Chapter 5 - THE CHASE THROUGH THE ESTATE
“Daniel!”
Alejandro shouted.
Richard crashed through the hallway doors.
Two guards moved toward him.
He shoved one into a marble column.
Victoria screamed.
“Dad!”
Richard sprinted toward the service corridor.
Alejandro followed.
“Alejandro!”
Elena called after him.
He didn’t stop.
He had spent his entire life being told what Moreiras did.
They controlled.
They negotiated.
They never lost composure.
Alejandro lost it.
Richard slammed through the kitchen.
Chefs scattered.
Pans crashed.
Daniel came from the opposite side.
Richard grabbed a knife from a prep table.
“Back off!”
Everyone stopped.
Daniel lifted both hands.
“Put it down.”
Richard’s eyes moved toward the rear exit.
Alejandro entered behind him.
“Where’s Isabella?”
Richard laughed breathlessly.
“You have no idea what you’re asking.”
“Where is my sister?”
“She should have stayed gone.”
Alejandro’s face changed.
Daniel saw it.
“Sir.”
Richard smiled.
“There he is.”
Alejandro stepped closer.
“The Moreira temper.”
“Tell me where she is.”
“Or what?”
Another step.
Daniel moved between them.
“Sir.”
Richard pointed the knife.
“This family destroyed itself years before I got involved.”
Alejandro’s voice was deadly calm.
“Where is she?”
Richard glanced at Victoria, who had just entered the kitchen.
Her wedding gown dragged through broken glass.
“Tell him.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“Go back to the ballroom.”
“No.”
“Victoria.”
“You told me you only wanted to scare her.”
Alejandro looked at her.
Richard’s grip tightened on the knife.
“Shut up.”
Victoria started crying.
“You said she’d be released after the wedding.”
Elena had entered behind her.
Noah was no longer with her.
She must have left him with a guard.
Alejandro stared at Victoria.
“Released?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I didn’t know where she was.”
“But you knew she was being held.”
“I found out yesterday.”
“You were going to marry me today.”
“I was going to make my father release her afterward.”
Alejandro stared at the woman he had been prepared to spend his life with.
“You stood beside me in a wedding dress while my sister was locked somewhere.”
“I was trying to fix it.”
“That’s not fixing it.”
Richard suddenly lunged for the door.
Daniel hit his wrist.
The knife flew.
Alejandro tackled him.
They crashed into a metal table.
Richard swung.
His fist connected with Alejandro’s mouth.
Alejandro hit back.
Hard.
Richard fell.
Daniel pinned him.
“Enough!”
Alejandro wiped blood from his lip.
“Where is she?”
Richard laughed from the floor.
“You think this ends with me?”
Alejandro crouched beside him.
“No.”
His eyes moved toward Beatriz, standing at the kitchen entrance.
“It ends with whoever started it.”
Beatriz’s face remained unreadable.
Daniel searched Richard.
Phone.
Wallet.
Keys.
A small black remote.
And a folded paper.
Alejandro opened it.
Coordinates.
Elena looked over his shoulder.
“Those are near the lake.”
Victoria whispered.
“The house.”
Richard stopped smiling.
Alejandro noticed.
Daniel noticed too.
“We go now.”
Richard laughed again.
“You’ll be too late.”
Alejandro grabbed him by the collar.
“What did you do?”
Richard looked directly into his eyes.
“Ask your grandmother.”
Everyone turned.
Beatriz stood completely still.
May you like
Richard smiled.
“She gave the final order thirty minutes ago.”
