PART 3 - "They're Already Here"
"They're Already Here"
Alexander didn't panic.
He simply looked at the front door.
Then at the windows.
Then back at Sofia.
"Can you stand?"
She nodded, even though it hurt.
"I'll manage."
He helped her to her feet.
"Good."
Then he turned to me.
"Elena, take her into the bedroom."
"What about you?"
"I'm staying here."
I grabbed his arm.
"There are more of them."
He gave me a look I'd almost forgotten.
Calm.
Certain.
"They're counting on that."
Before I could argue, Mateo's voice came through the phone again.
"My team's two minutes out."
Alexander frowned.
"They won't have two minutes."
As if on cue...
Headlights swept across my living room wall.
A black SUV stopped in front of the building.
Then another.
Car doors slammed.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Purposeful.
Sofia's breathing became shallow.
"It's them."
Alexander locked the front door, then calmly slid the heavy dining table against it.
Not because he thought it would stop them.
Because it would buy time.
He reached into his jacket.
I expected a gun.
Instead, he pulled out a small black case.
Inside was a satellite phone.
He pressed one button.
"They're here," he said.
The person on the other end answered immediately.
"We're watching."
Alexander glanced toward the window.
"You already have eyes on the building?"
"We've had eyes on your family since the day Sofia was born."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
Alexander looked at me with quiet regret.
"I told you... I never really left."
A loud bang shook the apartment door.
Carmen's voice echoed from the hallway.
"Sofia!"
"Open the door!"
"We just want to talk!"
Sofia flinched.
Alexander stepped between her and the entrance.
"No."
Another bang.
Harder this time.
Then Javier spoke.
"Baby..."
"Don't make this worse."
"We can fix everything."
Sofia buried her face against my shoulder.
"I never want to hear his voice again."
Alexander's eyes never left the door.
"You won't."
The banging stopped.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Alexander suddenly looked toward the balcony.
"They're coming through the back."
Glass exploded inward.
A masked man climbed through the shattered balcony door.
He had barely landed before another figure tackled him to the floor.
Then another.
And another.
Three men dressed in black flooded into the apartment.
Not Carmen's people.
Alexander's.
The fight lasted less than twenty seconds.
Professional.
Fast.
Brutal.
When it was over, the intruder lay handcuffed on the floor.
The leader removed his earpiece.
"Perimeter secure."
Alexander nodded.
"What about downstairs?"
"Three detained."
"One escaped."
Before anyone could celebrate, another phone rang.
It belonged to the captured man.
Alexander answered it.
"Carmen?"
The woman laughed softly.
"I knew you'd protect your daughter."
Alexander didn't respond.
"But you forgot something."
His expression changed.
"What?"
"You protected the wrong person."
A cold knot formed in my stomach.
"What are you talking about?" Alexander asked.
Carmen's voice was almost cheerful.
"I never wanted Sofia."
Silence.
"I wanted..."
"...her mother."
Every muscle in my body went rigid.
Carmen continued.
"You're all looking in the wrong apartment."
The call disconnected.
At that exact moment...
My phone buzzed.
Unknown Number.
One new video message.
With trembling hands, I pressed play.
The video had been recorded just seconds earlier.
It showed the hallway outside my apartment.
Then the camera slowly turned...
...toward my mother's front door.
May you like
Someone spray-painted six words across it in bright red.
YOU'RE NEXT, ELENA. OPEN UP.
