Chapter 2: The Search in the Shadows
Three hours later, Noah was sleeping peacefully in a private, high-security pediatric ICU suite. His vitals were completely stable. Dr. Whitlock walked in, looking humbled.
"Mr. Bell," she said softly. "The secondary obstruction was a rare, delayed reaction to an undiagnosed respiratory cyst. If that boy hadn't noticed the neurological twitch... we would have stopped. I would have signed the certificate. I am profoundly sorry."
"Don't apologize to me," Garrison said, staring out the window into the rainy Indianapolis night. "Apologize to the boy who saved my son when the experts gave up."
The door opened, and Arthur, Garrison's head of security, stepped inside. He looked uneasy.
"Did you find him?" Garrison demanded.
"We tracked his description through the security feed, sir," Arthur reported, handing over a tablet. "His name is Leo. He’s eleven. According to local shelters, he’s been living on the streets of downtown Indy for the last eighteen months since his grandmother passed away. He has no living relatives."
Garrison looked at the grainy security image of the boy hugging his battered backpack, running out of the hospital sliding doors into the rain. "Where is he now?"
"He's clever, sir. He knows how to disappear in the city. But one of our men spotted him heading back toward the underpass near Lucas Park. The weather is turning bad. There's a flash flood warning tonight."
Garrison grabbed his wool coat. "Get the car."
"Mr. Bell, with all respect, it's dangerous down there at this hour," Arthur warned. "We can send the police."
"The police will scare him," Garrison said coldly, walking past him. "He didn't send a representative to save my son. I’m going myself."
The rain was a torrential downpour by the time Garrison’s armored SUV pulled up to the dark edge of Lucas Park. Concrete underpasses were flooded with murky water. Beneath the heavy shadows of the bridge, a few scattered figures huddled under plastic tarps.
Garrison stepped out into the freezing rain, ruined his thousand-dollar shoes in the mud, and walked straight into the darkness.
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"Leo!" Garrison called out, his voice competing with the roar of the highway above. "Leo! I know you're here!"
A small figure huddled behind a concrete pillar flinched. Leo rose to his feet, clutching his library book to his chest, looking ready to run into the shadows. "I didn't steal anything! I didn't touch the baby, I swear!"
