Chapter 5 - THE MANAGER'S CONFESSION
My blood ran cold. The words hung heavy and suffocating in the red-tinted air.
I glanced down from his unshaken, piercing gaze to the heavy device still gripped securely in his small hand. Stamped neatly into the matte-black metal was a faded silver insignia: the unmistakable crest of Westbridge Armored Solutions—a notorious private military contractor that had been raided, dissolved, and violently scrubbed from federal registries years ago following a massive, multi-billion-dollar corruption and weapons scandal.
"Where did you get this?" I demanded, my tone shifting instantly from comforting to razor-sharp interrogation as I stepped closer.
Before the boy could answer, a sharp metallic click echoed from the back of the service lobby.
The heavy oak door of the branch manager’s private office slowly swung open. Mr. Harrison stepped out into the pulsing red glow.
He didn't even glance at the sobbing robber cowering by the counter. He didn't look at the shattered glass or the terrified tellers huddled on the floor. His eyes were fixed entirely, unwaveringly, on the ten-year-old boy.
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Harrison’s face had drained of every drop of color, turning a chalky, sickly gray. His hands were trembling so violently he had to clasp them together against his stomach to keep them still.
"I am so sorry," Harrison whispered, his voice cracking into a dry rasp as he took a slow, trembling step forward and bowed his head in complete, abject submission. "I truly did not believe… they would actually send you."
