Kruger went in first. The big man raised his tactical shotgun and ventilated the suspended ceiling with several volleys of lead meant to not only get everyone’s attention, but also disable all the lobby’s security cameras.

The Doc carried a big sawed-off shotgun, but the Doc didn’t shoot. The Doc wasn’t there to shoot, even Franklin knew that much. He just had no idea why someone like the Doc would be involved in this robbery. But if the payday was half as large as Kruger had promised, then he didn’t care if the Doc was there to steal nuclear launch codes. A check with enough zeros could make a poor Catholic kid from Oakland break just about any commandment.

As soon as Franklin breached the door, he had the M4 up and ready and trained on the security guard in the far right corner. Of course, Franklin didn’t know what he would do if the guard resisted. He wasn’t going to kill some perfectly innocent nobody who was probably making twelve fifty an hour.

Luckily, Franklin was able to remind the forty-something beer-gutted white dude that he was outgunned and underpaid with only a short three-round burst into the wall beside him. The guard raised his hands, and Franklin took the gun from the man’s holster.

Kruger yelled, “Everyone stands up tall and raises their hands up high and does not move! Or everyone dies!”

Some of them raised their hands, but others were paralyzed by fear and shock. He shouted, “Do it now!”

Franklin grabbed the fat, old rent-a-cop by the shoulder and shoved him over to the center of the room with the others.

They had studied the building’s layout extensively. As soon as they walked through the front doors of GoBox, the reception desk sat right in the center. It was white marble and was one part reception desk and one part display counter, which showed off the different types of private boxes and vaults the company offered. They knew there was always one-armed security guard up front, with two more in the back.

To the left of reception was a small area separated off by a wooden railing, like the audience section of a courtroom. Behind the railing sat four desks. The whole place smelled of cucumbers and citrus, which seemed somehow pretentious to Franklin, like normal air wasn’t good enough for these people. Two of the desks were now empty, and two were occupied by a dark-skinned twenty-something beauty and a plump woman with short white hair. They both wore khaki pants and blue button-down shirts sporting the company’s logo. This was what GoBox called the Concierge Area, where new customers would go to discuss the offerings at GoBox and get signed up.

Kruger jammed the shotgun in the younger woman’s face and asked, “Have either of you touched the silent alarm?”

The two terrified women both shook their heads in a forceful negative and then sat there like wide-eyed statues with their hands high in the air. They looked like they were reluctant to breathe or blink for fear of that being their final act.