Chapter 12
1213 Words
*Title: Chapter 12 - Ghosts*
*Word count: 1,631*
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The record didn’t lie.
Senator Reyes.
Status: Alive.
Last seen: Subic Freeport, 3 days ago.
Ava stared at the screen until the words blurred.
“He’s alive,” she whispered.
Lucas stood beside her in the safe house war room, arms crossed. Elise was on the other line, running a trace. Miguel was pacing by the door, jaw tight.
“Could be a setup,” Lucas said carefully. “Selena’s good at mind games.”
Elise’s voice came through the speaker, sharp and fast. “It’s not a setup. Facial rec matches 98.7%. He used the name ‘Antonio Cruz’ to book a private dock. Left on a yacht two hours ago. Destination unknown.”
Ava’s hands shook.
Her father didn’t die in that warehouse. He walked out. Let her think he was dead. Let her carry that for six months.
“Why?” she said out loud.
“Could be protection,” Lucas said. “Could be he’s deeper in this than we thought.”
Miguel stopped pacing. “Or he’s running the whole thing.”
The room went quiet.
Ava closed the laptop. “We find him.”
“Not alone,” Lucas said immediately.
Ava looked up at him. “I’m not asking you to come.”
Lucas stepped closer. “I’m not giving you a choice.”
---
*Subic Freeport. 11:47 PM.*
The dock was dead silent. Only the sound of water hitting the hulls.
Ava moved first, gun low, eyes scanning the shadows. Lucas was behind her, Elise on overwatch from the warehouse roof.
The yacht was smaller than she expected. Sleek. Black. No lights.
“Cold,” Elise whispered through the comms. “No heat signatures except one. He’s alone.”
Ava nodded.
She stepped onto the gangway. It creaked under her weight.
The cabin door was unlocked.
She pushed it open.
The smell hit her first. Cigarettes and cheap cologne. The same smell from her childhood.
“Anak.”
Ava froze.
Senator Reyes sat at the small table, a glass of whiskey in his hand. Older. Paler. But alive.
“You look well,” he said.
Ava raised her gun. “Don’t call me that.”
Reyes didn’t flinch. “Put the gun down, Ava. We need to talk.”
Lucas moved up behind her, silent.
“Talk,” Ava said. “Then I decide if you live.”
Reyes sighed. “Selena Voss lied to you. I didn’t walk out of that warehouse. I was dragged out by her men. She’s been using my name, my contacts, my money, since the day Viktor died.”
“Liar,” Miguel said from the doorway. He’d followed them.
Reyes looked at him, guilt flashing across his face. “Miguel. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t bring back six years,” Miguel said.
Ava kept the gun steady. “If you’re telling the truth, where’s the proof?”
Reyes reached into his jacket slowly. Pulled out a flash drive. Tossed it on the table.
“Everything,” he said. “Selena’s network. Her clients. Her next move. She’s planning something called ‘Operation Ashfall.’ If she succeeds, it makes Project Eclipse look like a parking ticket.”
Lucas picked up the drive, checking it. “Encrypted.”
“With your DNA,” Reyes said, looking at Ava. “Just like Selena said. I didn’t know she knew. I found out two weeks ago.”
Ava lowered the gun an inch. “Why come to me now?”
“Because I’m dying,” Reyes said. “Again. The cancer’s back. I have weeks, maybe. I won’t let her use your name to burn the country.”
Lucas glanced at Ava. “It matches the medical records we found.”
Ava didn’t look away from her father. “If I help you, what then?”
Reyes met her eyes. “Then I turn myself in. For everything. No deals. No escape. I pay for what I did.”
Miguel scoffed. “Convenient timing.”
Ava stepped forward and grabbed the drive.
“Fine,” she said. “We stop Selena. Then you face the courts.”
Reyes nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Ava said. “If you’re lying, I’ll kill you myself.”
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*24 hours later. Manila Safe House.*
The drive was cracked. The files were worse than they thought.
Selena wasn’t just running arms. She was running people. Politicians. Judges. Military officers. And she had a target.
“Malacañang Palace,” Elise said, pointing at the screen. “In 48 hours. State dinner. Every major official will be there.”
Lucas cursed. “Ashfall is a bombing?”
“No,” Elise said. “Worse. Biological. Selena has a lab in Batangas. They’re producing a fast-acting toxin. One vial in the AC system, and half the government dies in an hour.”
Ava felt sick. “And she needs me to access it?”
“Your DNA is the master key for the lab doors,” Elise confirmed. “She can’t get in without you.”
Reyes sat in the corner, handcuffed to the table. He hadn’t said a word since they got back.
Ava turned to him. “Is there a way to stop it without me walking in there?”
Reyes shook his head. “No. The lab is air-gapped. No remote access. You have to go in.”
Lucas stepped in front of Ava. “Then we don’t let her go.”
Ava looked at him. Then at the files. Then at the countdown timer Elise had pulled up.
47:12:03.
“If I don’t go, she releases the toxin anyway,” Ava said quietly. “She’ll blame me. Say I refused to help.”
“So we take the lab,” Lucas said. “Hit it hard, fast, before she expects it.”
Elise shook her head. “It’s a fortress. We don’t have the manpower.”
Ava looked at the screen. At the location. At the date.
Then she looked at her father.
“Get me Selena,” she said.
Reyes frowned. “What?”
“Call her,” Ava said. “Tell her I’ll come. Alone. If she lets my father go.”
Lucas grabbed her arm. “Ava, no.”
“It’s the only way,” Ava said. “She wants me. She wants the key. Let her have it. But on my terms.”
Reyes looked at her, something breaking in his eyes.
“I won’t let you do this,” he said.
Ava knelt in front of him.
“You don’t have a choice, Dad,” she said. “Not this time.”
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*Batangas Lab. 11:59 PM.*
The facility was silent. Too silent.
Ava stood at the main door, alone.
Selena’s voice came through the intercom. “Right on time, Ava. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”
Ava pressed her thumb to the scanner.
The door clicked open.
“Where’s my father?” Ava said.
“Safe,” Selena said. “For now. Come in. Let’s talk.”
Ava stepped inside.
The lights came on.
And Selena was waiting.
Smiling.
“Welcome home,” she said.
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*End of Chapter 12*
- Writer
