Pedro stood outside Catalina's bedroom door, his heart pounding in rhythm with the racing seconds on his wristwatch. He had just finished carrying out a sweep of the house and was only left with Catalina’s room. He had been through many tense situations in his life, but this one felt different. The stakes were higher, the shadows darker, and he was responsible not only for Catalina but for her daughter, Lucia, and Tina as well. How could he protect them?
He knocked gently on Catalina's door, three gentle taps that conveyed the urgency that tugged at his heart but without letting Catalina know the true state of his mind and the amount of panic that consumed him. The house was shrouded in an eerie silence as if it too sensed the gravity of the moment. The only sound that was in the house, c
