Chapter 9 - Sofia’s Secret Meeting
Daniel set the gun on the floor.
Marcus kept his aimed anyway.
“Start talking,” Adrian said.
Daniel looked at the red key card.
“Sofia kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Ernesto stepped forward.
“Where is my mom?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I don’t know.”
The boy kicked the metal cabinet.
“I’m tired of that answer!”
Adrian put a hand on his shoulder.
Ernesto shook it off.
Daniel deserved the anger.
He knew it.
“Victor threatened my son,” Daniel said.
Marcus scoffed.
“You already used that.”
“It’s still true.”
“What did he make you do?” Adrian asked.
“Disable GPS. Rotate two protection vehicles. Leave the river route exposed.”
“Did you know about the truck?”
“No.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Adrian stared.
Daniel continued.
“I thought they would force you off the road, scare you, get photographs, build the incompetence case.”
“Then I went through the barrier.”
“Yes.”
“When did you realize?”
“When Victor asked whether the car was fully submerged.”
Marcus cursed.
Daniel looked at him.
“I went to the bridge to find Adrian.”
“At midnight,” Ernesto said.
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why lie about three?” Adrian asked.
“Because Victor was listening.”
“Always a reason.”
“Yes.”
Daniel reached into his coat slowly.
Marcus raised the gun.
“Easy.”
Daniel removed a recorder.
“I started preserving him.”
He pressed play.
Victor’s voice:
“Once Adrian is gone, the boy becomes irrelevant.”
Adrian frowned.
“What boy?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Marcus looked at Ernesto.
Ernesto noticed.
“My father.”
Nobody answered.
The boy’s breathing quickened.
“My dad is dead.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No, kid.”
Ernesto went white.
Daniel continued.
“Victor thinks your father hid something from him.”
“What?”
“An original ledger.”
“Who is my father?” Adrian asked.
Daniel hesitated.
“Mateo Reyes.”
Marcus swore under his breath.
Adrian recognized the name.
Former Cole Meridian financial analyst.
Accused of embezzling two million dollars twelve years earlier.
Vanished before trial.
“Victor blamed him for the first missing funds.”
Daniel nodded.
“He discovered them.”
Ernesto looked at Adrian.
“My mom said my dad died in an accident.”
Daniel whispered:
“She lied because Victor was still looking.”
Ernesto backed away.
“No.”
Daniel took out a second card.
Address.
Industrial maintenance building south of the river.
“He was alive six months ago.”
“Six months?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I met him.”
Ernesto’s face twisted.
“You met my dad and never told me?”
Daniel had no defense.
They drove before dawn.
The building looked abandoned.
One light burned inside.
Marcus entered first.
Then Adrian.
Then Ernesto.
A thin man stepped from behind a steel partition with a shotgun.
He saw the boy.
The weapon dropped.
“Ernesto?”
The boy stopped breathing.
“Dad?”
Mateo started crying.
Ernesto ran into him.
For five seconds, nobody moved.
Then Mateo looked over the boy’s head at Adrian.
His face changed.
“You.”
Adrian frowned.
Mateo pushed Ernesto behind him.
“You look exactly like the man who signed my death order.”
Adrian’s pulse stopped.
“My uncle?”
Mateo shook his head.
May you like
“Your father.”
CUT.
