Chapter 9 - What We Inherited
Senator Adrian Vale’s arrest did not fix everything.
It made everything louder.
News crews surrounded courthouses.
Federal investigators raided offices.
Judges resigned.
Police officials were suspended.
Businesses tied to the old network suddenly hired expensive attorneys and claimed they had never heard of anybody named Adrian Vale.
Rachel Kim became temporarily famous, which she hated.
Gabriel enjoyed watching television reporters speculate.
Victor entered protective custody.
And I discovered that finding a sister was easier than figuring out how to become her brother.
Lucia sat across from me in a quiet café two weeks later.
She stirred coffee she wasn’t drinking.
“So.”
“So.”
“You own twelve companies.”
“Fourteen.”
She stared.
“That did not improve the situation.”
“Sorry.”
“And some of them were connected to the network?”
“Historically.”
“Historically is a lawyer’s favorite suspicious word.”
“I’m restructuring.”
“You should.”
“I am.”
She studied me.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want Sofia growing up believing power means people get away with things.”
Lucia went still.
“That sounds like Mom.”
I looked at her.
“You call her Mom?”
“My adoptive mother is Mom.”
“Of course.”
“Mariana is… I don’t know yet.”
“That’s okay.”
Lucia looked relieved.
“You’re not going to tell me how I should feel?”
“No.”
“You’re definitely not like Alejandro.”
“That might be the nicest thing anyone has said to me.”
She smiled.
Then softened.
“I read his letter.”
“And?”
“I’m angry.”
“Me too.”
“And grateful.”
“Me too.”
“I hate that.”
“Also me too.”
She laughed.
We were learning.
Slowly.
Isabella and Sofia moved into a protected apartment while the court cases developed.
I visited too often.
At least according to Isabella.
“You don’t have to check the windows every time you enter,” she told me one evening.
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I disagree.”
“You installed new locks yesterday.”
“I didn’t like the old locks.”
“You hired security.”
“They’re discreet.”
“There are two men pretending to read newspapers across the street.”
“They like current events.”
She stared at me.
I smiled.
She tried not to.
Failed.
Sofia ran into the room.
“Ramon!”
“What happened?”
“I got an A.”
She held up a spelling test.
I examined it.
“Ninety-eight.”
“That’s basically an A.”
“What did you miss?”
“Necessary.”
“Fair. Nobody knows how to spell that.”
Isabella laughed.
Sofia climbed onto the couch beside me.
“Are you coming Friday?”
“What’s Friday?”
“My school thing.”
“What school thing?”
She looked horrified.
“The family breakfast.”
My eyes moved toward Isabella.
She suddenly became very interested in folding laundry.
“Sofia—”
“You said family can come.”
“Yes, but—”
“Ramon is family.”
The room became quiet.
I looked at Sofia.
She said it as if it were obvious.
Maybe to her, it was.
Isabella finally said, “You don’t have to.”
“I’ll come.”
Sofia cheered.
Then she ran away.
Isabella looked at me.
“You really don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What are you worried about?”
She folded the same towel twice.
“You.”
“That sounds serious.”
“I mean it.”
I stopped smiling.
She sat.
“You walked into our lives during the worst moment imaginable.”
“I know.”
“Sofia trusts you.”
“I know.”
“And I…”
She stopped.
“And you?”
“I trust you too.”
I did not know what to say.
That was rare.
“Isabella.”
“I’m not asking for anything.”
“I know.”
“I’m just saying once the trial ends, protection ends. Life becomes normal.”
“I don’t know what normal means.”
“Neither do I.”
We sat quietly.
Then I reached across the table.
She put her hand in mine.
No promises.
No speeches.
Just two people who had survived something and were trying to figure out what came next.
Three days later, Rachel called.
“We have a problem.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course.”
“Tomas Salazar disappeared from federal transport.”
“What?”
“Vehicle was hit.”
“Victor?”
“Still secure.”
“Vale?”
“In custody.”
“Then who helped Tomas?”
“We don’t know.”
I immediately called Isabella.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
I called security.
One guard answered.
“Boss.”
“Where are they?”
Silence.
My stomach dropped.
“Where are Isabella and Sofia?”
“They left twenty minutes ago.”
“With who?”
“Ms. Marquez said she had an appointment.”
“She didn’t.”
I called Sofia’s tablet.
Nothing.
Lucia entered my office.
“What happened?”
“Tomas escaped.”
Her face changed.
“And Isabella?”
“Missing.”
We rushed to the apartment.
No struggle.
No broken locks.
On the table was a note.
Ramon, I’m sorry. I had to finish this. Don’t follow me. — Isabella
I crushed it in my hand.
Lucia said, “She left voluntarily.”
“No.”
“You’re doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The controlling-protection thing Dad warned you about.”
“This is different.”
“Is it?”
“Tomas is loose.”
“Maybe that’s why she went.”
I stared at her.
Lucia picked up the note.
“She knows something.”
Then Sofia’s backpack beeped.
A child’s GPS tag.
Signal active.
Moving south.
Lucia smiled faintly.
“Smart kid.”
I grabbed my keys.
She blocked me.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“You promised not to become Dad.”
“I also promised Sofia I’d keep her safe.”
“Then don’t go alone.”
So I didn’t.
For the first time, I called the police before grabbing a weapon.
Rachel met us on the highway.
The GPS stopped at an abandoned railway station.
We arrived.
Isabella stood on the platform.
Sofia beside her.
And across from them—
Tomas Salazar.
He was unarmed.
He held a photograph.
When he saw me, he sighed.
“You never listen.”
I moved toward Sofia.
She ran into my arms.
“I knew you’d come.”
I held her tightly.
Isabella looked guilty.
“I’m sorry.”
“What were you thinking?”
“Tomas called me.”
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“Because he has the last original recording.”
Tomas held up a cassette tape.
Rachel approached.
“What recording?”
Tomas answered:
“Adrian Vale ordering Mariana Ortega’s murder.”
Everyone went silent.
Rachel held out her hand.
“Give it to me.”
Tomas looked at Ramon.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s one condition.”
I stepped forward.
“What?”
He looked at Victor, who had arrived under federal escort.
“My son goes free.”
Victor’s face went hard.
“No.”
Tomas turned.
“Victor—”
“No.”
“You are my son.”
“And I did things.”
“I forced you.”
“Some.”
Victor looked at Rachel.
“Not all.”
Then he faced his father.
“I’m done letting people protect me from consequences.”
Tomas looked shattered.
Victor continued.
“Give them the tape.”
“No.”
“Dad.”
Tomas’s eyes filled with tears.
“I already ruined one son’s life.”
“You ruin it again if you make me live knowing someone else paid for what I did.”
Long silence.
Then Tomas lowered his head.
May you like
He handed Rachel the tape.
And the last wall finally fell.
