Chapter 3 - The Splash in the Dark Ditch
A sharp, metallic clink followed by a faint splash echoed from the deep concrete drainage culvert just beyond the iron fence as the tiny SD card vanished into the swirling, murky rainwater below.
"No! You stupid, stubborn little fool!" Richard roared, lunging forward with a speed that defied his forty-eight years, slamming his fists against the iron bars as he watched the empty space where the evidence had just disappeared.
"Agent Miller, he threw the card into the municipal storm drain, it's heading straight toward the main subterranean runoff tunnel beneath Elm Street!" Eleanor shrieked, dropping all pretense of composure as she pointed a trembling finger at the grate fifty feet down the road.
"Secure the perimeter, call the public works department right now and get a team down to the primary junction box before that data hits the municipal sewer treatment plant!" Agent Miller barked into his shoulder-mounted radio, grabbing Richard by the collar of his light blue button-down shirt and shoving him against the gate post. "What is on that card, Vance? Is it just the foundation books, or is it the offshore client list?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, the boy is eight years old, he found an old toy in the attic and imagined a spy movie!" Richard coughed, pulling away from the agent's grip while adjusting his collar with shaking hands.
"An eight-year-old doesn't rip open a stitched seam with his teeth unless someone told him exactly what was hidden inside," Miller replied coldly, his eyes narrowing as he stared past Richard at Leo, who was now huddled against the base of the iron bars, shivering uncontrollably in his damp gray t-shirt. "Leo, buddy, can you hear me? If you tell us where your uncle Marcus left the decryption keys, we can get you out of this house today."
"I won't tell you anything, you're going to hurt my dad just like you hurt Uncle Marcus," Leo whispered, his voice barely audible over the hum of the idling federal vehicles on the drive.
"Leo, shut your mouth right now or so help me God you will never see another toy as long as you live," Eleanor hissed, stepping toward the bars with her hand raised in a sharp, threatening gesture.
"Mrs. Vance, step back from the minor immediately or I will have you detained for witness intimidation," Agent Miller warned, signaling two of his subordinates to move in and position themselves between the angry parents and the frightened child.
"You have no jurisdiction here without a local magistrate's sign-off on the expanded search rider, Miller, and you know it," Richard said, his voice regaining a veneer of corporate coldness as he stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. "That drainage ditch is municipal property, but the fence line belongs to the estate trust, which means you are currently trespassing."
"Trespassing?" Miller chuckled darkly, pulling a folded legal document from his tactical vest pocket and snapping it open with a flick of his wrist. "This is a federal counter-intelligence warrant signed by the Attorney General himself, Mr. Vance. Your trust doesn't mean a damn thing when national security is on the line."
Leo clutched the ruined, disemboweled teddy bear to his chest, the white synthetic stuffing spilling out of the jagged hole on its back like entrails, his tears still hot and fresh on his dirt-streaked cheeks.
"The card is gone," Leo said quietly, looking directly up into Miller's hardened face. "And even if you find it in the drain, you can't read it without the password Uncle Marcus whispered to me before they locked him in the basement."
Richard's face drained of every last trace of color, his jaw going slack as he stared down at his son with a look of pure, unadulterated terror that he didn't even try to hide anymore.
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"What did he tell you, Leo?" Richard whispered, dropping to his knees on the damp grass, ignoring the mud that soaked through the knees of his dark trousers. "Tell Daddy what Marcus said."
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