Chapter 8: Beneath the Chapel
Alejandro followed Sofia’s cries toward the altar.
A narrow staircase descended behind a loose wooden panel. He reached for it, but Victor aimed the gun directly at his back.
“Take one more step,” Victor said, “and your daughter stays underground.”
Alejandro stopped.
Lucía was on the floor behind a pew, one hand pressed against her upper arm. The bullet had grazed her, tearing through her sweater and leaving a thin line of blood.
She looked frightened but conscious.
Senator Stone took the leather case from Valeria and opened it.
His expression changed when he saw the copied documents.
“These aren’t originals.”
“You thought I would bring the only evidence?” Alejandro asked.
Stone looked toward Victor.
“I told you he would make copies.”
Victor’s face tightened.
Valeria stepped between them.
“It doesn’t matter. We still have Sofia.”
“She was never supposed to be taken,” Stone said.
Valeria stared at her father.
“You were losing control.”
“I built this network before you were old enough to understand the word power.”
“And Elena nearly destroyed it.”
“Elena became a problem because you became emotional.”
Valeria’s voice rose.
“I did everything you asked.”
“You became obsessed with replacing her.”
Alejandro listened as the family turned against itself.
Elena’s death had been part of a larger conspiracy, but Valeria’s desire to enter Alejandro’s life had made Sofia a target.
Victor kept the gun trained on Alejandro.
“Where are the originals?”
“With the police.”
“Then you’ve killed your daughter.”
“No,” Lucía said from the floor. “You need Sofia alive.”
Valeria looked at her.
Lucía slowly stood.
“If Sofia dies, Alejandro stops cooperating. If Alejandro dies, you lose access to his companies. If I die, the police connect Senator Stone to my mother.”
Stone’s eyes narrowed.
“You think letters written thirty years ago matter?”
“They matter when they contain details about illegal payments, hidden property, and the son you fathered before me.”
Valeria turned sharply.
“What son?”
For the first time, Stone looked unsettled.
Lucía had invented the final claim.
Alejandro understood instantly.
She was creating division.
“There is no son,” Stone said.
Lucía smiled despite the blood on her sleeve.
“That’s what you told Valeria?”
Valeria stared at her father.
“How many of us are there?”
“This is not relevant.”
“To you, perhaps.”
Victor shifted his attention toward Stone.
That tiny movement was enough.
Alejandro grabbed a broken piece of wood from the nearest pew and swung it into Victor’s wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Lucía rushed toward Valeria.
Stone shouted.
Alejandro struck Victor again, sending the weapon sliding across the floor.
Valeria grabbed Lucía by the injured arm and threw her against a column.
Stone ran for the gun.
Before he reached it, the chapel windows shattered.
Police officers entered from both sides.
“Down!” Detective Bell shouted.
Stone froze.
Victor attempted to flee through the side door but collided with Daniel, who drove him to the floor.
Valeria pulled a small pistol from inside her red coat and pressed it against Lucía’s throat.
“Back away!” she screamed.
Every officer stopped.
Lucía stood very still.
Alejandro looked toward the hidden staircase.
Sofia continued crying below.
Valeria dragged Lucía toward the altar.
“You ruined everything,” she whispered.
“You poisoned a child,” Lucía said.
“I was supposed to marry Alejandro. Sofia would have become ill, and everyone would have blamed you. After you were gone, I would have been the grieving woman who helped him survive another tragedy.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“You planned to make her sick repeatedly.”
“Only until you stopped doubting that she needed me.”
“You wanted her dependent.”
“I wanted us to be a family.”
“You don’t know what that word means.”
Valeria’s face twisted.
“I know you loved Elena more than you ever loved me.”
“She was my wife.”
“She was an obstacle.”
Alejandro’s grief became something colder.
“Did you kill her?”
Valeria pressed the pistol harder against Lucía.
“Victor changed the maintenance records. Father arranged for the investigation to disappear.”
“But who forced her car off the road?”
Valeria smiled.
“I did.”
Lucía closed her eyes.
Alejandro felt the world narrow to Valeria’s face.
“She begged me to let her return to Sofia,” Valeria continued. “She promised she would forget everything.”
“You’re lying.”
“No. Elena understood at the end that all her courage had accomplished nothing.”
“That isn’t true,” Lucía said.
Valeria looked at her.
“Elena left evidence. She protected Sofia. She made sure the truth survived her.”
“Be quiet.”
“She defeated you three years ago. We’re only finishing what she started.”
Valeria’s hand shook.
The police needed only one opening.
Lucía created it.
She stomped backward onto Valeria’s foot and dropped her full weight.
The pistol fired.
Alejandro shouted.
The bullet struck the stone altar.
Lucía rolled away as officers tackled Valeria.
Within seconds, she was disarmed and pinned to the floor.
Senator Stone was handcuffed.
Victor lay restrained near the entrance.
Alejandro ran toward the hidden staircase.
The door beneath the chapel was secured with a metal bar.
Daniel helped him tear it free.
Alejandro descended into a dark basement.
“Sofia!”
“Daddy!”
He found her inside an old storage room, bound to a chair but physically unharmed. Teresa sat beside her, also tied up, blood dried across her forehead.
Alejandro freed Sofia first.
She launched herself into his arms.
“You came.”
“I will always come for you.”
“I knew Lucía would bring you.”
Teresa began sobbing.
“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t know what was in the bottles. Valeria told me they were drops for Sofia’s anxiety.”
Alejandro untied her.
“Why did you run?”
“Victor called me. He said the police would blame me. He promised to help me escape, but his men brought me here.”
Sofia touched Alejandro’s face.
“Is Lucía okay?”
He carried her upstairs.
Lucía was sitting on a pew while a paramedic wrapped her arm.
Sofia reached for her.
Lucía stood despite the pain and took the child into her embrace.
For several seconds, the ruined chapel disappeared around them.
There was only Sofia crying against Lucía’s shoulder and Alejandro holding them both.
Detective Bell approached quietly.
“We recorded Valeria’s confession.”
Alejandro looked toward the chapel entrance, where officers were leading Senator Stone away.
“It’s over?”
“The immediate danger is over.”
But Bell’s face remained serious.
“What aren’t you saying?” Alejandro asked.
“Victor is offering to cooperate.”
“For a reduced sentence.”
“Yes.”
“What can he give you?”
“Names, accounts, judges, police officers, corporate executives.”
Alejandro looked at Sofia.
“How deep does this go?”
May you like
Bell glanced toward Senator Stone.
“Deep enough that what happened to Elena may only be one part of it.”
