CHAPTER 3 – THE RAID
CHAPTER 3 – THE RAID
Every alarm inside Emiliano's body exploded at once.
"They're going back inside," Gabriel barked into his radio. "Team Alpha, lock down the estate. Nobody enters until I give the order."
But before anyone could respond, static crackled through every channel.
Then silence.
Gabriel looked down at his radio.
"It's jammed."
Emiliano's eyes narrowed.
"Someone disabled our communications."
"They've been planning this."
On the monitor, Patricia calmly adjusted her sunglasses while the three men slipped through the side gate normally used by landscapers. They didn't hesitate.
They knew exactly where they were going.
They had done this before.
Inside the mansion, Rosa had just hidden the metal lunch box beneath a loose floorboard in the pantry.
Daniela tugged gently on her sleeve.
"Are the bad people coming back?"
Rosa forced herself to smile.
"No matter what happens, you stay together."
Martina clung to her waist.
"You'll stay too?"
Rosa swallowed hard.
"I'll do everything I can."
She kissed each girl on the forehead before leading them toward the hidden reading room Emiliano had built years earlier—a tiny library concealed behind a revolving bookshelf. He had designed it as a fun secret for his daughters.
Now it had become a shelter.
"Remember," Rosa whispered. "Don't come out unless it's your daddy."
The girls nodded with frightened eyes.
The bookshelf clicked shut.
Seconds later...
The back door burst open.
CRASH!
Patricia stepped inside without removing her heels.
Her smile was gone.
"So," she said coldly, "where is it?"
Rosa stood perfectly still.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
One of the men grabbed a chair and smashed it against the kitchen cabinets.
Another ripped open every drawer.
Patricia walked slowly around Rosa.
"I've been watching you for months."
"You've been recording me."
Rosa remained silent.
Patricia slapped her hard across the face.
"I asked you a question."
Still...
Silence.
Patricia's patience disappeared.
She nodded toward the largest man.
He seized Rosa by the shoulders and threw her against the pantry shelves.
Glass jars shattered around her.
Blood trickled from a cut above her eyebrow.
"Search everything."
The men tore through the kitchen like a hurricane.
Cabinets.
Ceiling panels.
Trash bins.
Flour containers.
Even the girls' cookie jar.
Nothing.
Patricia's breathing grew heavier.
"It has to be here."
Watching from the monitoring room, Emiliano could barely contain himself.
"I'm ending this."
Gabriel blocked him again.
"The tactical team is almost in position."
"My daughters—"
"They're hidden."
"You don't know that!"
"I know Rosa."
Gabriel's eyes stayed fixed on the monitor.
"She bought them enough time."
One of Patricia's men suddenly froze.
"Boss."
He lifted a loose floorboard.
Patricia rushed over.
A smile spread across her face.
"I knew it."
She reached inside...
...and pulled out the metal lunch box.
Emiliano's heart stopped.
"No..."
Patricia unlocked it with a screwdriver.
The lid opened.
Inside...
Nothing.
Empty.
Her smile vanished instantly.
"What?"
She dumped the box onto the floor.
Only old kitchen towels fell out.
"No!"
She kicked the lunch box across the room.
"Where are they?"
She grabbed Rosa by the throat.
"WHERE ARE THE RECORDINGS?"
Rosa smiled.
It was small.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
"I was hoping... you'd find that one."
Patricia's eyes widened.
"There are others."
Rosa said nothing.
Patricia screamed with rage.
At that exact moment...
Gabriel noticed movement on another security feed.
"Sir."
A small figure was walking across the estate.
An elderly gardener named Mateo.
He was pushing his rusty wheelbarrow exactly as he did every afternoon.
Completely unaware of the danger.
"No..."
Gabriel whispered.
Mateo wasn't just a gardener.
He was the only person besides Rosa who had worked for Emiliano since the girls were born.
Patricia saw him through the window.
Her face lit up.
"Bring him in."
The men dragged the seventy-year-old gardener into the kitchen.
His hands shook.
"Miss Patricia... what is happening?"
She smiled sweetly.
"Nothing."
Then she picked up pruning shears from his own gardening cart.
"Unless Rosa keeps lying."
She held the sharp blades against Mateo's hand.
"Tell me where she hid the evidence."
The old man looked at Rosa.
Then at Patricia.
"I don't know."
SNIP!
He cried out in agony as the shears sliced deep across two of his fingers.
Blood splattered across the white tile.
Martina heard the scream from behind the hidden bookshelf.
She buried her face against Daniela.
Both girls started crying silently.
Rosa finally broke.
"Stop!"
Patricia smiled triumphantly.
"I knew you'd talk."
"You'll kill him."
"I might."
Rosa closed her eyes.
Then pointed toward the wine cellar.
"It's behind the old wine racks."
Patricia shoved her aside.
"Search it."
The three men sprinted downstairs.
The moment they disappeared...
Rosa whispered toward the ceiling.
"Now."
Gabriel's eyes widened.
"She just gave us the signal."
He slammed his fist onto the emergency alarm.
Red lights flashed across the estate.
Every reinforced security door automatically locked.
Steel barriers dropped over every exit.
Patricia spun around.
"What did you do?"
Then came the sound that froze everyone.
BOOM!
The front entrance exploded inward.
"SECURITY!"
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"
Masked officers flooded into the mansion.
Patricia's three accomplices ran back upstairs...
Only to discover every escape route had already sealed shut.
They were trapped.
Patricia looked directly into the nearest security camera.
Then slowly smiled.
"You think this is over?"
She reached into her designer handbag.
Pulled out a small remote.
And pressed the red button.
Nothing happened.
She frowned.
Pressed it again.
Still nothing.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
"What was that supposed to trigger?"
No one had time to answer.
Because beneath the mansion...
Deep below the wine cellar...
Every monitor suddenly flashed the same terrifying warning.
BASEMENT SECURITY BREACH.
UNKNOWN ACCESS DETECTED.
VAULT DOOR OPEN.
Emiliano felt the blood drain from his face.
"There is no vault..."
Gabriel looked at him.
"Sir..."
May you like
Emiliano whispered,
"There shouldn't be one."
