Chapter 9 - Eleven Minutes to Midnight
Sebastián stood beside the bassinet.
His father held the gun.
Eleven minutes remained.
Then the bedroom door opened.
Rebeca entered.
“Put the gun down, Alejandro.”
He looked at her.
“Stay out of this.”
“For thirty-seven years I stayed out of things.”
She walked closer.
“Look where that brought us.”
Sebastián stared at his mother.
“You started this.”
Rebeca looked at him.
“No.”
“I continued it.”
The distinction made him sick.
She looked toward the baby.
“I wanted Valeria removed.”
“Why?”
“Because your father would have killed her.”
Sebastián froze.
Alejandro laughed.
“Now you’re pretending to be her protector?”
Rebeca’s face twisted.
“I was trying to keep everyone alive.”
“You forged my signature.”
“Yes.”
“You drugged Valeria.”
Rebeca’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“You destroyed her.”
Rebeca whispered,
“Yes.”
Sebastián stared at his mother.
“Why?”
“Because every time I refused your father, someone disappeared.”
Alejandro raised the gun.
Rebeca looked at him.
“Like Gabriel?”
Silence.
Sebastián understood.
His mother had known Gabriel was alive.
She had helped hide him.
But not for the reason he thought.
Then the grandfather clock began striking midnight.
One.
Two.
Three.
Alejandro smiled.
“It’s done.”
But before the final strike, the bedroom doors exploded inward.
May you like
Police entered.
And behind them stood Valeria.
