Chapter 18: The Chase
Chapter 18: The Chase
The mansion erupted into chaos.
"Lock down the east gate!"
"He's heading for the service road!"
Gunfire echoed across the estate as Ricardo's black SUV smashed through the security barrier, sending twisted metal flying across the driveway.
Alejandro reached the front entrance just in time to see the taillights disappear into the darkness.
"He planned this," Javier said, breathing hard.
Alejandro climbed into his own SUV.
"He isn't running."
"He's heading somewhere."
Valeria slid into the passenger seat.
"Phoenix Lodge."
Alejandro looked at her.
"If Ricardo thinks they're about to eliminate him..."
"...he'll go to the only place where he can protect himself."
Javier nodded from the second vehicle.
"Or expose them."
The convoy sped into the night.
Thirty minutes later, Ricardo gripped the steering wheel as rain pounded against his windshield.
His hands shook.
Not from fear of Alejandro.
From fear of the people he had served for more than twenty years.
His phone rang through the vehicle's speakers.
He hesitated before answering.
"I did everything you asked."
The distorted voice remained emotionless.
"You failed."
"I delivered Elena."
"I protected the organization."
"I kept Alejandro blind."
"You also allowed the maid to survive."
Ricardo's jaw tightened.
"I can still fix this."
"No."
The voice paused.
"You've become a liability."
The call ended.
A second later, Ricardo noticed headlights appearing behind him.
Not Alejandro.
Two black sedans.
Closing fast.
"They're here," he whispered.
The first sedan accelerated.
A masked gunman leaned out the passenger window and opened fire.
Bullets shattered Ricardo's rear windshield.
He swerved wildly across the wet highway.
Another burst of gunfire struck his tires.
The SUV fishtailed.
Ricardo barely regained control.
"They're trying to kill me."
For the first time in decades, he realized the truth.
He had never been a partner.
Only a disposable employee.
Several miles behind him, Alejandro's convoy approached at full speed.
Javier pointed ahead.
"Fresh tire marks."
"They're accelerating."
Valeria looked through binoculars.
"I see flashes."
"Gunfire."
Alejandro pressed harder on the accelerator.
"Move!"
Ricardo reached the winding mountain road leading toward the abandoned monastery.
The rain grew heavier.
Visibility dropped.
One of the pursuing sedans pulled alongside him.
A masked driver stared directly into his eyes.
Then smiled.
The sedan rammed Ricardo's SUV.
Metal screamed.
The vehicles collided again.
Ricardo lost control.
His SUV crashed through the roadside guardrail.
It rolled down the embankment before slamming into a cluster of trees.
The pursuing sedans never stopped.
They disappeared into the storm.
Minutes later, Alejandro arrived at the crash site.
"Over here!" one of the guards shouted.
They scrambled down the muddy hillside.
Ricardo's SUV was crushed against a massive oak tree.
Smoke poured from the engine.
The driver's door hung open.
Empty.
"He got out," Javier said.
A trail of blood led into the forest.
Alejandro followed it.
Every few yards they found more blood.
Broken branches.
Footprints.
Finally...
They reached an old stone bridge.
Ricardo lay beneath it.
Barely alive.
He had lost a tremendous amount of blood.
Valeria knelt beside him.
"We need an ambulance."
Ricardo weakly laughed.
"There isn't... enough time."
Alejandro crouched beside the man he had trusted for decades.
"Why?"
Ricardo looked at him.
His eyes filled with regret.
"I never wanted... Elena to die."
Alejandro's voice hardened.
"But she did."
"I know."
"I've lived with that every day."
Valeria quietly asked,
"Who gave the order?"
Ricardo struggled to breathe.
"I never... knew his real name."
"Then how did you contact him?"
Ricardo slowly lifted his trembling hand.
Inside his fist was a small black coin.
A silver phoenix was engraved on one side.
"They called him..."
"...The Founder."
Alejandro frowned.
"The Founder?"
Ricardo nodded weakly.
"No one... ever saw his face."
"Only the Phoenix."
Ricardo coughed violently.
Blood stained his lips.
"There are twelve members."
"Twelve?"
"The Phoenix Circle."
"They control everything."
"Businesses."
"Judges."
"Police."
"Politicians."
Alejandro looked stunned.
"My father..."
Ricardo closed his eyes.
"He tried to leave."
Valeria's heart skipped.
"What?"
Ricardo forced himself to continue.
"Your father joined them years ago."
"But after your mother died..."
"...he wanted out."
Alejandro felt as though the ground had disappeared beneath him.
"He refused to let you inherit the organization."
"So they replaced him."
Alejandro stared at him.
"Replaced?"
Ricardo whispered,
"They made it look like a heart attack."
Silence.
Even the rain seemed to stop.
Ricardo grabbed Alejandro's sleeve.
"They're meeting..."
"Tomorrow night..."
"Phoenix Lodge."
"The Founder will be there."
Alejandro leaned closer.
"Who is he?"
Ricardo's eyes widened.
He looked past Alejandro.
Toward the trees.
"No..."
Valeria turned.
A red laser sight rested on Ricardo's chest.
"Down!" she screamed.
A silenced rifle fired.
The bullet struck Ricardo before anyone could react.
His body went limp.
Alejandro immediately searched the hillside.
"There!"
A sniper fled between the trees.
Guards chased after him.
Gunfire echoed through the forest.
But moments later...
The radio crackled.
"He escaped."
Alejandro looked back at Ricardo.
He was gone.
Valeria gently closed his eyes.
"He was finally telling the truth."
Alejandro noticed something still clutched tightly in Ricardo's hand.
Not the Phoenix coin.
A folded photograph.
He carefully opened it.
It showed a group of twelve people standing together.
Every face had been scratched away with a knife.
Except one.
Alejandro's.
The photograph had been altered recently.
Across the bottom, written in fresh black ink, were six chilling words:
The Thirteenth Chair Is Waiting.
Alejandro stared at the message.
Valeria quietly shook her head.
"They don't just want to destroy your family."
"They want you to replace it."
Far above them, hidden among the monastery cliffs, a lone figure watched through a high-powered scope.
He lowered the rifle.
Turned away.
And walked toward the ancient stone monastery where twelve candles were already burning around a long wooden table.
May you like
One chair remained empty.
The thirteenth chair.
