Chapter 3 - The Hostage Situation
Leo felt all the oxygen completely vanish from the speeding car.
"They have my mother?" he whispered, his voice trembling with unchecked panic.
Arthur closed his eyes tightly, a single tear escaping down his wrinkled cheek.
"Silas has her," Arthur said, mentioning the name like a deadly curse.
"Who the hell is Silas?" Leo yelled, slamming his fist against the seat.
"He was my former partner, and the man I supposedly killed twenty years ago," Arthur explained grimly.
Evelyn aggressively turned the steering wheel, taking them down a dark, abandoned industrial alleyway.
"Silas wants the ledger to sell the identities of our global agents to the highest bidder," Evelyn added.
"We have to trade the ledger for my mom," Leo insisted frantically.
"We do not even have the ledger, Leo," Arthur reminded him gently.
"Silas stole the real wheelchair from the hospital, meaning he already has it."
Leo paused, his mind struggling to piece the complicated puzzle together.
"If he has the real chair, why is he holding my mom hostage for the ledger?" Leo asked.
Arthur cracked a very small, cunning smile.
"Because the ledger requires a biometric thumbprint to unlock the hidden compartment," Arthur revealed.
"He needs me alive to open it, which means we still have leverage."
Evelyn slammed the brakes as they reached a dead end surrounded by high brick walls.
"We need a safe place to plan an assault on Silas's compound," Evelyn stated, putting the car in park.
Arthur nodded and reached under the dashboard to retrieve a hidden lockbox.
He pulled out three loaded pistols and handed one to a terrified Leo.
"You need to grow up tonight, Leo, because your mother's life depends on it," Arthur commanded.
Leo took the heavy, cold weapon, feeling the immense weight of the deadly situation.
Suddenly, a bright spotlight hit their car from the roof of the warehouse above them.
A mechanical voice boomed loudly through a hidden PA system in the alley.
May you like
"Did you really think I would let you out of my sight, Arthur?" Silas's voice echoed menacingly.
Heavy steel doors slammed shut at the end of the alley, trapping their car completely inside.
