Chapter 9: The Climax in the Boiler Room
The impact sent a sharp shockwave through Leo's ribs, knocking the wind from his lungs with a harsh gasp. His crutches clattered violently against the concrete floor, spinning out of reach into the shadows near the back wall. Maya dropped her flashlight, scrambling forward to grab Chad by the collar of his hoodie, but Chad shrugged her off with a vicious elbow that sent her stumbling against the metal side of the primary boiler.
"You ruined everything!" Chad yelled, his face flushed an angry, mottled red as he loomed over Leo, who was struggling to push himself up from the steaming floor. "My dad's facing twenty years in a federal penitentiary, our house is seized by the bank, and my friends won't even look at me in the hallways! And it's all because a crippled nobody decided to play hero!"
"You did this to yourself, Chad," Leo wheezed, pressing his palms against the warm concrete as he tried to find his footing without his crutches. "Your father built an empire on lies, and you were happy to collect the dividends until the truth caught up."
Chad raised a fist, his knuckles trembling as he pulled his arm back, ready to strike a devastating blow. "I'm going to make sure you never walk across any stage again—"
Before Chad could swing, the heavy iron door of the boiler room burst wide open with a resounding crash. A blinding beam of white light cut through the steam-filled air as two security guards, flanked by federal investigator Sarah Vance, swarmed into the room.
"Freeze! Federal agents! Drop your hands right now, Mr. Sterling!" the investigator commanded, her hand resting firmly on the holster at her hip.
Chad froze, his raised fist hanging in mid-air. He looked from the armed agents back down at Leo, who was slowly pulling himself up by gripping the edge of a heavy iron valve. The desperate fight completely drained out of Chad in an instant. His shoulders slumped forward, and his hands dropped slowly to his sides as the harsh reality of his actions finally settled over him like a lead weight.
One of the guards moved in quickly, spinning Chad around and pressing him firmly against the cold metal casing of the boiler while snapping a pair of steel handcuffs onto his wrists. As they dragged him toward the exit, Chad didn't look back once. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor, his breathing shallow and erratic.
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Maya rushed over to Leo, her hands trembling as she helped him regain his balance and handed him his aluminum crutches. "Are you okay? Did he break anything?"
"I'm fine," Leo murmured, taking a deep, shuddering breath of the damp air. He looked down at the Pelican case still resting safely on the concrete floor. "Let's just get these files to the attorney before they try anything else."
