Chapter 17: Gabriel's Secret
Chapter 17: Gabriel's Secret
The ranch fell silent.
The only sound was the helicopter fading into the distance.
Alejandro knelt beside the fallen guard.
"Call an ambulance!" Javier shouted.
One of the guards checked for a pulse.
After several long seconds, he slowly lowered his head.
"He's gone."
Alejandro closed the man's eyes.
"He died trying to tell us the truth."
Valeria looked toward the sky.
"They didn't just kill him."
"They stopped him from saying more."
Alejandro stood.
"His family will be protected."
"No matter what."
The steel case remained open beneath the oak tree.
Inside, the thick envelope labeled The Complete Truth waited.
Alejandro carefully broke the seal.
The first page was another letter from Elena.
She had written it only two days before she died.
My dearest Alejandro,
If you've reached this letter, then the people chasing us are closer than we ever imagined.
Everything I discovered began with one man.
Gabriel Soto.
Alejandro exchanged a glance with Valeria.
She continued reading aloud.
Gabriel wasn't my enemy.
He was the only person inside the federal government willing to help me.
Javier frowned.
"The intelligence officer."
Valeria nodded.
"He was never working against her."
She continued.
Gabriel discovered that someone had built a criminal network using legitimate businesses as a cover.
That wasn't the shocking part.
The shocking part was that the organization had been quietly infiltrating law enforcement, government offices, and private corporations for decades.
Alejandro's jaw tightened.
"So this goes far beyond our family."
The next pages contained copies of bank transfers, shipping manifests, and encrypted notes.
Javier quickly organized them across the hood of one of the pickup trucks.
"These aren't ordinary records."
"What do you see?" Alejandro asked.
Javier pointed to several company names.
"Every business is connected."
"Construction."
"Transportation."
"Import companies."
Then he looked up.
"Some belong to your competitors."
Alejandro frowned.
"And some..."
Javier hesitated.
"...belong to you."
Silence settled over the group.
Alejandro slowly shook his head.
"I've never seen these accounts."
Valeria looked closer.
"The signatures are forged."
Javier agreed.
"Someone has been using your company without your knowledge."
Inside the envelope lay one final document.
A photograph.
It showed Elena standing beside a tall man in casual clothes.
He smiled warmly at the camera.
Written on the back were the words:
Gabriel Soto — One of the few honest men left.
Mateo quietly looked at the picture.
Then pointed.
"I know him."
Everyone turned toward the little boy.
Alejandro knelt beside him.
"You remember this man?"
Mateo nodded.
"He gave me candy."
"When?"
"The ranch."
Valeria smiled gently.
"So Gabriel came here."
Mateo nodded again.
"Mommy said..."
He struggled to remember.
"...he keeps promises."
Suddenly, Javier's satellite phone rang.
Unknown number.
Alejandro answered.
"This is Alejandro."
A calm male voice replied.
"If you're reading Elena's files..."
"...then you've finally reached the beginning."
Alejandro's eyes narrowed.
"Who is this?"
"You've been looking for me."
A pause.
"My name is Gabriel Soto."
Everyone stared at the phone.
Alejandro tightened his grip.
"You're alive."
"So are you."
"Barely."
Gabriel's voice remained calm.
"I don't have much time."
"They're tracking this call."
Alejandro glanced around the ranch.
"What do you know?"
"I know Ricardo isn't your biggest problem."
"I figured that out."
"Good."
"Then listen carefully."
Gabriel lowered his voice.
"The man giving the orders..."
"...has been standing beside your family for over twenty years."
Alejandro frowned.
"Who?"
Before Gabriel could answer, loud static interrupted the call.
Then came a burst of interference.
Finally...
One last sentence.
"Trust no one carrying the Phoenix."
The line went dead.
"The Phoenix?" Javier repeated.
Valeria frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Doña Socorro suddenly looked pale.
"I've seen it."
Everyone turned toward her.
"Where?"
She swallowed hard.
"Years ago."
"Your father wore it."
Alejandro froze.
"My father?"
She nodded.
"He had a gold tie pin shaped like a phoenix."
"He said it represented an old business association."
Alejandro's thoughts raced.
His father had died nearly ten years earlier.
Could that symbol still exist?
As they prepared to leave the ranch, Javier continued searching through the steel case.
Hidden beneath the documents was a small velvet pouch.
Inside rested an elegant gold tie pin.
A phoenix with its wings spread.
Exactly as Doña Socorro had described.
Attached to it was a folded note.
Membership No. 7
Valeria stared at it.
"This isn't jewelry."
Alejandro nodded slowly.
"It's an emblem."
Back at the mansion, Ricardo sat alone in his office.
The phone on his desk rang once.
He answered immediately.
"They found the ranch."
A distorted voice replied,
"I know."
"They also found the Phoenix."
Ricardo's face tightened.
"I told you Elena hid too much."
The voice ignored him.
"Your usefulness is ending."
Ricardo stood.
"We had a deal."
"So we did."
The line went silent.
Then the caller added one final sentence.
"Loose ends don't survive."
The call disconnected.
For the first time in years...
Ricardo looked genuinely afraid.
He opened a locked drawer and removed a passport.
A stack of cash.
And a handgun.
He was planning to run.
That evening, Alejandro returned to the mansion carrying the steel case into his private office.
He placed the Phoenix pin on his desk.
As he examined it under the lamp, he noticed tiny letters engraved beneath the wings.
Not a serial number.
Coordinates.
Javier entered moments later.
"I translated them."
"And?"
"They point to one location."
Alejandro looked up.
"Where?"
Javier slowly placed a map on the desk.
The coordinates ended in the hills outside Monterrey.
At an abandoned monastery that had officially been closed for nearly forty years.
Across the top of the map, someone had written in faded ink:
Phoenix Lodge
Before Alejandro could respond, alarms sounded from the mansion's front gate.
A guard's urgent voice came over the radio.
"Sir!"
"What happened?"
"Ricardo Salazar is trying to leave the estate."
Alejandro grabbed his jacket.
"Stop him."
The guard's next words made everyone's blood run cold.
"We tried."
May you like
"He just shot two men."
"And he's escaping."
