Chapter 12: Eva
For several seconds, no one moved.
The bookstore was so quiet that Mateo could hear the old ceiling fan creaking overhead.
Adrian Voss stared at Sofía as though he were seeing a ghost.
"So..." he whispered.
"She remembers."
Mateo stepped forward immediately, lifting Sofía back into his arms.
His voice shook with anger.
"Stay away from my daughter."
Voss didn't resist.
He simply kept looking at the little girl.
"What did you just say?" he asked softly.
Sofía rested her head against Mateo's shoulder.
She looked exhausted.
Almost sleepy.
Then she blinked twice.
The strange clarity that had filled her eyes only moments before was gone.
"Daddy?"
Her tiny voice sounded completely normal.
"Can we go home?"
Mateo's heart broke.
He kissed the top of her head.
"We will."
"I promise."
Voss watched the exchange in silence.
Then he looked at Dalia.
"You never told him."
"I didn't know," Dalia replied.
"You suspected."
"I hoped I was wrong."
Lucía stepped between them.
"Enough."
She held up her phone.
The audio recorder was still running.
"I've recorded everything you've said."
Voss glanced at the phone and smiled.
"Good."
The answer caught everyone off guard.
"You... want people to hear this?" Lucía asked.
"I want people to hear the truth."
Mateo frowned.
"Since when?"
Voss slowly buttoned his suit jacket.
"Since the people I worked for decided that I had become unnecessary."
Silence settled over the room.
"They're hunting you too?" Arturo asked.
Voss nodded once.
"I built Project Phoenix."
"I believed we were searching for scientific answers."
His expression hardened.
"I eventually realized someone else had very different goals."
Mateo narrowed his eyes.
"Who?"
For the first time, Adrian Voss hesitated.
Then he quietly answered.
"The Helix Board."
"The foundation?" Lucía asked.
"No."
"The foundation was only a public face."
"There are twelve people."
"No names."
"No photographs."
"They've controlled Phoenix since the beginning."
Dalia folded her arms.
"And you expect us to believe you're suddenly one of the good guys?"
Voss gave a tired smile.
"I've never been one of the good guys."
"I've simply become inconvenient."
Mateo wasn't convinced.
"You experimented on children."
"I did."
"You covered up deaths."
"I did."
"You destroyed families."
A long pause.
"Yes."
There was no excuse.
No denial.
Only acceptance.
"I'll answer for all of it one day."
He looked directly at Mateo.
"If we're still alive."
Before Mateo could respond, Lucía's phone vibrated.
A secure message.
Unknown sender.
Attached was a single photograph.
She opened it.
The color drained from her face.
"What is it?" Mateo asked.
Without speaking, she turned the phone around.
The image showed the front of Elena's office building.
Mateo immediately recognized it.
His wife had returned to work three months earlier as an architect for a coastal development firm.
At first glance, nothing seemed unusual.
Then Mateo noticed the black SUV parked across the street.
Another.
And another.
His stomach dropped.
A second message appeared beneath the photograph.
She's next.
Mateo felt his pulse explode.
"No..."
He reached for his phone.
Elena didn't answer.
He called again.
Voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
"They're going after her."
Voss nodded.
"They always remove leverage first."
Mateo grabbed him by the collar.
"If anything happens to my wife—"
Voss didn't fight back.
"Listen to me."
"They won't hurt her."
"They'll use her."
"Until they have the girls."
Mateo released him slowly.
Every instinct screamed at him to run.
To get to Elena.
To disappear.
But where?
The entire city seemed to belong to Helix.
Then Arturo hurried to the front window.
"They're here."
Outside, more black SUVs rolled onto the street.
Not four.
Not six.
At least a dozen.
Men and women stepped out wearing ordinary clothes.
Business suits.
Tourist shirts.
Delivery uniforms.
They blended seamlessly with the afternoon crowd.
Yet every one of them moved toward the bookstore.
Lucía counted under her breath.
"Front entrance."
"Back alley."
"Rooftops."
"They've surrounded the block."
Mateo looked at Voss.
"Did you lead them here?"
"No."
"Then how did they find us?"
Voss looked toward Sofía.
"I don't think they followed me."
"What do you mean?"
He took a slow breath.
"I think they've been tracking the children."
Dalia frowned.
"How?"
"I don't know."
Before anyone could respond, Camila suddenly reached up and touched Mateo's cheek.
"Daddy..."
Her tiny voice was barely above a whisper.
Mateo looked down.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
She pointed toward the ceiling.
"They're coming from above."
Everyone instinctively looked up.
For a brief moment...
Nothing.
Then—
A faint scraping sound echoed across the roof.
Another.
Then several more.
Heavy footsteps.
Moving directly overhead.
Arturo's face turned white.
"The attic."
Lucía slowly backed away from the shelves.
"There isn't supposed to be anyone up there."
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Then came the unmistakable sound of metal being cut.
Someone was slicing through the roof.
Voss looked at Mateo with an urgency the others had never seen in him.
"They're done hiding."
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded map.
"There isn't time to explain everything."
He pointed to a remote location deep within the Yucatán jungle.
A place marked only with a black phoenix symbol.
"If you want to find Eva..."
He looked at both twins.
"...that's where this story ends."
At that exact moment, the ceiling cracked.
A section of the roof collapsed inward.
Dust filled the bookstore.
May you like
And through the opening...
Figures dressed entirely in black began dropping into the room.
