Leo pushed the door open, his heart pounding in his chest. "Uncle Thomas! Are you here?" he called out desperately. Silence answered him, broken only by the whistling wind.
Just as despair threatened to consume Leo, Lily spotted a small metallic glimmer underneath a broken table. It was their mother’s silver locket!
"Leo, look! It's Mom's!" Lily gasped, picking it up.
Leo hastily pried the locket open. Inside lay not only a family photo, but also a hidden micro SD card. Their father had anticipated the danger and secured all the corporate corruption files inside this tiny drive. Etched onto the back of the metal locket was a scratched message: "Federal Police HQ - Office 402".
Their parents were still alive! They were being held hostage at a secret facility near the federal center to force out this exact data drive. The children realized they were no longer just running away; they held the key to saving their entire family. Fear evaporated, replaced by a burning fire of courage in the ten-year-old boy's eyes.
Chapter 5: The Tearful Reunion
With the help of a sympathetic truck driver who believed their story, Leo and Lily were brought directly to the Federal Police Headquarters. Leo stubbornly refused to surrender the micro SD card to anyone until they were brought before the Chief Inspector—the exact man mentioned in his father's emergency note.