Chapter 6 - RAFAEL'S DAUGHTER
For several seconds, Selena could not move.
Damon had seen people receive terrible news before.
Death.
Betrayal.
Loss.
The worst kind of truth was not always the loudest.
Sometimes it simply erased the world someone believed they had lived in.
Selena stared at Mrs. Alvarez.
“No.”
The older woman cried harder.
“Selena—”
“No.”
Ruby clung to her mother's skirt.
“Mommy?”
Selena lifted her immediately.
“Don't listen.”
The child buried her face against Selena's neck.
Damon looked at Mrs. Alvarez.
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
Lucia laughed softly behind him.
Selena turned.
“You knew?”
Lucia's face held something Damon had not seen before.
Pain.
“I suspected.”
“You lived in my house.”
“I needed proof.”
“You held my daughter.”
“My niece.”
Selena lunged.
Damon caught her before she reached Lucia.
“Don't.”
“She knew!”
“I know.”
“She came into Ruby's room!”
“I know.”
Selena was shaking violently.
Damon lowered his voice.
“Ruby can hear you.”
That stopped her.
She looked at her daughter.
Ruby's eyes were wide.
Selena closed them briefly.
When she spoke again, her voice was controlled.
“Mrs. Alvarez, explain.”
The older woman wiped tears from her cheeks.
“Javier told me shortly before he died.”
“How would Javier know?”
“He knew everything Rafael did.”
Selena's face twisted.
“No.”
Mrs. Alvarez continued.
“You met Rafael once.”
Selena froze.
Damon watched.
“When?”
“Before Javier,” Mrs. Alvarez said.
Selena's lips parted.
Memory arrived slowly.
“A hotel in Tucson.”
Lucia looked at her.
“Charity fundraiser.”
Selena turned sharply.
“You were there?”
“No.”
Lucia swallowed.
“Rafael told me.”
Selena became very still.
Damon understood before she spoke.
One night.
One brief relationship perhaps.
Something she had buried.
Selena whispered, “He told me his name was Rafael Diaz.”
Lucia looked away.
“He used our mother's maiden name.”
Selena's voice cracked.
“It was one weekend.”
Ruby shifted in her arms.
Selena kissed her hair.
“I met Javier two months later.”
Mrs. Alvarez said gently, “He knew.”
Selena looked stunned.
“He knew Ruby might not be his?”
“Yes.”
“And he never told me?”
“He loved you.”
A broken laugh escaped Selena.
“He lied to me.”
“He raised her.”
“He lied.”
Mrs. Alvarez's voice became stronger.
“He also died protecting both of you.”
Selena fell silent.
Damon looked toward Lucia.
“Why does Mateo want Ruby?”
Lucia said nothing.
Damon stepped closer.
“Why?”
She finally looked at him.
“Because Rafael named her.”
“What?”
“In an old document.”
Lucia's voice was bitter.
“Years before Mateo took control, Arturo Delgato divided family holdings. Rafael's descendants inherited a controlling interest in several legitimate companies.”
Damon understood.
“Ruby owns something.”
Lucia laughed once.
“Potentially hundreds of millions.”
Selena looked horrified.
“I don't want it.”
“Mateo doesn't care what you want.”
Lucia stared at Ruby.
“As long as Rafael had no child, Mateo controlled everything.”
“Now he doesn't.”
“No.”
Gabriel whispered, “That's why Javier stole the financial archive.”
Lucia nodded reluctantly.
“Javier discovered Rafael had changed the beneficiary records after learning Selena was pregnant. He intended to confirm paternity quietly.”
Selena looked sick.
“But Rafael died.”
“Yes.”
“And Javier?”
“Found the DNA records.”
Damon looked at the flash drive.
“On here?”
“Maybe.”
Mrs. Alvarez shook her head.
“Not only there.”
Everyone turned.
She reached inside her blouse.
From beneath a chain, she pulled a tiny silver key.
“Javier gave this to me.”
Selena stared.
“Why?”
“He told me if anyone ever came looking for Ruby, I should give it to you.”
“Give it to me then.”
Mrs. Alvarez hesitated.
“What?”
“He said not to give it to you.”
Selena looked hurt.
“Why?”
“He said to give it to Damon Reyes.”
Damon went still.
“What does it open?”
“I don't know.”
A teenage scream echoed faintly again.
Gabriel spun toward the sound.
“Noah.”
The noise came from a warehouse at the far edge of the freight yard.
Gabriel started running.
Marcus caught him.
“Stop.”
“That's my son!”
“It could be bait.”
“I don't care.”
“You will if you get him killed.”
Gabriel tried to pull away.
Damon stepped between them.
“We go together.”
Gabriel's chest heaved.
“Now.”
“Yes.”
Damon turned toward Mrs. Alvarez.
