Chapter 3 - Locker 317
At dawn, Sofia opened locker 317.
Inside sat Mateo's old backpack.
She knew it instantly: broken zipper, faded baseball patch, coffee stain near the bottom.
Her hands began shaking.
"Where did you get this?"
"Mateo gave it to me."
"When?"
"Seven years ago."
Inside were three notebooks, an old phone, a flash drive, and a photograph.
Mateo stood beside Ethan, both younger, both smiling.
On the back, Mateo had written: If Sofi ever sees this, tell her I tried.
Sofia covered her mouth.
"You knew him."
"He was my friend."
"You said your father asked you to hide him."
"Rafael asked me after everything went wrong."
She opened the first notebook.
Most pages were numbers, dates, initials, transfers. Then she saw Rafael Reyes - $420,000.
Below it was one word.
Collateral: Daughter.
Sofia stared.
"No."
Ethan said nothing.
"He used me as collateral?"
"He signed something he claimed he didn't understand."
"Did he?"
"I stopped believing that a long time ago."
Footsteps entered the corridor.
Three men.
One locked the exit behind them.
The man in front smiled at Sofia.
"Mrs. Vale. Mr. Salazar wants his property back."
He raised a gun.
Ethan slammed the locker door into his wrist.
The gun clattered across the floor.
"Run!"
Sofia grabbed Mateo's backpack and sprinted.
Behind her came shouts, metal crashing, and a single gunshot.
She reached the stairwell and turned.
Ethan was not behind her.
Then she heard him yell from the corridor.
"Sofia, go!"
May you like
A second gunshot followed.
And then silence.
