Chapter 4: The Dead Man’s Call
“Daniel?””
Ricardo could barely speak the name.
The voice on the phone was calm.
“You were always stubborn.””
Ricardo gripped the device.
“Who is this?””
A quiet laugh.
“You really want me to answer that?””
“Where are you?””
“Closer than you think.””
Helena moved toward him.
“Put it on speaker.””
Ricardo did.
The entire room listened.
Daniel’s voice continued.
“You found Room 214.””
Ricardo’s eyes narrowed.
“How?””
“That room was never mine.””
“What does that mean?””
“It belonged to the people behind the company.””
“Which people?””
The voice went silent.
Then:
“Helena knows.””
Ricardo turned toward her.
Helena shook her head.
“I don’t.””
“You’re still lying.””
The voice laughed softly.
“She always was good at that.””
Helena whispered, “Daniel, please.””
The voice changed.
Not Daniel now.
A different man.
Older.
Colder.
“You shouldn’t have brought the child.””
Ricardo immediately moved Bia behind him.
“Who are you?””
“Someone who has spent years cleaning up your family’s mistakes.””
The line went dead.
Ricardo stared at the phone.
Then he looked at Helena.
“Start talking.””
She sat down.
For the first time, she looked exhausted.
“I met Daniel before I met you.””
Ricardo said nothing.
“He was already involved with them.””
“Who?””
“A private network. Businessmen. Lawyers.
Officials. People who could make problems disappear.””
“And Daniel worked for them?””
“At first.””
“What changed?””
“He tried to leave.””
Ricardo looked at the recorder.
“That’s why he died.””
Helena nodded.
“But there was more.””
She reached into her purse.
Pulled out a small key.
Placed it on the table.
“Daniel gave me this the night before he died.””
Ricardo picked it up.
“What does it open?””
“A locker at the train station.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because every time I tried, someone got hurt.””
“Who?””
“My sister.””
Ricardo stopped.
“Your sister?””
“Her car was forced off the road three years ago.””
“Was she killed?””
“No.””
Helena looked at Bia.
“She survived.””
The little girl stepped closer.
“My mommy knew her.””
Helena nodded.
“Your mother tried to help me.””
Ricardo’s face hardened.
“So my brother and Bia’s mother were both investigating this.””
“Yes.””
“And you?””
“I was trying to stop them.””
The sentence landed heavily.
“You were protecting the people who killed Daniel.””
“I thought I was protecting everyone.””
“You chose wrong.””
“Yes.””
Silence filled the room.
Then a sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Ricardo killed the flashlight.
The footsteps stopped outside Room 214.
Bia whispered, “Someone’s there.””
Ricardo held a finger to his lips.
The doorknob moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
A sheet of paper slid underneath the door.
Ricardo waited.
The footsteps faded.
He picked it up.
One sentence.
BRING HELENA TO THE STATION. COME ALONE.
Ricardo looked at Helena.
“No.””
She nodded.
“I expected that.””
“I'm not bringing you anywhere.””
“You have to.””
“Why?””
“Because the locker is registered under my name.””
Ricardo looked at the key.
“What’s inside?””
“I don’t know.””
“Daniel never told you?””
“No.””
“Then how do you know it matters?””
“Because he died trying to protect it.””
At midnight, they reached the train station.
The building was nearly empty.
Rainwater dripped from Ricardo’s coat.
Bia stayed close.
They found locker 318.
Helena inserted the key.
The door opened.
Inside was a red folder.
And a second phone.
Ricardo picked it up.
It had no password.
The screen displayed a video.
He pressed play.
Daniel appeared.
Alive.
Standing in a warehouse.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Ricardo, if you are watching this, then I failed.””
Ricardo’s chest tightened.
Daniel continued.
“There are people you think you know.””
The image shook.
“I need you to understand something before you hear the rest.””
Daniel leaned closer.
“Helena did not kill me.””
Ricardo looked at Helena.
She began sobbing.
“But she knows who did.””
The screen cut to black.
Then another video opened.
This one showed a parking lot.
Daniel’s car.
A man approached.
The silver watch appeared.
He opened the driver's door.
But before he entered, someone else stepped into the frame.
Ricardo froze.
He knew that person.
He had seen him at the funeral.
A man who had hugged Ricardo an hour earlier.
A man who had stood beside Daniel’s casket.
A man Ricardo had trusted for years.
His own uncle.
The video ended.
Ricardo whispered:
“No.””
Helena looked at him.
“What?””
“My uncle.””
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Then every light in the train station went out.
And Bia screamed.
