Chapter 10 - The Death ListBy sunrise, the hospital was surrounded.
Police blocked every entrance.
Federal agents arrived.
News helicopters circled above.
But inside the hospital, the real war had already begun.
Sebastián sat beside Valeria.
She was unconscious.
The baby slept in his arms.
He could not stop staring at the child's face.
So small.
So innocent.
Yet dozens of people had already killed, lied, kidnapped, and betrayed for him.
Grant stood beside the window.
"What does activation mean?"
Nobody answered.
Sebastián looked toward Salgado.
"You said the marker gives access."
"Yes."
"How?"
"When the system recognizes the child."
"What system?"
Salgado shook his head.
"I don't know."
Grant slammed a folder onto the table.
"We found sixteen shell companies linked to San Gabriel."
"Only sixteen?"
Grant gave him a dark look.
"There are hundreds."
Sebastián closed his eyes.
"How deep does this go?"
"Governments."
He looked at Valeria.
"The district attorney's office?"
"Compromised."
"Police?"
"Compromised."
"Doctors?"
Grant looked at Salgado.
"Obviously."
Sebastián looked down at the baby.
"Then who can we trust?"
Grant answered:
"No one."
The lights flickered.
A nurse screamed from the hallway.
Grant drew his weapon.
A monitor turned on by itself.
A message appeared.
ACTIVATION WINDOW: 23 HOURS 41 MINUTES
Sebastián stood.
"How did they get into the system?"
Salgado looked terrified.
"They didn't."
"Then who?"
Salgado stared at the baby.
"The marker."
Grant shook his head.
"That's impossible."
The baby's heart monitor began beeping.
The rhythm changed.
A series of tones.
Four.
One.
Seven.
Three.
Salgado's face drained of color.
"What?"
He stepped toward the monitor.
"Those numbers."
"What are they?"
"Access codes."
Sebastián stared.
The baby cried.
The monitor flashed.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
Then every computer in the hospital shut down.
Grant stepped backward.
"This isn't a hospital anymore."
Sebastián looked at him.
"What is it?"
Grant's voice was quiet.
"A doorway."
He opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph taken twenty-eight years earlier.
A group of men stood around a table.
At the center was Sebastián's grandfather.
Next to him was a young Rebeca.
And beside Rebeca stood another woman.
Valeria recognized her.
Her breath caught.
"That's my mother."
Sebastián looked at her.
"Your mother died when you were ten."
"That's what they told me."
Valeria grabbed the photograph.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
THE DAUGHTER WILL FIND THE LEDGER.
She turned pale.
"She knew."
"About what?"
Valeria looked at Sebastián.
"My mother wasn't killed in an accident."
Grant frowned.
"What happened?"
Valeria whispered:
"They buried the wrong woman."
The door suddenly slammed open.
A federal agent stumbled inside.
"Everyone down!"
Gunfire erupted.
Grant pushed Sebastián behind the bed.
Valeria woke screaming.
The baby cried.
Then the shooter shouted:
"WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL LEDGER?"
Sebastián looked at Valeria.
She looked at him.
Neither spoke.
The shooter raised his gun.
"Answer me!"
Valeria whispered:
"I know where it is."
Sebastián stared at her.
"Where?"
She pointed toward the nursery.
"Inside the wall."
May you like
Then she added:
"But opening it will trigger the kill switch."
