Chapter 8 - The Shot Above Us
Everyone froze.
Santiago ducked.
The woman beside Renata screamed.
Rafael looked upward.
“That wasn’t my man.”
I believed him.
Another shot struck concrete near the entrance.
Someone was shooting into the site from above.
Not at me.
At all of us.
I ran toward Renata.
Rafael grabbed Santiago and pulled him behind a column.
“Move!”
I tore the plastic curtain down and shielded my daughter.
She gripped my coat.
Her entire body shook.
The medical worker crawled beside us.
“I was hired to monitor her condition.”
“Can she move?”
“Yes.”
I helped Renata stand.
Then I saw a red dot sweep across the concrete.
We were being watched through a scope.
“Stay down.”
Rafael shouted from behind the column.
“There’s a service tunnel!”
“Where?”
“North wall!”
We moved.
Santiago crawled beside his father.
There was no arrogance left in him now.
Only terror.
We reached a narrow stairwell leading underground.
The firing stopped.
That frightened me more.
Whoever had come here wanted us forced into one direction.
At the bottom of the stairs, Mateo appeared.
He had a weapon lowered at his side.
I nearly struck him.
“You followed me.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Where’s Victor?”
“Outside.”
Rafael stared at him.
“You people are insane.”
Mateo smiled coldly.
“You kidnapped his daughter.”
Rafael shut his mouth.
Victor entered behind us.
His coat was soaked.
“Shooter’s gone.”
I looked at Rafael.
“Who knew about this meeting?”
“My lawyer.”
“Who else?”
“My son.”
Santiago shook his head.
“I didn’t tell anybody.”
Renata pulled at my sleeve.
She pointed to Santiago.
Then she made a writing motion.
Mateo found a marker.
Renata wrote on the concrete wall.
EMMETT.
Santiago’s face went pale.
“What about Emmett?”
She wrote again.
HE KNEW.
“Knew what?”
Santiago asked.
Renata stared at him.
Then wrote.
ABOUT THE KEY BEFORE WE DID.
I turned toward Rafael.
“Your son didn’t organize the attack.”
Santiago swallowed.
“Emmett did.”
Renata nodded.
Slowly, the story began to change.
Santiago and Maurice had followed Emmett into the science building.
Emmett told them Renata had stolen something from his family.
They surrounded her.
Santiago grabbed her backpack.
Maurice blocked the exit.
Emmett demanded the key.
When Renata refused, the confrontation became violent.
The other two joined him.
But Emmett had been the one giving instructions.
Rafael stared at his son.
“You told police it was a fall.”
Santiago looked down.
“Dad—”
“You told me she fell.”
Santiago’s voice cracked.
“Emmett said his grandfather would fix everything.”
The tunnel went silent.
I looked at Victor.
“Who is Emmett’s grandfather?”
Victor did not answer immediately.
Then he said a name.
“Sebastian Varela.”
I knew it.
Not from newspapers.
Not from Renata’s university.
May you like
From another lifetime.
Sebastian Varela had once been my accountant.
