Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Ravine
They moved fast after that.
Even Iván understood the situation had changed.
He pressed cloth against his bleeding shoulder while Marcos forced him forward.
“No heroics,” Marcos warned.
Iván gave him a humorless smile.
“You think I’m the one you should worry about?”
“Yes.”
“Fair.”
Lucía’s voice came through again.
“Old shepherd’s shelter. North side of the ravine.”
Marcos looked ahead.
“I see it.”
A stone building leaned against the hillside.
Half the roof had collapsed.
Marcos reached it first.
“Lucía?”
Nothing.
Then a pistol appeared from behind a wall.
“Stop.”
Marcos froze.
Lucía stepped into view.
Her face was cut.
One arm hung awkwardly.
Her pants were torn at the knee.
She looked like someone who had survived a disaster through pure stubbornness.
Marcos exhaled.
“You look terrible.”
Lucía almost smiled.
“You always know what to say.”
Then she saw Iván.
The smile vanished.
“Why is he still alive?”
Iván leaned against the doorway.
“Good to see you too.”
Lucía raised the gun.
Marcos gently touched her wrist.
“Not yet.”
“He tried to kill me.”
“I know.”
“He sabotaged the helicopter.”
“He says Serrano ordered it.”
Lucía looked at Iván.
“He’s telling the truth.”
That surprised everyone.
Álvaro stepped inside.
“Then what’s on the drive?”
Lucía reached beneath her shirt.
A thin waterproof pouch was taped against her side.
“I copied six months of internal files.”
“Payments?”
“Yes.”
“Names?”
“Yes.”
“Enough to prove it?”
Lucía looked at Iván.
“Enough to put half the command structure in prison.”
Iván laughed once.
“You really think prison is what comes next?”
Lucía ignored him.
“There’s more.”
She pulled out a tiny memory card.
“This is the recording.”
Marcos stared.
“Of Iván?”
“Of Iván and Serrano.”
Iván’s face tightened.
Lucía continued.
“I planted a recorder in the operations office after I noticed the contract numbers didn’t match.”
Álex asked, “What did you hear?”
Lucía looked at Iván.
“Tell them.”
Iván said nothing.
“Tell them what Serrano ordered.”
Silence.
Lucía hit play.
Static.
Then Serrano’s voice.
“If Navarro refuses to surrender the files, the aircraft doesn’t reach the valley.”
Another voice.
Iván.
“And the others?”
Serrano answered without hesitation.
“Collateral.”
Álvaro closed his eyes.
Then the recording continued.
Iván’s voice again.
“I’ll handle Navarro myself.”
Marcos slowly turned toward him.
But Lucía lifted a hand.
“There’s one more voice.”
The recording played on.
A third man spoke.
A voice they all recognized.
May you like
Álex went completely still.
Because the third voice belonged to their pilot.
