Chapter 16 - THE CABIN IN THE MOUNTAINS
Rain had begun by the time Mateo reached the mountain road.
Salgado’s team remained far behind.
The negatives were sealed inside a waterproof envelope.
Mateo carried them openly.
The cabin appeared beyond the trees.
One light burned upstairs.
Mateo entered through the front door.
“Laura.”
No answer.
Sebastián stood beside the fireplace.
“You came.”
“Where is my wife?”
“Safe for now.”
Mateo held up the envelope.
“This is what you wanted.”
Sebastián extended his hand.
Mateo did not move.
“Laura first.”
Sebastián smiled.
“You are in no position to negotiate.”
“Neither are you.”
Mateo looked around.
“Police know everything.”
“They know fragments.”
“They have the ledger.”
“A ledger can be challenged.”
“They have the negatives.”
“Not once you give them to me.”
“They have Ernesto.”
Sebastián’s smile faded slightly.
“Ernesto will trade anyone for himself.”
“Exactly.”
A door opened behind Sebastián.
Laura appeared.
Her hands were tied.
A man held a gun near her back.
Mateo took one step forward.
“Don’t.”
Laura’s voice was steady.
“I’m okay.”
Mateo looked into her eyes.
He knew her.
She was trying to tell him something.
Her gaze dropped.
Once.
Toward the floor.
The second entrance.
Rebeca had described a tunnel ending beneath the rear storage room.
Salgado’s team would be moving through it.
Mateo needed time.
“Why Emiliano?”
Sebastián sighed.
“We have discussed this.”
“No.”
“You blamed a seven-year-old for hiding evidence.”
“He did hide it.”
“He protected his sister.”
Sebastián’s expression sharpened.
Mateo continued.
“You could have released him.”
“He saw my face.”
“So you planned to kill him eventually?”
Laura closed her eyes.
Sebastián did not answer.
That was enough.
Mateo’s rage turned strangely calm.
“You lost.”
Sebastián laughed.
Then a sound came beneath the floor.
Very small.
A scrape.
Sebastián heard it too.
He looked down.
Mateo threw the envelope into the fireplace.
Sebastián lunged.
“No.”
The negatives inside were fake.
But Sebastián did not know that.
He reached toward the flames.
Mateo tackled him.
The armed guard turned toward Mateo.
Laura kicked backward.
Her heel struck his knee.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Police exploded through the rear door.
“Drop the weapon.”
Chaos filled the cabin.
Sebastián broke free and ran upstairs.
Mateo followed.
They crashed through a bedroom door.
Sebastián grabbed another pistol from a drawer.
Mateo stopped.
For one second, the two men faced each other.
Then Sebastián smiled.
“Your father looked exactly like you when he realized nobody was coming to save him.”
May you like
Mateo stared at him.
And downstairs, someone screamed.
