Chapter 3 - My Father Was Never DeadLucía couldn't sleep.
Her father was alive.
Somewhere.
For fourteen years.
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every time she had cried because she couldn't remember his voice.
He had been alive.
But where?
Why?
And why had he never returned?
At dawn, Helena entered her room.
Lucía was sitting by the window.
“Mom.”
“Yes?”
“Did you know?”
Helena sat beside her.
“I suspected.”
“You suspected?”
“After Sofia disappeared, I received one message.”
“From Dad?”
“I think so.”
“What did it say?”
“Three words.”
“What?”
“Trust no one.”
Lucía looked down.
“Did he mention me?”
Helena nodded.
“He said you were the only reason he kept going.”
Lucía began crying.
“He missed me?”
“Every day.”
That afternoon, Gabriel arrived.
He looked exhausted.
“I know where Daniel is.”
Lucía stood immediately.
“Where?”
“South America.”
Her heart raced.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because someone is watching this house.”
“Who?”
“Salazar.”
Gabriel placed a file on the table.
“We found his network.”
Inside were photographs.
Military officers.
Businessmen.
Politicians.
And one photograph of Helena.
Taken yesterday.
Lucía felt sick.
“He's watching Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she still has the key.”
“The key to the box?”
Gabriel nodded.
“The box contains the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“Everything Daniel collected.”
Financial records.
Names.
Operations.
Orders.
And proof that Salazar orchestrated the mission.
Lucía looked at the key.
“Where is the box?”
Helena answered:
“I don't know.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“Daniel trusted you.”
“He never told me.”
“He must have.”
“He didn't.”
Then Lucía noticed something.
The key.
It had a number engraved on it.
She remembered the photograph.
Special Unit 14.
“Mom.”
Helena looked at her.
“The box isn't in the house.”
“Where?”
“Unit 14.”
Gabriel's face changed.
“The old military storage facility.”
Lucía nodded.
“We go tonight.”
They arrived after midnight.
The facility had been abandoned for years.
Inside were hundreds of rusted lockers.
Unit 14 was at the end.
The key fit.
The door opened.
Inside was a metal box.
Lucía touched it.
Her father's handwriting was scratched into the lid.
For my daughter.
She started crying.
They opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A recording.
And a thick folder.
The first page contained a list.
At the top:
OPERATION BLACK RIVER.
Below it were names.
Salazar.
Several officers.
Two government officials.
And one unexpected name.
Helena Ortega.
Lucía froze.
“Mom.”
Helena looked at the document.
Her face went white.
“I never worked with Salazar.”
Gabriel stared.
“Then why is your name here?”
Helena shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then they found a second page.
It explained everything.
Helena had been listed as a target.
Not an accomplice.
A target.
Salazar had planned to eliminate her because she knew too much.
Lucía exhaled.
Then the recording began.
Daniel's voice.
“If my family finds this, I need them to know the truth.”
He explained that he had discovered the conspiracy.
He had survived the mission.
He had gone underground.
And he had stayed away because Salazar threatened to kill Lucía.
Then came the final sentence.
“I will return when my daughter is old enough to understand why I stayed away.”
Lucía's tears fell.
“How old?”
The recording answered.
“Twenty years old.”
Lucía was now twenty.
Exactly.
The recording had been waiting for her.
Then a second voice entered.
Daniel.
And another man.
Salazar.
“You'll never see her again.”
Daniel answered:
“You don't know my daughter.”
Salazar laughed.
“She'll forget you.”
Daniel's voice became cold.
“She won't.”
The recording ended.
Then the lights came on.
A man stood at the entrance.
Gray hair.
Military coat.
Calm eyes.
Helena raised her weapon.
The man smiled.
“Hello, Helena.”
Lucía turned.
She knew immediately.
May you like
Colonel Victor Salazar.
Alive.
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