Chapter 33 - A Shattered Haven
Inside the fourth-floor advanced computer laboratory of St. Jude’s Academy, the lights flickered and died, leaving only the blue emergency exit signs casting long, eerie shadows across rows of high-end workstations.
Fourteen-year-old Leo Vance didn't panic. He had Eleanor’s razor-sharp mind and Arthur’s cold calculation, but none of his father’s cowardice. The moment his terminal had flashed the crimson prompt—*CERBERUS PROTOCOL INITIATED: ASSET RECOVERY IMMINENT*—he knew the building had been breached.
"Leo, pack your bag right now. We have an emergency evacuation," said Dr. Marcus Evans, his private computer science tutor and Arthur Vance’s former scholarship beneficiary. Marcus was standing near the door, peering through the reinforced wire glass into the dark hallway, his breathing shallow and rapid.
Leo quietly unplugged a black thumb drive containing his proprietary encrypted firewalls. "The fire alarms didn't go off, Dr. Evans. The HVAC dampers just sealed, and the cellular repeaters on the roof were shut down manually. That’s not a fire drill. That’s a tactical sweep."
Dr. Evans turned around, and the nervous demeanor vanished, replaced by a cold, resigned grimace. He reached into his tweed jacket and drew a small stun weapon. "You're too smart for your own good, Leo. Just like your mother."
Leo took a step back toward the chemistry preparation counter behind him. "Arthur paid you."
"Your father set up an endowment twenty years ago with one condition: if a woman ever sat in the master bedroom of the Fifth Avenue penthouse without his ring on her finger, I was to ensure the Vance legacy didn't fall into mongrel hands." Evans stepped forward, his eyes dark. "You're coming with me to Teterboro Airport. A private jet is waiting."
"My mother owns the sky above New York, Marcus," Leo said evenly.
Before Evans could react, Leo grabbed a beaker of concentrated nitric acid from the chemistry shelf behind him and shattered it across the metal prep table, instantly sweeping a vial of powdered industrial magnesium into the pool.
A blinding, deafening chemical flare erupted in Evans's face. The tutor shrieked, clutching his burning eyes as the flash blinded him.
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Leo ducked low, grabbed his backpack, and sprinted out the side fire exit into the stairwell just as heavy tactical boots began pounding up the lower flights of stairs.
***
