Chapter 7 - The ChoiceSebastián's heart hammered.
"Where are you?"
Vega's voice came calmly through the speakers.
"Everywhere."
Mercer searched the room for a microphone.
"You're surrounded," he shouted.
Vega laughed.
"You are surrounded."
Mercer went silent.
Rebeca looked toward Sebastián.
"This is what happens when you challenge people who built the system."
Sebastián pointed at her.
"You knew about this."
"I knew enough."
"You let them take Valeria."
"I was trying to protect you."
"By sacrificing my wife?"
Rebeca did not answer.
Valeria stepped between them.
"Stop fighting."
She looked at Sebastián.
"That's what they want."
Vega's voice returned.
"Very good, Valeria."
She looked upward.
"Where is my child?"
"Safe."
"Let me hear his heartbeat."
The monitor beside the bed flickered on.
A fetal heartbeat appeared.
Fast.
Strong.
Sebastián's eyes filled with tears.
Vega continued.
"Now, you understand."
Valeria stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
"The Red Ledger."
"You already have the copy."
"I want the original."
Valeria shook her head.
"I don't have it."
Vega laughed.
"Everyone lies at some point."
He paused.
"Even you."
A door opened at the end of the hallway.
Octavio walked in.
He was dragging someone.
A man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Weak.
Sebastián stopped breathing.
"Father."
The man lifted his head.
Their eyes met.
Sebastián felt years of grief collapse into anger.
"You let me bury you."
His father spoke softly.
"I had no choice."
"You made me believe you were dead."
"I was protecting you."
"You all keep using that excuse."
His father looked at Valeria.
"She's carrying the key."
Valeria stiffened.
Sebastián looked at her.
"What key?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
His father coughed.
"She does."
Octavio raised a gun.
"Enough."
Mercer raised his weapon.
"Drop it."
Octavio fired.
Mercer ducked.
The hallway erupted.
Sebastián grabbed Valeria and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
Rebeca dragged his father to cover.
Screams echoed.
Bullets struck the walls.
Then the lights went out.
Sebastián heard Valeria gasp.
He grabbed her hand.
"Stay with me."
Her fingers slipped away.
"Valeria?"
Nothing.
He reached into the darkness.
She was gone.
"Valeria!"
A door slammed.
He ran toward it.
Behind the door was a small room.
Empty.
Except for a note on the floor.
He picked it up.
Three lines.
THE KEY IS NOT AN OBJECT.
THE KEY IS A PERSON.
ASK YOUR FATHER WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS FIRST CHILD.
Sebastián froze.
He slowly turned toward his father.
"First child?"
His father closed his eyes.
Rebeca whispered:
"No."
Sebastián stepped toward them.
"You had another child?"
His father said nothing.
"Mom?"
Rebeca looked away.
Sebastián's voice became a scream.
"WHO IS MY BROTHER?"
A woman's voice answered from the corridor.
"You're looking at him."
Sebastián turned.
The woman standing there was Valeria.
But she was not alone.
May you like
Beside her stood Esteban Vega.
And Vega was holding a newborn baby.
