Chapter 4 - The old train station had been abandoned for thirty years.At midnight, it looked like a dead city.
Ramon arrived with Emma and two men hidden nearby.
He obeyed the message.
But he did not come alone.
He never did.
He parked beneath a broken streetlight.
Fog curled across the tracks.
Emma sat beside him.
“Are you scared?”
She nodded.
“Me too.”
It was the first lie Ramon had told in years.
He wasn't afraid of dying.
He was afraid of discovering the truth.
A door opened inside the station.
Ramon stepped out.
“Come.”
Emma held his hand.
The hallway smelled of rust and rain.
At the end stood a man.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Black coat.
His face was partially hidden.
Ramon raised his gun.
“Mateo.”
The man smiled.
“You have my eyes.”
“I don't know you.”
“You know more than you think.”
Mateo stepped into the light.
He looked like Ramon.
Not identical.
But close enough to make Ramon's stomach turn.
“Why did you bring her?”
“You asked.”
“No.”
Mateo looked at Emma.
“I wanted to see whether you'd protect her.”
Ramon's finger tightened around the trigger.
“You hung her mother.”
Mateo's smile disappeared.
“I didn't.”
Ramon stared.
“She was attacked by The Circle.”
“Then why did they leave her alive?”
“Because they wanted you to find her.”
Ramon remembered the clearing.
The rope.
The symbol.
The message.
“Why?”
“Because you're the key.”
Ramon raised his gun.
“To what?”
Mateo stepped closer.
“The Black Vault.”
The station lights flickered.
Then dozens of red laser dots appeared on Ramon's chest.
Snipers.
Ramon didn't move.
Mateo looked almost amused.
“You brought five guards.”
Ramon remained silent.
“Six,” Mateo corrected.
Ramon's eyes narrowed.
“There is one beneath the western platform.”
Ramon realized Mateo had known about his men from the beginning.
Mateo continued.
“You're surrounded.”
Ramon looked at Emma.
Then back at Mateo.
“What do you want?”
“The key.”
Emma's hand tightened around Ramon's fingers.
Ramon looked down.
The silver key.
He finally understood.
“You don't need the key.”
Mateo shook his head.
“I need you.”
The floor exploded.
Ramon grabbed Emma.
Gunfire erupted.
Men poured into the station.
Ramon fought through the chaos.
One enemy came from behind.
He dropped him.
Another fired.
Ramon ducked.
A bullet struck the wall.
Mateo vanished.
Ramon screamed:
“Emma!”
No answer.
His heart stopped.
He spun around.
The child was gone.
Ramon tore through the station.
“EMMA!”
A speaker crackled overhead.
Mateo's voice.
“You should have listened.”
Ramon stared upward.
“You touch her and I will burn this entire city down.”
Mateo laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“She was never my target.”
Ramon froze.
“She was yours.”
The speaker went dead.
A door slammed somewhere underground.
Ramon followed.
He found a stairwell.
At the bottom sat an old steel door.
On it was the Ortega symbol.
Ramon inserted the silver key.
The lock opened.
Inside was a narrow tunnel.
He entered.
After fifty yards, the tunnel opened into a massive underground chamber.
Shelves.
Documents.
Weapons.
Photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Every major Chicago politician.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Gang leaders.
Business owners.
Some dead.
Some alive.
The Black Vault.
Ramon stepped inside.
Then he saw the largest photograph on the wall.
It showed his father.
Standing beside Mateo.
And between them…
was Ramon.
Aged twelve.
Holding Emma's mother by the hand.
Ramon stared.
That was impossible.
Emma's mother was supposed to have met him years later.
He moved closer.
Something had been written beneath the photograph.
THE THREE HEIRS.
Ramon's breathing stopped.
Three.
Not two.
A sound came from behind him.
A little girl crying.
Ramon spun.
“Emma!”
She was standing at the far end of the chamber.
Beside someone.
A man in a gray suit.
Ramon's blood ran cold.
Because he recognized him.
His uncle.
The man Ramon had buried twelve years ago.
May you like
The man smiled.
“You took your time, nephew.”
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