Chapter 4 - The Hunt Begins
Total darkness completely swallowed the secret room, leaving Leo entirely blind and incredibly vulnerable.
He clung to the cold iron ladder, barely daring to breathe as the heavy footsteps grew terrifyingly close.
The beam of a high-powered tactical flashlight suddenly cut through the darkness, sweeping across the metal filing cabinets.
"Come out, Leo," Uncle Richard's voice echoed smoothly, dripping with a sickening kind of false sweetness.
"We know you are down here, buddy, and we just want to make sure you are safe."
Leo squeezed his eyes shut, knowing perfectly well that his uncle was lying through his teeth.
He carefully pulled himself up the ladder, moving as silently as a ghost to avoid making the old metal creak.
Richard’s flashlight beam danced across the floor, finally landing on the wooden desk where the ledger had been just moments ago.
"The book is gone!" Richard screamed, his false sweetness instantly evaporating into pure, unfiltered rage.
"Find the boy right now and tear this place apart if you have to!"
Leo realized Richard was not alone in the tunnels; he had brought heavily armed security contractors with him.
The boy pushed his small shoulders against the steel hatch above him, pushing with every ounce of his remaining strength.
With a harsh screech of rusted hinges, the heavy hatch finally popped open just a few inches.
Leo squeezed his slender body through the tight gap, tumbling out onto the dusty floorboards of the mansion's abandoned west wing.
He quickly kicked the heavy steel hatch shut and dragged an old, rotting bookshelf over it to block the entrance.
The west wing had been closed off for years, filled with nothing but sheets covering antique furniture and endless cobwebs.
Leo sprinted down the long, shadowed hallway, the heavy weight of the master ledger bouncing violently against his back.
He needed to find a working telephone to call the police, but the estate's landlines had been cut off for renovations.
He ducked into an abandoned guest bedroom and hid inside a large cedar wardrobe, trying to calm his racing heart.
Through the cracks in the wooden doors, he watched as a bright flashlight beam swept past the bedroom window outside.
The armed guards were already patrolling the exterior grounds, ensuring there was absolutely no way out of the mansion.
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Then, a sudden, sharp vibration buzzed against Leo's leg from inside his pocket.
He pulled out his grandfather's old emergency walkie-talkie, and the green light was blinking frantically.
