Clara led Leo toward a quiet hallway near the manor's private study room.
The loud music from the ballroom sounded muffled behind the heavy wooden doors.
Leo wiped a tear from his pale cheek using his dark blue sleeve.
Clara: Are you okay, little guy?
Leo: Yes, thank you for standing up for me.
Clara: What is inside that velvet pouch you are holding so tightly?
Leo looked left and right before carefully loosening the golden string pull.
Inside lay a small heavy brass key and a tiny USB flash drive.
Leo: My mom gave me this key before she went to heaven.
Clara: What does it open?
Leo: It opens the safe inside my dad's desk upstairs.
Leo: Mom said if Vanessa ever tried to marry Dad, I must check the safe.
Clara's stomach dropped as she realized the boy was carrying crucial evidence.
Clara: Did you check the safe tonight, Leo?
Leo: Yes, I put the flash drive from the safe into my pouch.
Leo: Vanessa caught me coming out of the room and got mad.
Clara knelt down on the soft carpet so she was eye level with him.
Clara: You were very brave, but this is very dangerous.
Leo: She wants my dad to sign papers that sell our company.
Clara: We need to get this drive to your father immediately.
Leo: But Vanessa's guards are watching all the hallway doors!
Clara looked toward the end of the corridor where two tall security men stood.
They wore sleek black suits and kept their eyes fixed on the hallway entrance.
Clara recognized that those men belonged to Vanessa's personal security detail, not Marcus's.
Clara: Listen to me carefully, Leo.
Clara: Hide this flash drive inside your left sock right now.
Leo nodded quickly and slipped the small electronic device under his dark sock band.
He kept the empty velvet pouch inside his jacket pocket as a decoy.
Clara: Good job. Now we walk back out like nothing happened.
Leo: What if she takes my pouch?
Clara: Let her take it. It will prove she is trying to steal from you.
Suddenly, the heavy door of the private study opened up down the corridor.
Vanessa stepped out holding a folder filled with legal contract pages.
She caught sight of Clara and Leo standing near the library entrance way.
Vanessa: Security! Stop those two right there!