There was no alarm, nor any other sound notification of a break-in. Only a small light, like the ones in shop alarms, lit up red high above the entrance. The first three minutes began to slip away rapidly.

The three of us rushed to the stacks of money, each to his own. Geezer, however, dashed to the safe deposit box and began drilling into it. The noise was so loud that I couldn't hear my own voice, and we had to shout at each other as if we were on opposite ends of the world.

"Do we need to check for bugs?!" Alex asked.

"We have a jammer!" I replied. "We simply won't have time to go through all the stacks in six minutes, so don't act smart and just scoop everything into the bags! We'll check on the way!"

Actually, hundred-dollar stacks weren't too thick. About one and a half centimeters, maybe less. Each such stack had a hundred bills. It seems impossible to hide a bug there, but it's precisely because of this that bugs are hidden in them - because many who are not involved don't know about this and can't even imagine that something can be hidden in such a thin stack. The bug itself was an elongated, thin plastic device, like a key fob.

But it was very easy to check for it - you grab a stack and spread the bills with your finger to see if there is a cavity inside or not.

But checking twenty million... That's a hundred stacks in one million. In ten million, there would be a thousand, and we had twenty million in total. There wasn't enough time to check everything. So we simply swept the money from the table straight into the bags, acting on sight. Each of us was supposed to get about three million - three hundred stacks.

"Our bags are ready!" Alex shouted.

"Yes! Mine too! Grab them, leave the empty ones! I'll load them!"

Crowbar hopped over to me, picked up my bag, and dashed toward the back exit along with Alex. I started dumping the remaining money into the three other bags. By the time they returned, those were already loaded.

"Go downstairs, turn on the microwave while there's time! We've already been spotted, so no worries!" I slapped Alex on the shoulder, who returned for the bags, drowning out the whine of the drill.

"Yes!" He shouted and ran off.

At that moment, Syringa's voice sounded.

"Three minutes, guys, they're onto us, time to bug out, I'm right opposite the back exit. You've got three more minutes."

Then, Malu's voice.

"You heard her, guys! Hustle!"

By this point, we were already finished, and if it weren't for the safe deposit box, we could have easily run off.

"How much longer?!" I shouted almost in Geezer's ear, who, all red, was drilling into the lock at the moment. Sparks were flying in all directions, like from sparklers.

"Almost, a couple of seconds, and it'll be done! Just a couple more..." At that moment, the drill squealed and seemed to go slightly inside. "Done!"

"Great! Pack up and head to the back exit!"

The safe deposit box was just an ordinary box for storing valuables. A small door behind which hid a sliding drawer, which I promptly pulled out.

"Malu, we got the box!"

"Great, what's inside?"

"It's..." I placed a metallic box on the table and opened it, "a flash drive."

"Is that it?"

"Yes," the box was indeed empty. Just a regular flash drive.

"Perfect, grab it and douse everything!"

"Got it!"

I grabbed the bottles and quickly started drenching everything with bleach. The box, tables, and shelves where the money was, the grid we sawed, and the floor around it. After that, I discarded the bottles and bolted from the vault. Malu stood in the hall, swiveling his automatic side to side, keeping watch.

"Done!"

"Great!" he nodded. "Let's go!"

We both dashed towards the staff rooms. Bursting into the hallway, we turned left and headed for the already-opened door. It was sunny outside, making the exit door look like a gateway to paradise. Once I stepped into the sunlight, I involuntarily squinted.

Across from us, a family van was parked with Alex peeking out.

"Malu! Catch!" he threw a flare, which Malu caught, lit, and tossed into the car we came in. As soon as it landed, a flame ignited. Somewhere in the city, sirens already echoed, drawing closer to us from nearly all directions.

I jumped into the front seat next to Syringa. Malu followed, landing in the passenger seat behind me.

"PEDAL TO THE METAL!" he roared.

"I got it already!" she shouted back and floored the gas.

The car, tires squealing, lurched forward, quickly picking up speed. We raced down the narrow alley, with the walls of houses, trash cans, steps, and doors flashing by at high speed. It felt like we were pushing two hundred kilometers per hour.

"Okay, now to the backup car. We drive as if everything's okay, got it?"

"Yes, I understand."

Before exiting the alley, she abruptly hit the brakes and much more slowly merged into the stream of cars, like a law-abiding citizen. And everything would have been fine if...

"Oh shit...", Crowbar breathed out.

...we hadn't done it right in front of a police car, which, tires squealing and flooding the area with sirens, darted into the alley we had just left.

All of us, except for Syringa, turned back.

"Did they notice us?" Alex asked.

"I don't think so, they didn't come back out, right?" Geezer noted.

"Seems like..." Malu began.

But the miracle didn't happen. Not even ten seconds had passed when the police car literally flew out of the alley in reverse. And at the same time, an oncoming patrol car abruptly stopped and turned directly towards us.

