Chapter 7: The Encirclement**
Red and blue emergency lights refracted through the rain-slicked glass of St. Jude’s lobby.
Leo stood by the window on the fourth floor, watching four tactical transport vans pull up to the emergency bay. Agent Cross was the first out of the vehicle, speaking sharply into his radio as dozens of officers cordoned off the exits.
Dr. Rossi appeared beside Leo, holding an oversized winter coat and a backpack filled with clean clothes.
"You can't go down there," she said, her voice shaking. "They’re locking down every staircase."
"They aren't looking for a boy," Leo said quietly, watching the agents enter the building. "They're looking for the ledger."
Elena paused. "What ledger?"
Leo reached beneath his hoodie and pulled out a worn, leather-bound notebook that Holloway had entrusted to him weeks before the crash. It was filled with handwritten names, account numbers, and hospital IDs—thousands of sick children, struggling orphanages, and foreclosed family farms across the country.
"This isn't money from a bank robbery," Leo explained, his voice thick with emotion. "Holloway diverted the slush funds of corrupt politicians and corporate polluters. Every single dollar in that 127 million euro fund was earmarked for people like Maya. People who were meant to die quietly so rich men could get richer."
The heavy elevator doors at the end of the hall chimed.
Cross stepped onto the floor, his eyes instantly locking onto Leo at the far end of the corridor.
"Leo," Cross said, walking forward with his hands raised in a show of false peace. "End of the line, son. Give me the book and the authorization codes, and I promise you and your sister will be taken care of."
Leo held the leather journal tightly against his chest, stepping backward toward the hospital’s glass solarium.
May you like
"You promised that to my mother before she died in your facility, didn't you?" Leo said, his voice ringing with chilling clarity.
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