Chapter 8 - COME ALONE
I didn't tell police about the second phone.
Alejandro had placed it inside Isabella's rabbit.
It rang at 7:00 p.m.
“Daniel.”
“Let me speak to her.”
“Still giving orders.”
“Let me speak to Isabella.”
A pause.
Then her voice.
“Daddy?”
I closed my eyes.
“Bella.”
“I'm scared.”
“I know.”
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For getting taken.”
My heart shattered.
“Listen to me.”
I forced my voice steady.
“You did nothing wrong.”
“But—”
“Nothing.”
Alejandro took the phone.
“Touching.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Where?”
He gave me coordinates.
An unfinished resort outside Marbella.
One of our father's abandoned developments.
“Come alone.”
“If you hurt her—”
“You'll what?”
He laughed.
“Kill me?”
Silence.
“That would make us more alike than you think.”
The call ended.
Mateo had been listening.
“You're not going alone.”
“He'll see police.”
“Then no police.”
I looked at him.
“But I'm coming.”
We created a plan.
I entered alone.
Mateo followed through an old maintenance tunnel.
At 10:12 p.m., I walked into the unfinished resort.
Concrete walls.
Empty windows.
Ocean wind.
“Alejandro!”
My voice echoed.
“Daddy!”
Isabella.
Above me.
Third floor.
I ran.
Alejandro stepped into view.
Gun in hand.
Isabella stood beside him.
Her wrists were tied.
I stopped.
“Let her go.”
He smiled.
“Welcome home.”
I climbed the stairs slowly.
“You wanted me.”
“Yes.”
“I'm here.”
Alejandro looked older up close.
Life had carved bitterness into his face.
“You took everything.”
“I took nothing from you.”
“Father chose you.”
“That wasn't my decision.”
“Elena chose you.”
“That was hers.”
His face twisted.
“And Isabella chose you.”
“She is my daughter.”
“I know.”
Those words surprised me.
“You know?”
“Of course.”
He laughed.
“Elena showed me the DNA test years ago.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then why tell people otherwise?”
“Because it hurt you.”
Simple.
Monstrous.
“That's all this is?”
“No.”
He pressed the gun against my chest.
“This is about making you understand what it feels like to watch someone else live the life that should have been yours.”
Behind him, Isabella stared at me.
I saw something in her eyes.
Not panic.
Calculation.
She slowly moved one foot backward.
I understood.
I kept Alejandro talking.
“You used Beatriz.”
“She was easy.”
“You planned my death.”
“Yes.”
“You planned Isabella's.”
His smile disappeared.
“Collateral damage.”
My daughter heard him.
Something changed in her face.
Then she moved.
Fast.
She kicked Alejandro behind the knee.
He stumbled.
The gun fired.
I lunged.
The bullet struck concrete.
I slammed into him.
We crashed against the railing.
The gun fell.
Isabella screamed.
Alejandro punched me.
I hit him back.
Years of hatred exploded between us.
Then the railing broke.
Alejandro slipped.
I caught his wrist.
He hung three floors above the concrete.
His eyes widened.
“Daniel.”
I could let go.
For one terrible second, I wanted to.
Then Isabella screamed.
“Daddy!”
I looked at my daughter.
And remembered Elena.
Don't let Isabella grow up believing love has to hurt.
I pulled Alejandro upward.
Mateo appeared.
Police followed seconds later.
They dragged my brother away.
As officers handcuffed him, Alejandro laughed.
“You think this is over?”
I held Isabella.
“Yes.”
Alejandro looked directly at her.
Then at me.
“No.”
May you like
His smile returned.
“Ask Beatriz what she put in your daughter's medicine.”
