Chapter 11: Breaking Cover
Dawn broke over the timber tract, washing the forest in pale, watery light that filtered slowly through the canopy of leaves. Inside the cabin, Leo stirred, rubbing his eyes and looking around in confusion before remembering where he was. David was already up, packing the black ledger securely into the bottom of the canvas backpack, while Clara helped Leo pull on his jacket and lace his sneakers. We're going to take a long walk today, buddy, David told his son gently, kneeling down to tie a double-knot on the boy’s left shoe. We're going to visit a big building downtown, and I need you to be super brave for me, just like you were yesterday. Leo nodded solemnly, adjusting the collar of his striped shirt. Will we get to go home after that, Daddy? David shared a brief, heavy look with Clara before answering. We're going to get a brand-new home, Leo. One where we don't have to lock the doors twice. They stepped out of the abandoned ranger station into the crisp morning air, leaving the shelter of the woods behind as they approached the perimeter fence of the city industrial park that bordered the convention center district. The urban sprawl rose up in the distance, glass and steel towers piercing the gray morning sky. Sticking to the shadows of brick warehouses and loading docks, David led Clara and Leo through the maze of service alleys toward the rear of the grand convention hall. The area was already bustling with activity—delivery trucks backing into loading bays, catering staff wheeling massive racks of food past metal doors, and campaign volunteers carrying boxes of promotional banners emblazoned with Julian Vance’s smiling, charismatic face. Stay close to me, keep your head down, and act like you belong here, David muttered out of the corner of his mouth as they approached an unmarked service door propped open by a rubber wedge. Slipping inside, they entered the cool, echoing concrete corridors of the building's subterranean maintenance level. The air smelled of industrial cleaning solution, ozone, and old dust. Overhead, a complex web of galvanized ventilation pipes and electrical conduits snaked across the low ceiling. This way, David whispered, steering them toward a narrow metal staircase that spiraled upward into the bowels of the massive complex.
