentence short as they burst into the vault room with Yoshida and Ty Loria following close behind them. Yoshida now wore a dark suit with a red silk tie. The CIA agent immediately took charge of the room, ordering everyone out. The two technicians obeyed, but Nic, Burke, and Carter remained rooted in place.

“I guess your luggage came in?” Nic said to Yoshida.

“No, actually, I had to break down and buy a suit. Couldn’t stand the tourist clothes any longer.”

“I don’t blame you. Before, you looked like an accountant from Kansas here on vacation.”

“How do I look now?”

Nic looked Yoshida up and down. “Like a piece of shit rolled up in an expensive suit.”

Yoshida smiled, but his eyes showed the kind of intensity Nic had seen many times before. A certain cold indifference displayed by psychopaths and men who made a business out of death.

Loria blinked rapidly and said in his booming, arrogant voice, “Your work here is finished, gentlemen. We’ll be handling the investigation inside the building from here on out.”

“You can’t do that,” Carter said.

Yoshida chuckled. “In the name of national security, you bet I can. This was an act of terrorism perpetrated by a foreign national. The agency will be taking point.”

Carter stepped forward and said, “It’s obviously FBI and police jurisdiction. We’re not going anywhere. But we’re willing to work with you on this.”