Chapter 7 - THE CHILD BENEATH SAINT MERCY
Ramon took the stairs three at a time.
Another scream echoed below.
Not Lucia.
A man's.
Then something heavy crashed against metal.
He reached the landing.
A nurse lay unconscious beside a laundry cart.
Lucia stood several feet away holding a fire extinguisher with both hands.
The cylinder was almost as large as her torso.
A bleeding man in security clothes was crawling toward a pistol.
Lucia raised the extinguisher again.
“Don't.”
She froze.
Ramon crossed the space and kicked the gun away.
The man looked up.
Ramon recognized him.
One of Esteban's drivers.
Lucia dropped the extinguisher.
Then ran.
Ramon caught her.
She hit him at full speed and wrapped both arms around his waist.
“I thought you didn't come.”
Ramon lifted her.
“I came.”
“He said you wouldn't.”
“Who?”
“The white-haired man.”
Ramon closed his eyes for half a second.
“He lies.”
Lucia buried her face in his shoulder.
“I hit the other man.”
“I noticed.”
“Am I bad?”
Ramon looked at her.
“No.”
That answer came faster than anything else had that day.
“You survived.”
Footsteps thundered behind them.
Ramon turned.
Gun raised.
Isabel appeared.
“Lucia!”
Ramon lowered the weapon.
Isabel reached them.
Mother and daughter collided in a desperate embrace.
Ramon looked away.
He gave them ten seconds.
Then twelve.
Then he heard Victor over the emergency radio.
“Ramon, Esteban's moving toward the east garage.”
Ramon answered.
“Lucia secured.”
“Good. We have six hostages here. Helena found the command terminal.”
“Esteban?”
“Running.”
Ramon looked at Isabel.
She immediately understood.
“Go.”
“I need you both protected.”
“We'll stay with Helena.”
“No.”
“Ramon.”
He studied her.
For someone who had been hanging from a tree less than a day earlier, Isabel possessed an astonishing amount of defiance.
“You don't take orders well.”
“Neither do you.”
Lucia sniffed.
“I do sometimes.”
Ramon almost smiled.
He contacted Diego.
“Bring the extraction team into sublevel three. Isabel and Lucia first priority.”
Then he ran.
The east garage was chaos.
Sprinklers had activated.
Water fell from the ceiling.
Two cars crashed near the ramp.
Victor fought one of Esteban's men beside an ambulance.
Ramon saw his uncle entering a black sedan.
He fired at a tire.
The shot struck the rear quarter panel.
The sedan accelerated.
Ramon sprinted toward an abandoned hospital security vehicle.
Victor dove into the passenger seat.
“You drive like a psychopath.”
Ramon started the engine.
“You complain like a widow.”
They tore up the ramp.
Esteban's sedan emerged onto city streets.
Rain had begun outside.
Heavy.
Cold.
Ramon followed.
The chase cut through industrial blocks, then residential streets, then toward the river.
Victor called Diego.
“Track the plate.”
“Working.”
Esteban ran a red light.
A truck nearly struck them.
Ramon stayed close.
“He's going somewhere specific.”
Victor glanced ahead.
“Or trying to kill us.”
“Both.”
The sedan crossed an old bridge.
Ramon suddenly slowed.
Victor looked at him.
“What?”
“Too easy.”
“What?”
“He knows every safe house we have. Every route. Every piece of the city.”
Ramon watched the sedan disappear around a curve.
“He wants us following.”
Victor swore.
“Again.”
Ramon turned the car around.
“Where would he send us while he goes somewhere else?”
Victor understood.
“The ledger.”
Their mother's house.
They raced there.
Too late.
Smoke was already rising when they reached the neighborhood.
Flames burned inside the chapel windows.
Ramon jumped from the car.
Victor caught him.
“Fire department's coming.”
“The ledger is inside.”
“You'll die for paper?”
“For evidence.”
“You dying destroys the evidence anyway.”
Ramon shoved him off and entered through the side door.
Heat rolled through the hallway.
Smoke had filled the ceiling.
He covered his mouth and ran toward the chapel.
The door was burning.
He kicked it open.
