CHAPTER 5 – THE WOLF HUNTS AT NIGHT
CHAPTER 5 – THE WOLF HUNTS AT NIGHT
A silence heavier than gunfire settled over the mansion.
No one laughed.
No one dismissed Patricia's warning as another manipulation.
Because the fear on her face could not be faked.
Gabriel immediately grabbed his radio.
"All units, Code Black. Full lockdown. No one enters or leaves the estate. Sniper teams to the roof. Bomb squad sweep the perimeter."
This time, the radios worked.
Within seconds, armed security flooded every entrance.
Steel gates slammed shut.
Floodlights illuminated the gardens.
The Herrera estate transformed from a family home into a fortress.
Emiliano knelt beside Martina and Daniela once more.
"I'm going to ask you something important."
Both girls nodded nervously.
"Has Patricia ever brought anyone here when I wasn't home?"
Daniela hesitated.
Then whispered,
"There was a man."
Gabriel turned instantly.
"What man?"
"He always came after dinner."
Martina added quietly,
"He smelled like cigars."
"And Patricia told us to stay upstairs."
Daniela closed her eyes as she tried to remember.
"He had a silver ring with a wolf on it."
Every officer in the room exchanged uneasy glances.
The ring.
The same one from the photograph.
"He talked to Patricia in Daddy's office."
"What did they say?" Emiliano asked.
"I don't know..."
Daniela's voice shook.
"But once..."
"He said..."
She swallowed hard.
"...'The children won't be a problem much longer.'"
The room went completely still.
Emiliano had faced hostile takeovers, kidnapping threats, and corporate sabotage during his career.
Nothing had ever terrified him like hearing those words come from his eight-year-old daughter.
At that moment, one of Gabriel's analysts rushed in carrying a laptop.
"Sir, we've recovered files from the basement servers."
He plugged the computer into the large monitor.
A list of encrypted videos appeared.
Each file carried a date.
Each one matched a day Emiliano had been away on business.
Gabriel opened the earliest recording.
The footage came from Patricia's own bedroom.
She wasn't alone.
The mysterious man sat across from her.
His face remained hidden in shadow.
Only the silver wolf ring caught the light.
His voice was deep and calm.
"You've made good progress."
Patricia smiled.
"The girls trust the maid more than their father."
"Excellent."
"And Emiliano?"
"He's exactly where we want him."
The man chuckled.
"Grief makes intelligent men predictable."
Emiliano clenched his fists.
The stranger continued.
"Once the marriage is complete, the company transfers become simple."
"And the children?"
Patricia asked.
A pause.
Then came the answer.
"They'll disappear."
Martina suddenly screamed.
"No!"
Everyone turned.
The little girl pointed at the screen.
"That's him!"
Gabriel froze the frame.
"You've seen him?"
Martina nodded repeatedly.
"He gave Patricia a necklace."
"And he told me..."
Her tiny voice broke.
"...that little girls who ask questions sometimes get lost forever."
Rosa immediately pulled Martina into her arms.
"It's over now."
"No one will ever touch you again."
But Rosa herself wasn't convinced.
She had spent months watching shadows move through the estate.
Now those shadows had names.
An alarm suddenly blared across every monitor.
PERIMETER BREACH.
Gabriel checked the security feed.
Nothing.
No movement.
"False alarm?"
Another alarm.
EAST FENCE OFFLINE.
Then another.
THERMAL CAMERAS DISCONNECTED.
One by one...
Every exterior camera went black.
The control room lost eyes on the estate.
Gabriel's face hardened.
"They're cutting power section by section."
As if on cue...
The lights flickered.
Then the entire mansion plunged into darkness.
Emergency generators activated three seconds later.
But three seconds were enough.
When the lights returned—
Patricia was gone.
Her handcuffs lay open on the marble floor.
Two officers nearby were unconscious.
Gabriel swore under his breath.
"Find her!"
Security teams scattered through the mansion.
Every corridor echoed with running footsteps.
Emiliano immediately rushed toward the children's safe room.
Only to discover...
The door stood open.
May you like
Rosa was there.
The girls were not.
