Chapter 5 - The Glass and the Footsteps
The sharp crash of shattered glass echoed directly above the cellar door, sending a fresh wave of terror rippling through the dark space. Clara clamped her hand gently over Toby’s mouth, feeling the small boy’s hot, rapid breaths against her palm. Leo pressed his back hard against the damp concrete wall, his knuckles white as he clutched the handle of the leather suitcase.
"Clear," a deep, mechanical-sounding voice muttered from the living room overhead. "Thermal footprint indicates rapid cooling in the primary zone. They didn't use the vehicle."
"Check the perimeter drains and the subfloors," a second voice responded, closer this time, sounding as though it were standing right outside the cellar door. "The asset package contains localized transponders. If the boys have the hardware, the box will pulse again within ten minutes."
Clara’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. She slowly slid her hand down to her pocket, her fingers brushing against her dead phone. If those men searched the house thoroughly, they would find the shattered smart meter and the open front door, and it would only be a matter of time before they discovered the cellar latch hidden beneath the stair overhang.
Leo leaned close to Clara’s ear, his breath tickling her cheek. "We have to use the old drainage pipe," he whispered faintly.
"What pipe?" Clara mouthed back in the dark.
"Dad showed me the blueprints of this house when we visited last summer," Leo whispered. "The old stormwater runoff tunnel runs straight from the back of this cellar out to the creek behind the neighborhood park. It's narrow, but Toby and I can fit."
"I'm not leaving you here alone, Leo," Clara whispered fiercely.
"You aren't coming with us yet," Leo corrected her with a chilling, heartbreaking calm. "If we all go together, the weight will slow us down. You have to stay here, make noise, and buy us twenty minutes."
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Before Clara could protest, Leo pushed Toby toward a low, dark opening near the floorboards behind a stack of empty crates. The sound of heavy boots began descending the main staircase into the living room above.
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