"Damn!" was all Syringa could squeak out, sharply turning the steering wheel to the side.

Our van jolted, and we shot onto the sidewalk, narrowly missing a couple while swerving around the car. Almost instantly we were pressed back into our seats - Syringa had floored the gas pedal.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ah, no, they did notice," I sighed a bit resignedly.

Sitting in the front passenger seat, I have to say, I didn't feel very comfortable. It felt like a roller coaster, except the chances of crashing were far greater here.

Without much ceremony, Syringa darted onto the divider and sped between the lanes of cars. At such speed on a narrow road, everything whizzed past us, merging into one blur, like scenery rushing towards us at high speed. Police cars were tailing us, and as we sped between lanes, the number of them doubled - from two to four, as if they were spawning from each other.

At one point, Syringa hit the brakes hard, causing me to nearly kiss the dashboard. She sharply turned the wheel, and we skidded into a narrow alley, knocking over and scattering trash bins along the way. How we managed to fit into this space is known only to God and Syringa. Though the police cars managed to squeeze through after us as well.

Now, our car was racing down a narrow alley where it barely fit, ramming trash cans and cardboard boxes. We literally bounced on the bumps, causing everyone to hit their heads on the ceiling. The car scraped the ground with its bottom during these jumps, sending out sprays of sparks.

Somehow, we crossed a road, missing traffic cars by mere inches, and the first patrol car literally tore off the bumper of one. The next one crashed into that car's front fender, dragged it forward, and embedded it into a wall, thereby blocking the passage for the rest. Now, we only had one pursuer.

And again, we were tearing through the alleys. From the front row, it looked literally thrilling and terrifying. It seemed that any moment now, a little more, and we'd crash here, touch a wall, and so on, but Syringa somehow managed to drive carefully.

"Where are you going? To the car?!" Malu asked.

"I need to get out of here first! Don't distract me!" she shouted, completely immersed in her driving.

Suddenly she slammed on the brakes, darted onto a wide road, sharply turned the wheel, and skidded to the right. She slammed into the back of a car, nudged it, pushing it off the road into oncoming traffic, where it collided with another car, and hit the gas.

Her kind of driving is called "lane weaving." She literally darted between lanes, sometimes not hesitating to drive onto the opposite lane, scaring other drivers.

Several times she literally crashed into cars, knocking them off the road or just grazing them. But the patrol car behind us kept up. Moreover, three more joined.

"They've blocked the road ahead!" I shouted, seeing that police cars were lined up across the street.

"I see!"

She slammed on the brakes and, honking, jumped onto the sidewalk, where she once again turned into an alley. There were quite a few of them due to the abundance of office buildings that flooded the city center. But we can't hide in them forever. Again, a race along narrow passages, where we barely avoided scraping the walls with our mirrors, and again we emerged onto a road, crashing into the rear fender of a car in the process. That car was slightly turned, and it crashed into a lamppost.

"Are you going to the second car or not?!" Malu started to lose his patience.

"What's the point?! We've got a tail; even if we switch cars, we won't shake them off!" At this moment, she swerved sharply at the intersection, catching the curb with the rear wheel. The entire back of the car, along with the passengers, jolted upward. Curses from those who'd hit their heads echoed around. "And if we go there and stop, we'll just end up cornered! Damn it, Malu, don't be dense!"

"Where are you driving to?!"

"As far away from here as possible! Do you think we have a shortage of cars?! We can take any!"

At this moment, she swerved abruptly to avoid an oncoming truck, bypassing a car in our lane.

"SYRINGA, DAMN IT!" I screamed, pressing back into my seat, causing it to creak.

Somehow, she managed to dart back into our lane, clipping the car on the right and scraping our side against it. The truck merely took out our left mirror. A little closer, and it would have flattened us. But before we even had a chance to exhale, more patrol cars appeared in front of us.

Syringa cursed loudly and harshly, then jerked the wheel and dove into an alleyway. We were thrown around, scraping roughly against the wall.

"Syringa, what are you doing?!"

"Do you care about the van, Malu?" she retorted.

A patrol car suddenly blocked our path.

"Damn it..." Syringa muttered under her breath and slammed on the brakes, sending us all flying forward. She shifted into reverse, trying to escape the predicament, looking back over her shoulder. "Everyone move aside so I can see where I'm going!"

And now we were fleeing the police in reverse, hoping to break free from the trap.

And we managed. Somehow, we managed, slamming backward into the front bumper of a patrol car that tried to block our path. We ripped it off completely and scraped the right side of our minivan, but we managed to squeeze past. We shot out backward onto the road... and a car crashed into our left rear side, spinning our van along the lane.

Unfazed, Syringa pressed on the gas, darting into an alleyway on the other side. Only, this was a pedestrian alleyway.

