Chapter 12 - The Voice of Her Father
Lucía stopped breathing.
Her father’s voice.
Six years dead.
Still unmistakable.
“Lucía, if you found this file, I’m sorry.”
Her eyes filled instantly.
Vidal grabbed the drive.
“Shut it off!”
He couldn’t.
The recording continued through the station’s emergency speakers.
“I discovered a network operating inside regional command. Serrano leads it. Vidal manages logistics.”
Sofia stared at Lucía.
Vidal drew his pistol.
“Enough!”
Then Javier said:
“Iván Rojas witnessed the first execution.”
Lucía felt the words hit her.
“He did not fire the weapon.”
A pause.
“But silence is also a choice.”
Vidal smashed the drive against a railing.
The voice kept playing.
The file had already transferred into the station system.
Javier continued.
“I have placed copies of financial records with three independent contacts. If I die, look for the name Lázaro.”
Cruz’s voice came through Lucía’s hidden earpiece.
“We heard it.”
Vidal didn’t know.
He grabbed Sofia by the hair and pulled her upright.
“Move.”
Lucía aimed her weapon.
“Let her go.”
“Drop it.”
“Not happening.”
Vidal pressed the gun to Sofia’s neck.
“Your father made the same mistake.”
Lucía lowered her weapon slightly.
“Which mistake?”
“Believing I needed to survive.”
Vidal smiled.
Then he pulled a remote detonator from his pocket.
Marcos’s voice exploded in her earpiece.
“Lucía, MOVE!”
Vidal pressed the button.
An explosion tore through the lower level.
Metal screamed.
The floor shook.
Water surged through a broken channel.
Sofia fell.
Lucía rushed forward.
Vidal fired.
The bullet struck the railing beside her.
Lucía tackled Sofia and rolled behind a turbine housing.
Marcos entered from the west door, firing toward Vidal.
Cruz’s team stormed the building.
Vidal ran toward the upper walkway.
Lucía cut Sofia’s restraints.
“Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Go with Marcos.”
Sofia grabbed her.
“What about you?”
Lucía looked toward Vidal.
“He knows who Lázaro is.”
“Lucía—”
“I need him alive.”
She chased Vidal upstairs.
He reached the roof.
A helicopter was already approaching.
Lucía stepped into the wind.
Vidal smiled.
“You really don’t learn.”
The helicopter door opened.
A man stood inside.
May you like
Lucía expected Serrano.
Instead, she saw Iván.
