Chapter 6 - The Organization Behind the War Finally Came for My Daughter
The Meridian did not announce itself with gunfire.
It arrived with paperwork.
Lawyers.
Police.
Judges.
A child services representative.
And a man named Julian Cross.
He stood in my office the next morning with a calm smile.
“Mr. De Luca.”
“Who are you?”
“I represent interests connected to Ricardo Vasquez.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
He placed a file on my desk.
Inside were documents claiming Lucia belonged legally to Ricardo.
I laughed.
“She is my daughter.”
“That can be disputed.”
I leaned forward.
“By who?”
“By people who have records.”
I threw the file back.
“Bring me a DNA test.”
Julian smiled.
“We don't need one.”
“Then you're wasting my time.”
He stood.
“You should be careful.”
“Why?”
“Because you have something The Meridian needs.”
I knew immediately.
“The archive.”
“Yes.”
“And Lucia is the key.”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
“The archive.”
“And in return?”
“Your family's survival.”
I stared at him.
“You think I will trade my daughter for money?”
“No.”
He looked amused.
“I think you will trade the archive because you believe it protects your daughter.”
Then he left.
Victor entered.
“We tracked him.”
“Where?”
“Federal building.”
“Lawyer?”
“Officially.”
“Unofficially?”
“Meridian.”
I nodded.
We had a new problem.
The organization had government connections.
We couldn't simply fight them.
We needed evidence.
We needed allies.
And we needed to keep Lucia safe.
Elena sat across from me.
“What do we do?”
I looked at her.
“We expose them.”
She smiled.
“You sound like your father.”
“That worries me.”
“It shouldn't.”
She placed her hand over mine.
“You're not him.”
I looked at Lucia.
She was drawing at the table.
“What are you drawing?”
“A house.”
“Who's inside?”
“You. Mommy. Me.”
I smiled.
“And who else?”
She thought.
“Maybe a dog.”
“A dog?”
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
She laughed.
That afternoon, we moved her to a rural property.
But The Meridian had anticipated it.
A drone flew overhead.
Our alarms triggered.
Then a message appeared on the security system.
YOU CANNOT HIDE A KEY.
I stared.
Lucia hugged Elena.
I realized the problem.
The organization wasn't after the child because she was powerful.
They were after her because she was proof.
Proof that my father had planned to expose them.
Proof that our families had been manipulated.
Proof that the war had been manufactured.
Lucia's existence connected everything.
That night, I opened the original archive.
One file was marked:
MERIDIAN — ROOT.
Inside were names.
Not hundreds.
Seven.
Seven people.
Three in politics.
Two in banking.
One in law enforcement.
And one name I knew.
Julian Cross.
He wasn't just a lawyer.
He was the Meridian's director for North America.
Then another document appeared.
A transaction from eight years ago.
Money sent to Stefano.
Sender:
Julian Cross.
Description:
Family conflict authorization.
My stomach turned.
The war had been funded.
My uncle had been paid to keep us fighting.
I showed Elena.
She read the file.
“Adriano.”
“What?”
“This isn't the only thing.”
She pointed toward another document.
Payment authorization to Ricardo.
His eyes.
“Ricardo was paid too?”
“Yes.”
“Then he knew.”
“No.”
I kept reading.
The payment had never reached him.
It had been intercepted.
By someone inside his organization.
The same person who later became his financial controller.
A man named Marcos.
Marcos was dead.
Or so we had believed.
He wasn't.
He was Julian's partner.
Everything had been connected.
I called Ricardo.
“You know Marcos?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
A long silence.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Under your city.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“The Meridian has a headquarters beneath the old financial district.”
I looked at Victor.
“Find it.”
Hours later, we discovered an underground facility.
I took Elena with me.
We found servers.
Bank records.
Blackmail files.
Photographs of politicians.
And surveillance footage.
Thousands of hours.
Then I saw Elena.
On a screen.
Eight years ago.
After the explosion.
She was being moved by men wearing Meridian pins.
I froze.
The footage continued.
Ricardo arrived.
He attacked them.
Saved her.
Took Lucia.
Hid them both.
That was the truth.
Ricardo hadn't been the man who caused the explosion.
He had been the man who saved the survivors.
Elena stared at the screen.
“I never knew.”
I took her hand.
“I did.”
She looked at me.
“You've changed.”
“I had to.”
A loud alarm sounded.
The servers began shutting down.
Someone had found us.
Julian's voice came through the speakers.
“Congratulations, Adriano.”
I looked up.
“You found the truth.”
“You're finished.”
“Not yet.”
He laughed.
“You still have the child.”
I raised my weapon.
“And you still don't understand fathers.”
Julian paused.
I continued:
“A father doesn't trade his child.”
“What does he do?”
May you like
I smiled.
“He burns the world down first.”
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