Chapter 10 - The North Tower
They took the hidden passage because the main staircase was too slow.
The corridor was barely shoulder-wide. Dust filled Sofia's mouth. Mara ran ahead with Daniel's flashlight bouncing across old brick.
At the tower stairs, smoke rolled downward.
"Rafael!" Sofia shouted.
No answer.
They climbed.
The records vault door stood open. Inside, a metal trash can burned beneath shelves packed with boxes.
Rafael was feeding papers into the flames.
"Stop!" Sofia yelled.
He turned, face shining with sweat.
"You should have left this alone."
Mara rushed toward a shelf.
Rafael caught her arm.
Sofia shoved him away.
"Don't touch her!"
Daniel grabbed the extinguisher mounted near the stairwell and blasted the fire. White powder filled the vault.
Rafael coughed, furious.
"Do you think those papers make you heroes? This family survived because I cleaned up everyone else's disasters."
"You stole from the trust," Sofia said.
"I protected the companies."
"You hunted a pregnant nineteen-year-old."
His face changed.
Mara stared at him. "My mother."
Rafael looked at her for a long moment.
"Camila was always dramatic."
Mara slapped him.
The sound cracked through the tower.
No one moved.
Rafael touched his cheek, stunned more by the humiliation than the pain.
Then he smiled coldly.
"You really are her daughter."
Sofia heard sirens in the distance. Elena must have called the police.
Daniel pulled half-burned folders from the shelves.
One contained bank records.
Another contained photographs.
Mara opened a thin medical file.
Her eyes stopped on the first page.
PATIENT: CAMILA MARQUEZ.
FACILITY: ST. AGNES RECOVERY CENTER.
STATUS: TRANSFERRED 11/29/2007.
DESTINATION: HAWTHORNE HOUSE.
Rafael clearly knew Hawthorne House.
"Where is it?" she demanded.
Rafael looked toward the burning papers.
May you like
Then back at Mara.
"If she's still alive," he said, "she won't know either of you."
