CHAPTER 3 — THE HUNTER BECOMES THE PREY
CHAPTER 3 — THE HUNTER BECOMES THE PREY
The first intruder stepped into the hallway.
Black tactical clothing.
Face covered.
Suppressor mounted on his pistol.
Professional.
He swept the room carefully.
Teresa waited.
Not because she was afraid.
Because killers always revealed themselves if given enough time.
The man checked the living room.
The kitchen.
Then advanced toward the hallway.
Exactly where Teresa wanted him.
The moment he crossed the doorway—
She struck.
The heavy flashlight smashed across his wrist.
His pistol clattered onto the floor.
Before he could recover, Teresa drove her shoulder into his chest.
Both crashed against the wall.
The second intruder rushed forward.
A gunshot erupted.
The bullet buried itself in the ceiling.
Teresa rolled behind a cabinet.
No panic.
Only calculation.
She grabbed the fallen pistol and slid it beneath the refrigerator, denying them another weapon.
Outside, Rodrigo watched everything through the shattered front door.
He wasn't fighting.
He never intended to.
That was who Rodrigo really was.
A man who paid others to get blood on their hands.
One of the masked men shouted,
"We don't need the woman alive!"
Rodrigo answered coldly,
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"I want Teresa alive."
The man looked confused.
Rodrigo smiled.
"Dead heroes become martyrs."
He adjusted his cufflinks.
"Broken heroes become warnings."
Inside the storage room, Mariana heard every word.
Tears filled her eyes.
Then she noticed something hidden beneath an old shelf.
A dusty steel box.
She opened it.
Inside...
Old homicide evidence.
Police radios.
Spare ammunition.
And a thick folder labeled:
VILLASEÑOR FOUNDATION
Mariana's heartbeat stopped.
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Years before Rodrigo had ever met her...
Teresa had already been investigating his family.