"Hold on tight, guys!" she said, honking the horn and scattering people.

She slowed down before the steps, then, scraping the bottom loudly, descended them. We were shaken like laundry on a washboard. The bumper hit the ground, sounding as if it broke, and she accelerated again. Interestingly, this alleyway led us to two high-rise buildings. We shot straight onto the square between them, a large one with a fountain. I'd been here before, and it was definitely a no-go area for cars.

Weaving through the crowd and honking non-stop, Syringa managed to reach the other side of the square, where, descending more steps and losing the front bumper for good, she emerged onto the road going through the city center. She instantly accelerated, trying to blend into the traffic while there were no police cars around.

"Are we in the clear? We're in the clear, right?" Crowbar started to turn around.

"I don't see any of their cars," Alex replied. "Looks like they've lost us, but probably not for long."

"Yeah, they're definitely around somewhere, but we can catch our breath. They'll be shutting down the center soon if they haven't already. So... Syringa, turn off the main road somewhere, we'll go through the backstreets; if anything, we'll walk."

She turned far more calmly off the main street onto another road, then began winding her way through the backstreets, hoping to evade any potential pursuers.

"We need to get to the car," Malu said. "We'll switch. It's beyond the city center, so we can get away quietly."

"But the city center is cordoned off," Geezer reminded him.

"We'll get closer and then walk," he shrugged. "We'll break through."

"We'll break through, but I'd prefer we just leave. I'm too old for shootouts."

"There won't be any shootouts. I hope so. The last thing I want is a firefight with the police."

"Same here," Syringa chimed in. "In the meantime, guys, give me directions because I'm lost."

"Lost? Are you kidding?"

"I'm busting my ass trying to get away, and you're unhappy! You better help instead of lecturing!"

"This is Manchurian Street," I said. "We need to go straight to the end and then turn right, then along Evening Street to the Holy Light temple. Do you know it?"

"Yes, I know, got it now."

She floored the gas, overtaking cars, literally flew to the end of the street, then, with a screech of tires, took a turn, barely missing a car. At the last moment, she somehow managed to steer clear, jumping onto the sidewalk with the wheels, which jolted us and scattered people.

She floored the gas pedal again, making the engine roar. She ran a red light, darting straight into a busy intersection, nearly colliding with other cars. But by some miracle and divine providence, she managed to dodge both vehicles and people. Some cars passed so close that a little more and we would have smashed into them head-on. My heart even froze when she passed through a pedestrian crossing at high speed near people.

"Good Lord..." I muttered as we continued our way down the street. We bumped over rough patches and raced down the road further. Everything was whizzing past at a tremendous speed.

"There it is, the temple," I pointed to a large building.

"I see it, kiddo, I see it," she muttered, and slowing down slightly, she turned.

Not very successfully - the van skidded sideways, and we crashed into a parked car. But Syringa, without batting an eye, jerked forward with a spin of the wheels. Now, we were racing through the older part of the city center, where mostly low-rise dated brick buildings stood with all kinds of cafes on the first floors.

"Do you remember where the car is?" Malu asked.

"Yes, I remember! We can now..."

At that moment, a police car suddenly appeared right in front of us, having snuck up from a side street on the right. It was so unexpected that I didn't even have time to react, unlike Syringa. She sharply turned the wheel, trying to avoid a collision. The van slightly skidded, and we were almost able to dodge and reach the T-junction ahead...

Almost.

The police car hit our right rear wheel. Just a slight bump, but for a vehicle in a skid, it was enough. Our van swerved, and we were thrown to the left inside the cabin. We made an almost perfect three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn, a little scrape of the tires against the curb near the end, and finally stopped.

And then, as if they had been waiting for this moment, police cars started gathering around us from all sides. A lot of them. About three stopped on the side from which we had come, completely blocking the road. Another five or so appeared at the T-junction, effectively blocking our escape route and trapping us there. There were buildings on the sides, but we wouldn't get far through them.

A multitude of police officers poured out of their cars onto the street. They took cover behind their vehicles, aiming at us. On the T-junction side, I counted about seven to ten people. About five from the other side. And they were clearly not here for negotiations.

Somewhere above a police helicopter was circling, and it seemed, one more with reporters. At least, through the roof hatch, I could only see two. It's a pity I didn't pay attention to the air at the beginning of the police chase. It's quite possible... No, one hundred percent, they tracked us from the air and allowed this ambush to be set up.

All they had to do now was riddle the car with bullets, turning the inside into a real meat grinder for us.

"TURN OFF THE ENGINE!" a voice blared through the loudspeaker of one of the police cars. "ALL PASSENGERS DO NOT MOVE! RAISE YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM! SHUT OFF THE ENGINE IMMEDIATELY AND RAISE YOUR HANDS SO THEY ARE VISIBLE!"