Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
The secret passage was empty.
By the time police officers stormed Ricardo's estate, he was gone.
No fingerprints.
No phone.
No vehicle.
Nothing.
It was as if he had vanished into the desert.
But Alejandro barely noticed.
His attention was fixed on the photograph.
Victoria stood smiling beside an unfamiliar man in a dark suit.
At first glance he looked ordinary.
Middle-aged.
Gray hair.
Polite smile.
The kind of face people forgot immediately.
But Victoria had written four words on the back:
He is the mastermind.
Victoria never exaggerated.
Never panicked.
Never accused without evidence.
If she wrote those words, she had a reason.
A terrifying one.
Back at the mansion, Javier's team worked through the night.
Facial recognition databases.
Corporate records.
Government archives.
International travel logs.
Hour after hour passed.
Nothing.
The man seemed invisible.
Then, shortly before dawn, one of the analysts froze.
"I found him."
Everyone turned.
The analyst's face had gone pale.
"Who is he?"
The analyst slowly rotated his monitor.
Alejandro stared.
And felt his blood turn cold.
The man's name was Esteban Cruz.
Officially, he was a retired economics professor.
Unofficially...
He was linked to six dead executives.
Three missing auditors.
Two suspicious corporate collapses.
And one federal corruption investigation that had mysteriously disappeared.
Every witness connected to him either vanished or died.
Yet Esteban himself had never been charged with a single crime.
Not once.
Javier cursed under his breath.
"This guy isn't a businessman."
"What is he?"
"A ghost."
The room fell silent.
The deeper they investigated, the worse it became.
Esteban had spent decades creating an empire hidden behind shell companies, fake directors, and corrupt officials.
Nobody knew the true size of his fortune.
Nobody knew how many people worked for him.
And nobody knew why Victoria had been investigating him.
Until Javier found her final encrypted files.
The files contained evidence.
Bank transfers.
Secret contracts.
Blackmail payments.
Enough information to destroy dozens of powerful people.
Victoria had uncovered a criminal network worth billions.
And she had been preparing to expose it.
Then she died.
Alejandro closed the laptop.
His hands shook.
For two years he had mourned his wife.
Now he finally understood.
Victoria hadn't died because of illness.
She had died because she had gotten too close to the truth.
And someone had made sure she never spoke again.
Suddenly the security alarm blared throughout the mansion.
Every light flashed red.
Javier reached for his weapon.
"What happened?"
A terrified guard's voice crackled through the intercom.
"Sir..."
The man sounded breathless.
"We've lost visual on Lilia."
Alejandro's heart stopped.
"What?"
"She was in the garden five minutes ago."
May you like
The guard's voice cracked.
"She's gone."