“You take Selena and Ruby.”
“No,” Selena said.
Damon looked at her.
“Don't start.”
“I am done being moved around while men decide what happens to my daughter.”
“This isn't a discussion.”
“It is if you're protecting her.”
She stepped closer.
“You don't get to tell me the truth is too dangerous and then disappear with half of it.”
Damon wanted to argue.
Instead he looked at Ruby.
The child was exhausted.
Confused.
But safe for the moment.
He turned to Marcus.
“Mrs. Alvarez and one guard stay with them behind the east container row.”
Selena started to object.
Damon held up a hand.
“Ten minutes.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“If you're not back?”
“Leave.”
“With who?”
“Marcus.”
Marcus looked at him.
Damon shook his head.
“You're staying with Selena.”
Marcus understood what that meant.
“You're going into that warehouse with Gabriel alone?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Damon's mouth almost curved.
“Interesting how nobody follows orders tonight.”
Gabriel looked toward the warehouse.
“Please.”
Damon nodded.
They moved.
The freight yard was silent except for distant engines.
The warehouse had one open side door.
Inside, light spilled from a single overhead bulb.
Gabriel entered first.
Damon behind him.
“Noah?”
Nothing.
Then a voice.
“Dad?”
Gabriel stopped.
A boy sat tied to a metal chair near the center of the room.
Tall.
Thin.
Dark hair.
Bruised but alive.
Gabriel's weapon fell slightly.
“Noah.”
The teenager stared at him.
For the first time, Damon saw Gabriel Velez not as lieutenant, traitor, or soldier.
Just a father.
Gabriel took one step.
Damon grabbed him.
“Wait.”
Noah shook his head violently.
“Dad, don't!”
A click sounded.
Lights snapped on.
Men emerged from behind stacked crates.
Six.
Then eight.
Damon cursed.
Mateo Delgato stepped from a dark doorway.
He was younger than Damon expected.
Forty.
Elegant suit.
No visible weapon.
The kind of man who let other people carry violence for him.
“Finally.”
Gabriel stared.
“Let him go.”
Mateo smiled.
“You disappoint me.”
“You have what you wanted.”
“Not yet.”
Mateo looked at Damon.
“Where is my niece?”
Damon said nothing.
Mateo's smile faded.
“You know now.”
“Yes.”
“Then you understand why this ends tonight.”
“You're afraid of a three-year-old.”
“I am practical.”
“Same thing, when the threat is wearing a yellow dress.”
Mateo's eyes hardened.
“I don't kill children.”
Damon looked toward Noah.
“Your standards are inspiring.”
Mateo sighed.
“The boy is alive.”
“For now.”
“For as long as Gabriel remains useful.”
Gabriel took another step.
“I'm done.”
Mateo laughed.
“No. You don't get to be done.”
Gabriel stared at his son.
Then at Mateo.
“I gave you the estate.”
“Yes.”
“The cameras.”
“Yes.”
“The routes.”
“Yes.”
“What else could you possibly want?”
Mateo looked at Damon.
“His head.”
Silence.
Gabriel's face drained.
Mateo continued.
“Kill Damon Reyes.”
Noah started struggling.
“No!”
Gabriel did not move.
Mateo tilted his head.
“One bullet.”
Gabriel looked at Damon.
Damon stared back.
Nine years of history hung between them.
Betrayal.
Loyalty.
Fear.
Guilt.
Mateo smiled.
“Then you and your son leave.”
Gabriel slowly raised his gun.
Damon did not.
He did not even reach for his weapon.
Noah screamed.
“Dad!”
Gabriel's hand trembled.
Damon looked him directly in the eyes.
“This is your choice.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“You should kill me.”
“Probably.”
“Why aren't you?”
“Because if I do, your son watches his father die for his worst mistake.”
Damon's expression never changed.
“I'd rather he watch you decide who you actually are.”
Gabriel's eyes filled.
Mateo lost patience.
“Shoot him.”
Gabriel aimed at Damon's chest.
Then suddenly swung the gun toward Mateo.
But Damon saw the red point appear on Gabriel's forehead.
“Down!”
Damon slammed into him.
A shot cracked.
The overhead bulb shattered.
Darkness swallowed the warehouse.
Men shouted.
Noah screamed.
Damon rolled behind a crate.
Gabriel crawled toward his son.
Gunfire erupted.
Then another sound rose above it.
The roar of vehicles entering the freight yard.
Mateo's men stopped.
Someone shouted from outside.
“Federal agents!”
Damon froze.
Marcus had not called them.
Gabriel had not.
Mateo swore.
Red and blue lights swept across the warehouse walls.
Damon looked toward the entrance.
And Lucia Delgato walked in beside a federal agent.
Her wrists were no longer bound.
May you like
She pointed directly at Damon.
“There he is.”
