CHAPTER 5: The Night Rafael’s Family Disappeared
CHAPTER 5: The Night Rafael’s Family Disappeared
The words remained in Rafael’s mind long after the call ended.
That boy remembers the night your family was destroyed.
For twelve years, Rafael believed he knew the truth.
He believed his father’s death was a tragic accident.
He believed the people responsible had disappeared.
He believed the past was finally buried.
But now, standing inside a small apartment belonging to a nurse and her seven-year-old son, Rafael realized something terrifying.
The past was never buried.
Someone had been protecting it.
Diego watched Rafael carefully.
He had known Rafael for more than fifteen years.
He had seen him during business wars.
He had seen him after betrayals.
He had seen him lose people he loved.
But he had never seen him look uncertain.
Not until now.
“Boss.”
Rafael did not respond.
“Rafael.”
That got his attention.
Slowly, Rafael looked at him.
“What?”
Diego lowered his voice.
“You believe him?”
Rafael looked down at Emily’s notebook.
“I believe Kell knows something.”
“That doesn’t mean everything he says is true.”
“No.”
Rafael closed the notebook.
“But it means someone is afraid.”
Diego nodded.
And that was the part that bothered him most.
Fear was not something Rafael De Santos created often.
He controlled fear.
He used it.
He understood it.
But now someone inside his own organization was afraid of a child’s memory.
A child who did not even understand the importance of what he knew.
Rafael walked back into the living room.
His eyes stopped on a small photograph sitting on the shelf.
Emily and Nate.
A simple picture.
Nothing expensive.
Nothing impressive.
Just a mother smiling beside her son.
Rafael stared at it.
Because he suddenly understood something.
The people hunting Emily did not see Nate as a child.
They saw him as evidence.
A witness.
A threat.
And that meant they would never stop.
“We need to get them somewhere safe.”
Diego nodded.
“Emily?”
“Both of them.”
“Hospital security?”
“No.”
Diego looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know who is compromised.”
The answer was immediate.
And correct.
If someone inside Falcon Shield was willing to use his company against innocent people, then any system connected to him could be dangerous.
Diego looked around the apartment.
“You think someone inside the hospital is involved too?”
Rafael looked at the notebooks.
“I think we assume everyone is until proven otherwise.”
A few minutes later, they returned to Mercy Valley Hospital.
But Rafael noticed something immediately.
The security guard at the entrance looked away too quickly.
The receptionist avoided eye contact.
The hallway camera near Emily’s room had been turned slightly.
Someone had been inside.
Again.
Rafael stopped walking.
Diego noticed.
“What?”
Rafael looked at the camera.
“Someone knew we were coming back.”
Diego’s hand moved toward his jacket.
“They followed us?”
“No.”
Rafael looked toward the elevator.
“They were already here.”
They moved faster.
When they reached Emily’s room, the door was slightly open.
Rafael pushed it open.
Emily was awake.
But someone else was there.
A man stood beside her bed.
Wearing a hospital employee badge.
But Rafael immediately knew.
Something was wrong.
The man turned.
For a brief second, nobody moved.
Then the stranger reached inside his jacket.
Diego reacted.
The man ran.
He pushed past them and disappeared into the hallway.
Security alarms started ringing.
Doctors and nurses stepped out of nearby rooms.
Chaos spread instantly.
Rafael ignored everything.
He looked at Emily.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then she looked terrified.
“He asked about Nate.”
Rafael’s expression changed.
“What did he ask?”
Emily swallowed.
“He asked where Nate was.”
A cold silence filled the room.
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Emily looked toward Rafael.
“You need to understand something.”
“What?”
Her voice became quieter.
“Those men aren’t just looking for the notebooks.”
Rafael waited.
“They’re looking for Nate.”
“Why?”
Emily’s eyes filled with fear.
“Because Nate saw something.”
The room went silent.
Rafael stepped closer.
“What did he see?”
Emily looked at her son’s name written on the hospital visitor form.
Then she answered:
“The night my apartment building caught fire.”
Diego froze.
“What?”
Emily nodded.
“Seven years ago.”
Rafael looked confused.
“Nate was only a baby.”
“He was four months old.”
“Too young to remember.”
Emily shook her head.
“That’s what everyone thought.”
Rafael stared at her.
“What happened that night?”
Emily’s hands trembled.
“My apartment was supposed to burn down.”
The words were quiet.
But they carried enormous weight.
“Someone wanted us gone.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how does Nate remember?”
Emily looked toward the hallway.
Like she was afraid someone might hear.
“Because before the fire started…”
“He saw someone.”
Rafael stepped closer.
“Who?”
Emily whispered:
“Your father.”
The room stopped.
For a moment, Rafael thought he misunderstood.
“My father died twelve years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
Emily looked at him.
“That night, someone came to my apartment.”
“He was injured.”
“He told me to protect my baby.”
Rafael’s breathing changed.
“What did he look like?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Older.”
“Tired.”
“Scared.”
“But he had the same eyes as you.”
Nobody spoke.
Because Rafael understood what she was saying.
She was not describing his father.
She was describing someone who looked like him.
Someone connected to him.
Someone from his past.
Then Nate appeared at the doorway.
He had been standing there quietly.
Listening.
“Mom?”
Emily immediately looked afraid.
“Nate, you shouldn’t be here.”
The boy looked at Rafael.
“I remember.”
Everyone froze.
Rafael slowly turned toward him.
“What do you remember?”
Nate looked nervous.
But he forced himself to speak.
“A man.”
“What man?”
“He was bleeding.”
“Where?”
“His arm.”
Rafael stepped closer.
“What else?”
Nate closed his eyes.
Trying.
Trying to reach a memory buried deep inside his mind.
“He gave my mom something.”
“What?”
“A necklace.”
Rafael felt his chest tighten.
“A necklace?”
Nate nodded.
“He told her…”
The boy opened his eyes.
“He said if anything happened to him, she should give it to Rafael.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because Rafael knew something.
Something he had not told anyone.
His father owned a unique necklace.
A family symbol.
A necklace that disappeared the night he died.
A necklace that nobody had seen for twelve years.
Rafael looked at Emily.
“Where is it?”
Emily slowly reached into the drawer beside her hospital bed.
Her fingers shook.
She pulled out a small cloth bag.
Then she placed it in Rafael’s hand.
The moment he opened it…
Everything changed.
Inside was a black and silver necklace.
The exact same one Rafael had searched for his entire life.
Diego whispered:
“Impossible.”
Rafael stared at the object.
The past had returned.
Not as a memory.
Not as a story.
But as proof.
And somewhere across the city, Kell Morgan received another message.
He found the necklace.
Kell stared at the screen.
Then smiled.
Because he knew something Rafael did not.
The necklace was not the end of the secret.
May you like
It was the beginning.
TO BE CONTINUED…
