Chapter 4: The Man Behind the Voice
Mateo Vargas stared at the phone as though it had become a weapon in his hand.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
The mansion around us was silent.
Too silent.
I watched him press the screen, checking the number again and again, as if somehow the digits might change.
“Who was that?”” I asked.
He didn't respond.
“Was it really my father?””
Vargas slipped the phone into his pocket.
“From now on, you don't answer calls from numbers you don't recognize.””
“That wasn't an answer.””
“It was the only answer you're getting tonight.””
I stepped toward him.
“You said you would tell me the truth.””
“I said I would protect you.””
“That isn't the same thing.””
His jaw tightened.
Before he could reply, someone knocked hard on the door.
Three times.
Vargas immediately turned.
“Come in.””
The door opened and Elena stepped inside.
Her face was pale.
“Señor Vargas, we have a problem.””
“What kind?””
She glanced at me.
“The west gate camera was cut for forty-seven seconds.””
Vargas went still.
“Why didn't the alarm trigger?””
“It was manually disabled.””
“By whom?””
“We're checking.””
Vargas looked toward the hallway.
“Lock every entrance.””
Elena nodded.
“And bring the boy downstairs.””
I frowned.
“Why?””
Vargas looked at me.
“Because this room isn't safe anymore.””
I grabbed my sack.
“Where are we going?””
“The basement.””
I stopped.
“No.””
He turned.
“You think I'm taking you somewhere dangerous?””
“I think every place you take me is dangerous.””
For a moment, his expression softened.
“You may be right.””
Elena looked startled by the admission.
Vargas walked toward me.
“I need you to trust me for the next hour.””
“Why?””
“Because if Gabriel has reached this house, he won't come alone.””
My stomach twisted.
“How did he find me so fast?””
“We don't know.””
“You just said he found me.””
“I said he found your phone.””
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
“This phone.””
He stared at it.
“Where did you get it?””
“Elena gave it back.””
Vargas looked at her.
She shook her head immediately.
“It was in the boy's belongings when he arrived.””
Vargas's expression changed.
“Give it to me.””
I handed over the phone.
He removed the battery cover.
Then the SIM card.
He examined it under the light.
“There.””
I couldn't see what he was looking at.
“What?””
“A tracker.””
I stepped backward.
“Someone put a tracker on my phone?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
Vargas looked at me.
“Probably before your grandmother died.””
The room seemed to tilt.
“Then they knew where I was?””
“They may have known.””
“Then they watched me living on the streets?””
His silence answered me.
I felt suddenly exposed.
Every night.
Every alley.
Every bench.
Every fountain.
Someone might have been watching.
I clenched my fists.
“Why didn't they take me?””
Vargas's eyes darkened.
“Because your father wanted to know where you would lead them.””
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
Vargas said nothing.
Elena whispered, “Señor…”
A muffled sound came from somewhere outside.
Everyone froze.
Then another.
Metal hitting metal.
Vargas pulled a gun from beneath his jacket.
It was the first time I'd seen him carry one openly.
“Downstairs,” he ordered.
Elena grabbed my arm.
I pulled away.
“I can walk.””
“Then walk.””
We moved down the hallway.
The lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the mansion.
Someone screamed downstairs.
Then came the sound of gunfire.
Elena shoved me against the wall.
“Stay here!””
Vargas stepped in front of us.
He moved with terrifying calm.
Three guards rushed up the staircase.
“Boss, they're inside!””
“How many?””
“Six. Maybe more.””
“Where?””
“East hall.””
Vargas looked at Elena.
“Take Aurelio to the safe room.””
She nodded.
I grabbed Vargas's sleeve.
“You're coming.””
“Later.””
“No.””
His eyes locked on mine.
“You don't understand.””
“I don't care.””
“You have to go.””
My voice shook.
“You're the only person who knows what's happening.””
For a second, he seemed almost surprised.
Then he said quietly, “That's exactly why you can't lose me.””
He turned away.
I didn't know why those words frightened me more than the gunfire.
Elena pulled me down the stairs.
We hurried through a service corridor.
The mansion felt completely different in darkness.
Doors slammed.
Men shouted.
Gunshots echoed through the walls.
I had never been around a gun before.
Now I was hearing them so close that my teeth hurt from the noise.
At the end of the corridor was a steel door.
Elena entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside was a small room with concrete walls, emergency lights, water, food, a radio, and a metal cabinet.
She pushed me inside.
“Stay here.””
“Where are you going?””
“To help.””
“With what?””
She looked at me.
“With surviving.””
The door started closing.
“Wait!””
Elena stopped.
“Where is Vargas?””
“Down the east hall.””
“Is he going to be okay?””
She hesitated.
“I don't know.””
The door shut.
I was alone.
For thirty seconds.
Maybe a minute.
Maybe five.
Time becomes strange when you're trapped underground listening to gunshots.
I sat on the floor.
My knees shook.
I tried to breathe slowly.
Then I heard footsteps.
Not outside the room.
Inside the corridor beyond the wall.
I stood.
The footsteps stopped.
I moved closer to the door.
A voice spoke from the other side.
“Open it.””
I knew that voice.
My blood ran cold.
Not my father's.
A different one.
“Who are you?”” I asked.
A quiet laugh came through the steel.
“Someone who knew your grandmother long before Vargas did.””
I stepped away from the door.
The man spoke again.
“Your name is Aurelio Mendoza.””
I said nothing.
“You were born on October seventeenth.””
My heart pounded.
“You have a crescent-shaped scar on your left shoulder.””
I touched it instinctively.
“How do you know that?””
“Because I held you when you were three days old.””
The world stopped.
