Chapter 5 - The Man I Thought Was DeadDarkness swallowed the tunnel.
Rafael immediately pulled his gun.
I heard him breathing beside me.
Then footsteps.
Fast.
Coming toward us.
“Stay behind me,” he whispered.
“I don't take orders anymore.”
He almost laughed.
Almost.
Then a flashlight flickered at the end of the tunnel.
A silhouette appeared.
I raised my weapon.
“Stop.”
The figure froze.
“It's me.”
Marco.
Rafael's head snapped up.
“You.”
Marco lowered his gun.
“I found her.”
“Where?”
“Another passage.”
Rafael moved toward him.
I blocked his path.
“Don't.”
Marco frowned.
“She has five minutes.”
“Where is Bella?”
“Lower chamber.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Why were you wearing the watch?”
Marco looked confused.
“What watch?”
I pointed.
His expression changed.
“You gave that to me.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I gave it to someone else.”
Rafael stared between us.
Marco took one step backward.
Then his face turned pale.
“I never received a watch.”
Silence.
I slowly looked at Rafael.
“That's not Marco.”
The man smiled.
Then he shot the lights.
We fired at the same time.
He disappeared into darkness.
Rafael grabbed me.
“Move!”
We ran through the tunnel.
The passage split in two.
The left tunnel smelled like gasoline.
The right smelled like damp concrete.
I stopped.
“He took Bella left.”
“How do you know?”
“Gasoline.”
Rafael grabbed my wrist.
“This way.”
We ran.
The chamber was empty.
A broken chair lay on the floor.
Beside it was Bella's hair ribbon.
Rafael picked it up.
His face became unreadable.
“Where is she?”
I crouched.
There were shoe marks.
Small.
Then larger.
Then a third set.
I followed them to the wall.
A hidden panel.
Inside was a video camera.
It had been recording.
I pressed play.
The footage showed Bella being carried through the tunnel.
The man holding her wore a mask.
But when he turned, I saw enough.
Rafael saw it too.
“Vincent.”
I stared at the screen.
His brother.
Alive.
He had aged.
But not enough to hide the face I remembered.
Rafael's hand tightened around the phone.
Vincent looked directly into the camera.
“Hello, brother.”
The video continued.
“You spent three years pretending I was dead.”
He smiled.
“I spent three years learning exactly how to destroy you.”
Then he looked toward someone outside the frame.
“Bring her in.”
The camera turned.
A woman walked into view.
My blood froze.
Elena.
Rafael's dead wife.
Or the woman I thought had been dead.
Rafael stopped breathing.
The woman looked straight at the camera.
Her face was thinner.
Her hair was shorter.
But it was her.
He whispered one word.
“Elena.”
I stared at him.
He shook his head.
“No.”
The video continued.
Elena looked directly into the lens.
“If you're seeing this, Rafael, then you finally understand.”
Vincent stepped beside her.
“You killed your own wife?”
Rafael whispered.
“I didn't.”
Elena's voice trembled.
“You didn't kill me.”
She looked away.
“You just believed the lie.”
The video cut.
Rafael stood motionless.
I turned toward him.
“She's alive.”
He couldn't answer.
“Rafael.”
Nothing.
Then his phone rang.
He answered automatically.
A voice came through.
Elena.
“Bring Nora.”
Rafael closed his eyes.
“Where is Bella?”
“Safe.”
“What do you want?”
“Her.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Then Elena spoke.
“Because she has the only copy of the file that can prove Vincent's innocence.”
I looked at Rafael.
He looked at me.
My heart dropped.
“What file?” I whispered.
The call ended.
Another message arrived.
A location.
And one final sentence.
Come alone, Nora. Rafael dies if you don't.
Rafael looked at me.
“You're not going.”
I shook my head.
“I am.”
“No.”
“You can't go.”
“Why?”
“Because they don't want you.”
He stared at me.
“They want what I know.”
I held up the metal key.
“And I just realized something.”
He waited.
I whispered:
May you like
“This key doesn't open a door.”
“It opens the truth.”
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