The metal screws were tight, bound by old paint and rust, but Sarah pressed her weight into the tool and turned it with all her strength. The first bolt gave way with a sharp metallic snap that echoed down the quiet corridor. Sarah gasped, quickly glancing over her shoulder to make sure no guests had wandered away from the party. The hallway remained empty, bathed in the bright afternoon sunlight streaming through the stained-glass arches above.
Waitress: Keep talking to me, sweetie. Tell me your name. I am getting you out!
Young Boy: I am Leo. I want my dad! Please, it is dark and I cannot breathe very well!
Waitress: Just a few more seconds, Leo! Stay right back from the metal!
Sarah worked furiously, her green gloves slipping slightly against the sweat on her palms. She jammed the tool behind the second bolt and levered it forward with a violent burst of force. The iron hinge gave out, and the heavy metal vent grate clattered onto the wooden floorboards with a loud, ringing thud. Dust erupted from the narrow dark cavity inside the wall. Without hesitating for a single moment, Sarah reached her arms deep into the cramped air shaft.
She felt thin fabric and small, shivering shoulders. Leo was wearing simple flannel pajamas covered in drywall dust and cobwebs. Sarah wrapped her arms under his shoulders and lifted him out of the wall, carrying his small body into the bright daylight of the mansion hallway. The boy clung to her grey server dress like a lifeline, his small arms wrapped tightly around her neck as heavy sob racked his body. Sarah held him against her chest, rocking him back and forth beneath the large American flag mounted on the wall.
Young Boy: She said Dad would never find me! She said he forgot about me!
Waitress: Nobody forgot about you, Leo. You are safe now. I have got you.
Leo was pale and thin, his cheekbones sharp against his skin, indicating he had been kept in isolation for days without proper food or water. Sarah felt a burning anger rising in her chest. How could anyone do this to a helpless child? Just as she was wiping the dust off Leo’s face, sharp, clicking footsteps echoed against the hardwood floor from the adjacent archway.
A stunning woman dressed in a floor-length golden dress embellished with sparkling diamonds stepped into the corridor. It was Isabella, Arthur Montgomery's newly wedded wife. She held a heavy brass key in her manicured hand, her face twisting into dark rage the moment her eyes landed on Sarah and the open wall cavity. Behind her stepped Arthur Montgomery himself, dressed in a sharp black tuxedo, looking confused as he followed his wife away from the charity event.
Isabella: What do you think you are doing, you stupid girl?! Put him back in there right now!
Waitress: Are you out of your mind?! He is just a little boy! He was freezing in there!
Isabella: Step away from him immediately, or I will make sure you are arrested for trespassing and assault! Put him back and I may let you keep your job!
Arthur stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening in absolute horror as he looked at the open vent, the iron tools on the floor, and his trembling son holding onto a server in a grey uniform. The room seemed to plunge into a suffocating silence as the gravity of the scene settled over the wealthy CEO.