Chapter 5: The Man Everyone Trusted
Emergency lights flickered through the station.
Ricardo grabbed Bia and pulled her close.
“Stay behind me.””
Helena was shaking.
“Ricardo…”
“I know.””
Footsteps echoed from somewhere across the platform.
One set.
Then another.
Then several.
They were surrounded.
Ricardo looked toward the exits.
Locked.
Of course.
A voice came through the darkness.
“Give me the phone.””
Ricardo recognized it.
His uncle.
“Come out,” Ricardo called.
A silhouette appeared.
He stepped into the red light.
Suit.
Gray hair.
Calm expression.
The same man who had embraced Ricardo during the funeral and whispered that Daniel had been like a son to him.
“You shouldn't have come here,” his uncle said.
Ricardo held up the phone.
“You killed him.””
His uncle sighed.
“You don't understand what happened.””
“Then explain it.””
“It started long before you were born.””
Helena stood beside Ricardo.
“You promised Daniel he could leave.””
His uncle looked at her.
“And he broke the rules.””
Ricardo’s voice rose.
“What rules?””
“No one leaves.””
The same sentence.
The same words Ricardo had spoken at the funeral.
For a moment, the coincidence made the station feel like a nightmare.
“You controlled Daniel.””
“I protected him.””
“You killed him.””
His uncle’s face hardened.
“Daniel was going to expose everything.””
“What everything?””
“The company accounts. The payments. The names.””
“The government officials?””
“The judges. The prosecutors. The executives. Everyone who took money.””
Ricardo looked at Helena.
“And you were part of it.””
Helena lowered her head.
“For a while.””
“You were both criminals.””
“Yes.””
“Then why should I believe anything you say?””
“You shouldn’t.””
Her honesty surprised him.
She looked at Bia.
“But your mother was different.””
Ricardo frowned.
“She found the records and tried to expose them.””
His uncle interrupted.
“She was dangerous.””
“To you.””
“To everyone.””
He took another step.
Ricardo raised the phone.
“I have copies.””
His uncle stopped.
“You’re lying.””
“Maybe.””
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in the older man’s face.
Ricardo smiled without humor.
“You taught Daniel one thing.””
“What?””
“Always keep a backup.””
Helena looked at him.
The station speakers suddenly activated.
Bia’s mother’s voice filled the empty building.
“Ricardo, if you’re hearing this, it means they found you.””
Everyone froze.
The recording continued.
“I wanted you to know the truth before someone could rewrite it.””
Images appeared on a nearby advertising screen.
Bank transfers.
Company records.
Photographs.
Names.
Hundreds of them.
The station doors opened.
Police officers rushed in.
Ricardo stared.
“You called them?””
Helena shook her head.
“No.””
The uncle turned toward the officers.
Then back to Ricardo.
“You think this changes anything?””
A police commander stepped forward.
“It changes everything.””
The uncle smiled.
“You’re too late.””
“Why?””
“Because the files are already moving.””
Ricardo frowned.
“What files?””
“The original files.””
Helena understood first.
“The evidence.””
His uncle nodded.
“By morning, everyone who matters will know.””
Ricardo looked at Bia.
Her mother had planned for this.
Even if she died.
Even if Helena betrayed her.
Even if Daniel was killed.
She had prepared a path.
But then the uncle said something that chilled Ricardo.
“There is one thing your mother never told you.””
“What?””
“Daniel wasn't the only person who died because of those files.””
Ricardo’s stomach dropped.
“Who else?””
The uncle looked directly at Bia.
“Your mother.””
Bia’s face collapsed.
Ricardo pulled her against his chest.
“Don’t listen to him.””
But the uncle continued.
“She was alive when Daniel died.””
Helena whispered, “Stop.””
“She came back for him.””
“Stop.””
“She saw who was there.””
Ricardo stared at him.
“Who?””
The uncle smiled.
“The person standing next to you.””
Ricardo turned.
Helena was crying.
Bia looked between them.
Ricardo stepped away from Helena.
“You?””
Helena whispered, “I didn't kill her.””
“What did you do?””
“I left.””
“Why?””
“Because I was afraid.””
“And you left my brother too?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
She looked at Bia.
“Because your mother told me she would forgive me if I got you out.””
Ricardo stared.
“Out of where?””
“The house.””
“What house?””
Helena closed her eyes.
“The one where Daniel died.””
Before Ricardo could ask another question, police radios erupted.
“Unit seven, respond immediately.””
A second voice shouted:
“We found a body.””
Another officer ran toward the commander.
“Sir, you need to see this.””
Ricardo followed.
They reached a service corridor.
A man lay on the concrete.
The silver watch was visible beneath his sleeve.
Daniel’s missing driver.
Alive.
Barely.
His eyes opened.
He looked at Ricardo.
Then at Helena.
Then whispered:
May you like
“She knows where the money is.””
And passed out.
