Chapter 7
949 Words
*Title: Chapter 7 - Father and Lies*
*Word count: 1,742*
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The safe house smelled like instant coffee and gunpowder.
Ava couldn’t sleep. Not after seeing her father’s name at the top of Viktor’s list. _Senator Reyes._
She sat on the edge of the couch, the single sheet of paper trembling in her hands. The ink felt like it was burning her skin.
“Is it real?” she asked for the third time that hour.
Lucas knelt in front of her, his eyes tired but steady. “The document Elise copied is real. The source is Viktor’s internal ledger. We got it from his encrypted server last month.”
“Then why now?” Ava’s voice cracked. “Why tell me now that he’s alive? That he’s been working with Viktor this whole time?”
Lucas hesitated. That hesitation made Ava’s chest tighten.
“Because I didn’t want you walking into this blind,” he said quietly. “And because I wasn’t sure if he was using you.”
Ava dropped the paper. “Using me? I was ten when he left! He didn’t even say goodbye!”
Elise stood by the window, arms crossed. “That’s what makes you useful, Ava. You’re his daughter. If Viktor has you, he has leverage over both Senator Reyes and Lucas.”
“So I’m bait?” Ava stood up, pacing. “Great. I’m bait for two crime lords and my own father.”
Lucas caught her wrist, stopping her. “You’re not bait. You’re the reason I started digging in the first place.”
Ava pulled away. “Don’t. Don’t say that like it makes it better.”
The room went quiet except for the hum of the old AC unit.
Finally, Elise spoke. “We have 48 hours before Viktor moves the real folder. If we want answers, we go to the last place Senator Reyes was seen.”
“Where?” Ava asked.
“A safe house in Tagaytay,” Elise said. “Abandoned for three years. But his last transaction pinged there two weeks ago.”
Lucas nodded. “We leave at dawn. No backup. If Viktor’s men are watching, they’ll expect us to go to the police. We don’t.”
Ava looked between them. “And if my father’s there?”
“Then we find out why he chose Viktor over you,” Lucas said.
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*4:13 AM. Tagaytay Safe House.*
The place was a ruin. Broken windows, mold on the walls, dust thick enough to choke on.
Ava held a flashlight, her gun steady in her other hand. She hated that she knew how to hold it now.
“Clear,” Elise whispered from the second floor.
Lucas checked the basement door. It was locked. New lock. Not three years old.
“Someone’s been here recently,” he said.
Ava’s heart raced. She knelt, pulling out the lockpick set Elise had forced her to practice with for two weeks.
Her hands were steady. That surprised her.
Click.
The door opened with a groan.
The basement smelled worse. Like blood and bleach.
On the wall, photos were pinned up. Dozens of them.
Ava’s childhood photos. Her 10th birthday. Her high school graduation. Photos of her mother. Of Miguel.
And in the center, one photo she hadn’t seen in 14 years.
Her father, smiling, holding her on his shoulders at the beach.
“Why?” she whispered.
A voice behind her answered.
“Because I had to protect you.”
Ava spun around.
Senator Reyes stood in the doorway. Older. Thinner. Eyes tired but sharp. He didn’t look like a senator. He looked like a man on the run.
“Dad?” Ava’s voice broke.
He didn’t move closer. “Don’t call me that.”
Lucas stepped forward, gun raised but not firing. “Step back, Reyes. You’re under arrest for conspiracy, arms trafficking, and attempted murder.”
Reyes didn’t even glance at him. His eyes stayed on Ava.
“I left because Viktor threatened to kill you if I didn’t work for him,” he said. “I thought if I stayed away, you’d be safe.”
Ava laughed, but it sounded broken. “Safe? Miguel’s in prison because of you! Mom works three jobs! You call that safe?”
“I tried to get him out,” Reyes said. “Every deal I made with Viktor, I tried to use it to help you. Project Eclipse wasn’t supposed to hurt civilians. It was supposed to be a deterrent.”
“Bullshit,” Elise muttered.
Lucas didn’t lower his gun. “Where’s the real folder, Reyes?”
Reyes sighed. “Viktor has it. But I copied it. It’s here.”
He pulled out a USB drive from his pocket and tossed it to Ava. She caught it instinctively.
“If you give this to the authorities, it ends,” he said. “Viktor, me, all of it.”
Ava looked at the USB, then at her father.
“Why should I trust you?” she asked.
“Because I’m dying,” Reyes said simply.
Lucas frowned. “What?”
“Stage four pancreatic cancer,” Reyes said. “Six months, maybe. I wanted to see you one last time before I turn myself in.”
Ava felt like the floor dropped out.
“You’re lying,” she said. But her voice didn’t sound sure.
Reyes pulled up his shirt. A fresh surgical scar ran down his side. “Check it. I had surgery in Manila General last week under a fake name. Ask Dr. Santos.”
Elise’s comms crackled. “We’ve got company. Viktor’s men. Three minutes.”
Lucas cursed. “We need to move. No
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