The altar had caught fire.
The cabinet stood open.
Empty.
No ledger.
No memory card.
Ramon stared.
Someone had reached it before the fire.
Then he saw blood on the floor.
A trail.
He followed it into the dining room.
A man lay beside the table.
Diego.
Ramon dropped beside him.
“Diego.”
His eyes opened.
“Boss.”
“What happened?”
“Gabriel.”
Ramon froze.
“What about him?”
Diego coughed.
“He took it.”
“The ledger?”
A nod.
“He said you told him.”
“I didn't.”
Diego's eyes closed briefly.
“He hit me before I understood.”
Ramon sat back.
No.
Not again.
Victor entered.
“Ramon, move! Roof's going!”
They dragged Diego outside.
Firefighters arrived minutes later.
Ramon stood in the rain watching the home of his childhood burn.
First his brother.
Then his mother.
Now the house.
Everything Esteban touched became an absence.
Victor came beside him.
“Maybe Gabriel had a reason.”
“He always has a reason.”
“That doesn't make him Esteban.”
“No.”
Ramon looked at the flames.
“But it doesn't make him trustworthy either.”
His phone rang.
Gabriel.
Ramon answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“You need to listen.”
“You attacked Diego.”
“I needed him to believe I turned.”
“Why?”
“Because Esteban was watching.”
Ramon closed his eyes.
“You could have told me.”
“No. Your phones were compromised.”
“Where are you?”
“Moving.”
“With the ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Bring it back.”
“I can't.”
Ramon's voice sharpened.
“Gabriel.”
“Esteban offered a trade.”
“For what?”
Silence.
Then Gabriel spoke.
“Twenty-one remaining hostages.”
Ramon looked at Victor.
“You believe him?”
“I saw proof.”
“Where?”
“He sent me live feeds.”
“And you decided alone.”
“I've been making decisions alone for seventeen years.”
“And look how well that worked.”
Gabriel went silent.
Ramon regretted it instantly.
Not enough to apologize.
“What does Esteban want?”
“The ledger and me.”
“Why you?”
“Because I know how to disable the dead man's protocol.”
“Then wait.”
“No.”
“Gabriel.”
“If I don't arrive within forty minutes, hostages die.”
Ramon heard road noise.
“You're already going.”
“Yes.”
“Location.”
“No.”
“I will find you.”
“I know.”
“Then save us both the time.”
Gabriel laughed softly.
“Still bossy.”
Ramon's throat tightened.
“Don't do this.”
There was another pause.
When Gabriel answered, the older-brother warmth Ramon remembered had returned.
“I missed your whole life, Monito.”
Ramon said nothing.
“I missed your first suit. Your first real fight. The day you took over. The day Mother died. Every birthday.”
“Then don't miss tomorrow.”
Gabriel inhaled shakily.
“I love you.”
The line disconnected.
Ramon immediately turned to Victor.
“Trace.”
“Working.”
A message arrived.
Not from Gabriel.
From Esteban.
A photograph.
Gabriel standing in front of an old railway tunnel outside the city.
Timestamp: thirty seconds ago.
Beneath it:
ONE BROTHER DIED IN THESE WOODS ONCE.
LET'S SEE IF HISTORY CAN BE IMPROVED.
Ramon recognized the tunnel.
It ran beneath the same forest where they had found Isabel.
Everything led back there.
He looked at the burning house.
Then at the fog rolling over the distant hills.
“This ends tonight.”
But before he could move, Isabel appeared behind him.
Her face was pale.
Lucia stood beside Helena.
“Ramon.”
He turned.
Isabel held a small plastic drive in her hand.
“I didn't tell you everything.”
Ramon stared.
“What is that?”
“The copy Esteban thinks Gabriel is carrying.”
Victor looked between them.
“The ledger?”
Isabel shook her head.
“Something worse.”
She handed it to Ramon.
“When I copied Arden's accounts, I found one payment made every month for seventeen years.”
“To whom?”
Isabel swallowed.
“To Gabriel Ortega.”
May you like
Ramon's face went completely still.
And Isabel whispered, “Your brother wasn't only Esteban's prisoner.”
