Chapter 4 - Under the Floorboards
Thomas hung up without responding, his pulse drumming in his throat. He wheeled toward the public pavilion, out of direct line of sight from the street, keeping Leo safely seated beside him on the wooden bench. Leaning forward until his chest hit his knees, Thomas reached beneath the canvas sling of the wheelchair seat, his fingers feeling along the cold titanium tubing.
His fingertips brushed against a small, magnetized plastic box tucked into the hinge joint. With a swift flick, he detached it and slipped it into his palm. It was an encrypted military flash drive, paired with a small brass tracking transponder. Thomas recognized the hardware; it belonged to forward intelligence teams. Someone was using his mobility equipment as a covert dead drop.
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""Daddy, look! A bird!"" Leo squealed, completely oblivious, pointing at a robin hopping on the grass. Thomas smiled at his son, hiding the device in his closed fist, but his mind raced with cold calculations. Whoever had tracked him down knew his exact routine, his route through the neighborhood, and the fact that he was physically unable to run.
As they finally rolled back toward their modest brick home at the edge of town, Thomas noticed a dark sedan idling across from their driveway. The engine purred, exhaust curling into the late afternoon air. The driver’s window lowered just two inches, revealing a pair of mirrored sunglasses looking straight into Thomas's yard.
