Chapter 3 - The Asset
Arthur stepped over Marcus's unconscious body and walked quickly toward his son. He dropped to one knee, taking Leo by the shoulders. His hands, usually steady as marble, were slightly trembling.
"Leo," Arthur said, his voice soft, dropping the terrifying assassin persona instantly. "Are you hurt, buddy?"
"I'm okay, Dad," Leo replied smoothly. "I remembered the rules. I didn't cry. I didn't panic."
Arthur looked down at the small tracking disk in Leo's hand. It was blinking with a faint blue micro-LED.
"How long has this been in your sole?" Arthur asked, his eyes darkening.
"Since this morning at school," Leo said. "The nurse gave me new shoes after PE class. She said my old ones were torn."
Arthur clicked his tongue. The school. They had breached his perimeter without him even knowing. He stood up, sweeping the lobby with his eyes. The civilians were starting to stir, whispering in utter shock at the lightning-fast takedown they had just witnessed. Sirens—real police sirens this time—were finally wailing in the far distance, approaching fast.
"We have to go," Arthur said. He grabbed Leo's hand and pulled him toward the back exit of the bank.
"Stop right there!"
Arthur paused and looked over his shoulder. The bank manager, a chubby man with sweat pouring down his face, was standing near the vault door, pointing a security guard's revolver at Arthur.
"You... you killed those men! You're with them! Nobody leaves until the police arrive!" the manager stuttered, his finger twitching on the trigger.
Arthur didn't even draw a weapon. "Manager, look inside your open vault. Look at Box 404."
The manager blinked, confused, but instinctively glanced sideways into the deep safety deposit vault. Box 404—a private box that had been untouched for twenty years—was popped open. Inside wasn't gold, cash, or jewelry.
It was an active, ticking countdown timer reading 02:15... 02:14...
"That wasn't a robbery," Arthur said, stepping out the back door into the alleyway with Leo. "It was a demolition job. You have two minutes to evacuate everyone in this building."
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The manager stared at the timer in absolute horror, dropped the gun, and screamed at the top of his lungs, "EVERYBODY OUT! RUN!"
Arthur and Leo melted into the rainy city alley just as the first police cruisers skidded into the front parking lot.
