Chapter 4 - The Secret Under the City
The boy dragged me backward through the pitch-black crawlspace.
I heard Mr. Davis violently kicking the metal grate, but he was too big to fit inside.
We scrambled through the dust and cobwebs until we reached a concrete drop-off.
The boy helped me climb down into an abandoned subterranean storm drain.
He clicked on a small red flashlight, revealing a face that looked no older than sixteen.
He wore a leather jacket and had a fresh, bleeding cut across his cheek.
"My name is Leo," he said, catching his breath.
"I worked for Ethan Grant."
I stared at him suspiciously, refusing to let go of the babies.
"Why should I trust you?" I demanded.
"Because I didn't just point a gun at you," Leo replied dryly.
He led me through the maze of underground tunnels until we reached an old subway maintenance room.
It was out of the rain, relatively warm, and stocked with emergency supplies.
Leo immediately pulled out two bottles of ready-made formula and handed them to me.
I sat on a dusty crate and desperately began feeding the starving newborns.
"Ethan was supposed to bring them here," Leo explained, pacing the floor.
"Did he give you anything before he died?"
I hesitated, thinking of the silver key in my pocket.
"He gave me a business card," I lied, keeping my expression flat.
Leo shook his head, looking incredibly stressed.
"A card isn't going to help us."
"Those men work for Apex Genetics, and they will hunt you until the day you die."
He walked over to a heavy computer terminal in the corner of the room and booted it up.
"I need to access the corporate bounty board to see how much trouble we are in."
Leo typed furiously for a few seconds before freezing completely.
"Harper," Leo whispered, staring at the glowing screen in horror.
"The bounty on your head is ten million dollars."
I swallowed hard.
"Who placed it?" I asked.
Leo turned around slowly.
"It was placed by a woman named Sarah Miller."
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I felt the room spin violently around me.
Sarah Miller was my mother, and I had watched her coffin go into the ground five years ago.
