Chapter 1 - The Box My Father Never Wanted Them to Find“Mom…”
Lucía stood in the doorway.
Her face was pale.
The hospital band still wrapped around her wrist.
A bruise darkened the side of her neck.
But it was her eyes that frightened Helena most.
Lucía was no longer looking at her mother as a daughter.
She was looking at her as someone who had just discovered a stranger.
“What’s wrong?” Lucía asked again.
Helena slowly folded Daniel's letter.
“Nothing.”
Lucía shook her head.
“Don't lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“You just said Dad's name.”
Helena's fingers tightened around the paper.
“Your father is dead.”
Lucía stepped closer.
“Then why did he write you a letter after the military says he died?”
Helena couldn't answer.
For fourteen years, she had prepared herself for this question.
She had imagined different versions of the conversation.
She had imagined Lucía screaming.
Crying.
Hating her.
But she had never imagined having to answer while knowing someone had just tried to kill her daughter.
Lucía looked at the safe.
“What is in the box?”
Helena stared at her.
“You don't need to know.”
“That’s what you've always said.”
“Because I wanted to protect you.”
“From what?”
Helena's eyes filled with tears.
“From the people who killed your father.”
Lucía froze.
“You said Dad died during a mission.”
“He did.”
“No.”
Lucía stepped closer.
“You just said people killed him.”
Helena closed her eyes.
“I made mistakes.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
The word came out quietly.
But it was the first time Helena had ever admitted it.
Lucía's voice trembled.
“Was Dad murdered?”
Helena didn't answer immediately.
Then she said:
“I don't know.”
Lucía stared at her.
“You don't know?”
“I know he was alive after the date of his reported death.”
“Then what happened?”
“I never found out.”
“Why?”
“Because anyone who asked questions disappeared.”
Lucía felt a chill.
“Who?”
Helena looked toward the window.
“Dustin.”
Lucía remembered the name.
Gabriel had mentioned him.
“What happened to Dustin?”
“He disappeared fourteen years ago.”
“Like Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Was he part of Special Unit 14?”
Helena nodded.
Lucía looked down at the torn piece of black fabric still inside the evidence bag.
The embroidered emblem.
Special Unit 14.
“Then the man who attacked me…”
“Could be one of them.”
Silence.
Lucía looked at the letter.
“What's the operation?”
Helena hesitated.
“It was called Operation Black River.”
“Why have I never heard that name?”
“Because it officially never happened.”
Lucía's eyes widened.
“What?”
Helena sat down.
“Fourteen years ago, your father and several members of Special Unit 14 were sent to Afghanistan.”
“That's what I know.”
“They were given a mission to recover a group of hostages.”
“Okay.”
“But the hostages weren't the real target.”
Lucía waited.
“The real target was a military intelligence package.”
“What was in it?”
Helena whispered:
“Names.”
“Whose names?”
“People inside the military who had been selling information.”
Lucía stared at her.
“And Dad found them?”
“Yes.”
“Then they killed him.”
“I believe so.”
“Who?”
Helena looked at the photograph.
“Someone inside the unit.”
Before Lucía could ask another question, the lights went out.
Both women froze.
A sound came from downstairs.
A door opening.
Helena immediately stood.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Lucía.”
“You almost died protecting this secret.”
“I said stay here.”
Helena reached beneath the desk.
She pulled out a pistol.
Lucía stared.
“You kept a gun in here?”
“I kept many things.”
The sound came again.
Footsteps.
Helena moved toward the hallway.
Then a voice came from downstairs.
“General Ortega.”
Helena froze.
The voice was familiar.
Gabriel.
She lowered the weapon slightly.
“Gabriel?”
He appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
His hands were empty.
“I need to talk to you.”
Helena descended slowly.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Gabriel looked toward Lucía.
“Because the box has been found.”
Helena's blood ran cold.
“What?”
Gabriel's expression was grim.
“Someone knows where Daniel hid it.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“I came here to warn you.”
“About what?”
He looked at Lucía.
“They aren't looking for the box anymore.”
Lucía stepped forward.
“Then what are they looking for?”
Gabriel answered:
“They're looking for the person who knows where it is.”
Helena's face changed.
“Me.”
Gabriel nodded.
“No.”
He looked at Lucía.
“Her.”
The room fell silent.
Lucía whispered:
“Why me?”
Gabriel didn't answer.
Instead, he pulled an old photograph from his jacket.
It showed Daniel.
But this photograph was different.
Daniel wasn't wearing his military uniform.
He was standing beside a woman Lucía had never seen before.
And in Daniel's arms was a baby.
Lucía stared.
“Who is that?”
Gabriel looked at Helena.
Helena went completely still.
Because she recognized the woman.
She had believed that woman was dead for fourteen years.
Gabriel said quietly:
“Her name is Sofia.”
Lucía looked at her mother.
“Mom?”
Helena couldn't speak.
Gabriel continued.
“She was the last person to see your father alive.”
Lucía's heart pounded.
“Where is she?”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“She disappeared yesterday.”
Helena's blood ran cold.
Gabriel placed the photograph on the table.
“And whoever took her knows something we don't.”
Lucía picked up the photograph.
She stared at the baby.
Then she noticed something.
A tiny bracelet.
The same bracelet she had worn as a child.
Her hands began trembling.
“Mom…”
Helena looked at her.
“That baby…”
May you like
Lucía's voice broke.
“That's me.”
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