“You're lying.””
“No.””
His voice became softer.
“I was there when your mother gave you to Esperanza.””
I backed toward the wall.
“Who are you?””
A pause.
Then—
“My name is Tomas Reyes.””
I didn't recognize it.
“You worked with my father?””
“No.””
“With my grandmother?””
“Yes.””
“What happened to my mother?””
Silence.
Then Tomas answered.
“She betrayed Gabriel.””
I shook my head.
“Why?””
“Because she tried to save you.””
“What does that mean?””
“The night you were born, Gabriel ordered your death.””
My stomach twisted.
“No.””
“Your mother refused.””
I pressed a hand against my mouth.
“Then she gave you to Esperanza.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn't she come with us?””
“She tried.””
My eyes filled with tears.
“What happened?””
“Gabriel found her.””
The answer came quietly.
“He took her.””
I leaned against the wall.
“But Vargas said she escaped.””
“He said many things.””
“Why should I believe you?””
“You shouldn't.””
That answer surprised me.
“I don't need you to believe me. I need you to survive long enough to discover the truth yourself.””
The footsteps moved away.
“Wait!””
I ran toward the door.
“Where are you going?””
“Goodbye, Aurelio.””
“Don't leave!””
Nothing.
I listened.
The footsteps disappeared.
Then the gunfire started again.
A crash shook the room.
I jumped.
Someone screamed upstairs.
Then a man's voice roared through the mansion.
“Find the boy!””
I recognized it immediately.
My father's voice.
I froze.
He was here.
Not on the phone.
Not somewhere across the city.
Here.
Inside the mansion.
My hands shook as I looked around the safe room.
There had to be another exit.
I searched the cabinet.
Nothing.
The walls.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a vent near the floor.
I pulled at the grate.
It moved.
Behind it was a narrow tunnel.
I crawled inside.
The metal edges scraped my elbows.
I kept moving.
Behind me, footsteps approached the safe room.
Then the steel door rattled.
“Open it!””
I crawled faster.
A gunshot exploded behind me.
The bullet struck the metal door.
I kept moving.
I had no idea where the tunnel led.
I only knew I needed to get away.
After several minutes, the tunnel opened into a storage room.
I pushed through the grate and landed on the floor.
Boxes surrounded me.
Cleaning supplies.
Old furniture.
Then I saw a door.
I opened it.
It led into the mansion's underground garage.
Two black SUVs were parked there.
One had its engine running.
The driver was nowhere to be seen.
I ran toward it.
The passenger door opened.
Vargas stood there.
Blood covered the side of his shirt.
I stopped.
“Are you hurt?””
“Get in.””
“You're bleeding.””
“It's not my blood.””
I climbed inside.
He slammed the door.
The SUV accelerated.
“What happened?””
“We lost six men.””
“Who were they?””
“Professionals.””
“My father?””
“No.””
Vargas looked at me.
“Your father didn't come here to kill me.””
“Then why?””
“To make sure I know he's close.””
I stared at him.
“You knew he'd come.””
“I suspected.””
“And you brought me here anyway?””
His expression hardened.
“I brought you here because I thought I could control the situation.””
“You were wrong.””
“Yes.””
The single word shocked me.
Vargas stared through the windshield.
Then he said something I'd never expected.
“I've been afraid of Gabriel Mendoza for twelve years.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because the first time I tried to stop him, he killed everyone around me.””
He reached into his jacket and pulled out the silver pendant I had found in the safe.
“This belonged to your mother.””
I took it.
It was cold.
A tiny symbol had been carved into the silver.
A bird with one broken wing.
“What does this mean?””
Vargas stared at it.
“It means your mother belonged to a secret network that existed inside the port.””
“What network?””
“People who moved information.””
“About what?””
“Everything.””
He glanced at me.
“Money. Weapons. Politicians.
Judges. Police.””
I looked down at the pendant.
“And my grandmother?””
“She was their archivist.””
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“She kept records.””
“Where?””
Vargas's face tightened.
“That is the question Gabriel has been asking for twelve years.””
I suddenly remembered my grandmother's metal box.
The six words she'd written.
Do not trust Mateo, no matter what.
I looked at him.
“My grandmother didn't trust you.””
“No.””
“Then why did she leave me with you?””
Vargas looked at me.
“She didn't.””
“What?””
“She left you with Tomas.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Then why did Tomas leave me?””
Vargas said nothing.
I understood immediately.
He had been watching me from a distance.
Waiting.
Protecting me without revealing himself.
And now he had finally stepped out of the shadows.
“Where is he?”” I asked.
Vargas looked toward the road.
“Probably where he has always been.””
“Where?””
“Close.””
The SUV suddenly swerved.
A vehicle had pulled into the road ahead.
Black sedan.
No plates.
Vargas's driver slammed the brakes.
The sedan stopped.
Three doors opened.
Men stepped out with guns.
Vargas reached for his weapon.
But before he could raise it, another car crashed into the sedan from behind.
The black car spun across the road.
A fourth vehicle appeared.
An old red pickup.
The passenger window rolled down.
A man leaned out.
He looked at Vargas.
Then at me.
I recognized him.
Tomas Reyes.
He shouted something I couldn't hear.
Vargas grabbed my shoulder.
“Stay down!””
Gunfire erupted again.
Glass shattered.
The driver screamed.
The SUV lurched forward.
I ducked beneath the seat.
Then, through the broken window, I heard Tomas shout one sentence.
“VARGAS, THEY FOUND THE ARCHIVE!””
Everything inside me went cold.
The archive.
My grandmother's secret.
May you like
The thing everyone had been hunting.
And somewhere in this city, someone had just found it.
