Chapter 8 - The Bus Station Locker
The harsh white beam of the flashlight swept across the damp brick walls, stopping just short of the dark alcove where Leo and Marcus crouched.
"Check the perimeter! They couldn't have vanished into thin air!" a harsh voice echoed down the alleyway, followed by the heavy thud of combat boots drawing closer with every second.
Marcus pressed his back harder against the wall, gritting his teeth against the pain in his side. He pulled a heavy, snub-nosed revolver from his waistband, the metal looking cold and lethal in the dim light. "When I tell you to run, Leo, you run straight toward the subway maintenance tunnel at the end of this corridor. It leads directly to the central station basement."
"I'm not leaving you here to die," Leo whispered fiercely, his knuckles white as he clutched Lily tighter to his chest.
"You aren't leaving me, kid, you're buying your sister a future," Marcus hissed, his voice brooking no argument. "Now go! ¡Corre!"
Marcus lunged out of the alcove into the center of the alley, firing two rapid shots toward the approaching flashlight. The deafening roar of the gun shattered the silence, followed immediately by shouts of alarm and the return fire of automatic weapons chewing through the brickwork.
Leo didn't look back. With tears streaming down his face and adrenaline burning in his veins, he bolted down the dark corridor, his sneakers splashing through puddles of oily water. He reached the heavy metal door of the subway maintenance tunnel, shoved the rusty iron key Arthur had given him into the padlock, and twisted it with all his might. The lock clicked open. He threw the door wide, slipped inside into the damp, subterranean chill, and slammed it shut, locking it from the inside just as a hail of bullets pinged harmlessly against the outer steel.
Twenty minutes later, dragging his exhausted body through the cavernous, dimly lit subterranean levels of the central bus station, Leo finally emerged into the main passenger terminal. It was past midnight, and the cavernous hall was mostly deserted save for a few weary travelers sleeping on plastic benches.
He located Row 4 Arthur had specified, scanning the numbered metal doors until his eyes locked onto Locker 44. His hands trembled violently as he pulled the second key—the small iron one—from his pocket and slid it into the rusty keyhole. It turned with a smooth, satisfying click.
Leo slowly pulled the metal door open, expecting cash or documents. Instead, inside sat a heavy leather satchel, a small, encrypted satellite phone that immediately began to buzz and flash green, and a blood-stained journal bearing his mother’s handwriting on the cover.
He reached out and picked up the satellite phone, pressing the answer button with a trembling thumb. A cold, distorted voice spoke immediately from the speaker.
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"I see you found the locker, Leo. Now, if you ever want to see your mother alive again, bring the contents of that satchel to the abandoned railyard by sunrise."
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