Chapter 3 - The Mayor’s Secret
The silence that followed the stranger's revelation was heavier than the damp autumn air pressing down on the asphalt. Evelyn’s phone slipped from her fingers, clattering against the concrete with a sharp, plastic snap. She stared down at Leo, her mind racing to connect the dots of the city's biggest political scandal of the decade. The mayor’s daughter had vanished six months ago under mysterious circumstances, officially declared missing while traveling abroad. Yet here, sitting on a dirty blanket on a forgotten street corner, was a toddler with her unmistakable hazel eyes and a gold crest belonging exclusively to the mayoral estate.
“That’s impossible,” Evelyn whispered, backing away half a step. “The administration reported the child was lost in the hospital fire last winter. The records were sealed by judicial order.”
“Records can be rewritten by whoever holds the pen,” the man in the hoodie said, his lips curling into a cynical smirk as he stepped closer to the circle of light. “And right now, the pen is running out of ink. The question is, Councilwoman, what are you going to do with the truth now that it’s whimpering in a dirty jacket?”
Leo pressed his face into the soft fur of the puppy, trying to block out the harsh voices. He didn’t understand the big words, but he understood the threat lingering in the stranger's tone. He felt the puppy’s heart beating frantically against his ribs, a tiny drumline of shared terror.
“Leave us alone,” Leo muttered, his voice muffled by the animal’s coat.
“Not a chance, kid,” the man replied, crouching down to eye level. He reached out a gloved hand toward the blanket, his fingers stretching for the gold pin still glinting in the wool. “Hand over the metal, and maybe we let you keep the dog. Refuse, and the animal goes into the river tonight.”
“Don’t you dare touch him!” Evelyn snapped, lunging forward to swat the man’s hand away.
Before the man could retaliate, a sharp siren wailed in the distance, bouncing off the brick facades of the downtown buildings. The red and blue lights of a police cruiser washed over the street corner, painting the pavement in flashing primary colors. The man in the hoodie cursed under his breath, stood up abruptly, and melted back into the shadows of the alleyway without making another sound.
Evelyn dropped back to her knees beside Leo, grabbing his small, freezing shoulders. “Leo, listen to me. We have to move right now. Before they come back.”
Leo looked up, his tear-filled eyes wide with confusion. “Who’s coming back?”
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“The people who locked you away,” a deep voice answered from behind them, as a flashlight beam blinded them both.
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