Chapter 11 - Elena’s Last Plan
I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I listened.
Mateo leaned against the car.
“Elena knew Sebastian was watching her.”
“So she went to you.”
“Yes.”
“Why not me?”
“Because she knew what you would do.”
I hated that he was right.
“She believed Sebastian wanted access to something you had hidden.”
“What?”
“The master ledger.”
I shook my head.
“I destroyed it.”
“No.”
Mateo looked at me.
“Elena found it.”
I stared at him.
“Where?”
“She never told me.”
He continued.
“She asked me to pretend I was willing to help Sebastian.”
“So that line on the recording—”
“Was Sebastian believing I had switched sides.”
“Why hide this for nineteen years?”
Mateo’s eyes hardened with guilt.
“Because the plan failed.”
Rain struck the windshield.
“Elena called me the night she died.”
I stopped breathing.
“She said Sebastian had discovered the deception.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I was twenty minutes away.”
His voice broke for the first time in all the years I had known him.
“I got there after the ambulance.”
I remembered Mateo arriving at my apartment that night.
He had told me Elena was gone.
He had held Renata while I collapsed in the kitchen.
“You knew it wasn’t an accident.”
“I suspected.”
“You let me believe it was.”
“You had a six-month-old daughter.”
“That was my decision to make.”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“And I made it for you anyway.”
I turned away.
For nineteen years, my life had been built on lies people claimed were meant to protect me.
Elena lied about Nathan.
Mateo lied about the crash.
Victor vanished without explanation.
And I had lied to Renata about who her father was.
None of us had protected anyone.
We had only delayed the explosion.
My phone rang.
Rafael Cordova.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Santiago is gone.”
My anger vanished beneath immediate focus.
“When?”
“About an hour ago.”
“Police?”
“I can’t trust them.”
That sounded familiar.
“Was anything left behind?”
“A message.”
“What does it say?”
Rafael’s voice shook.
TELL THE GHOST TO BRING THE LEDGER.
The master ledger.
Sebastian believed I had it.
The same thing Elena had died protecting.
I looked at Mateo.
“Santiago’s been taken.”
“By Varela?”
“Almost certainly.”
Mateo’s phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
Then looked at me.
“What?”
“Senator Beltran just announced an emergency press conference.”
We watched from the car.
The senator stood beneath bright lights.
Her expression was solemn.
“Recent violence involving students at Varela University appears to be connected to organized criminal activity.”
I almost smiled.
She continued.
“Authorities are investigating a man believed to have ties to a long-dormant criminal organization.”
A photograph appeared beside her.
My photograph.
Daniel Salgado.
Taken three days earlier outside Renata’s hospital.
The senator stared directly into the camera.
“We believe this individual may be known by another name.”
The screen changed.
May you like
One word appeared.
THE GHOST.
