Chapter 6 - THE CONTENTS OF THE PANTRY
"Get away from that door!"
The voice was small, but the icy rage behind it froze Lucía in her tracks.
Mateo stood at the entrance of the service hallway. In his hands, he held the black stun gun he had picked up earlier. His arms were shaking, but his stance was rigid, his eyes locked onto his stepmother. Behind him, Sofía stood clutching a heavy iron fireplace poker she had retrieved from the master bedroom.
Lucía looked at the fourteen-year-old boy, a cruel smile creeping onto her lips. "You don't have the stomach to use that, Mateo. You're just like your father—weak, emotional, and slow."
She turned back to the final padlock, sliding the third key into the keyhole.
Click.
The final padlock fell to the floor. Lucía yanked the heavy iron latch back and threw the thick oak door open.
The room inside was dark, illuminated only by the faint red glow of the hallway backup lights. As the heavy door swung wide, the smell of damp dust, old paper, and stale air rushed out into the pristine hallway.
Lucía stepped inside, reaching for the manual shutter override switch on the left wall.
"Don't move, Lucía," Daniel groaned, struggling to stand despite his ruined knee, using the wall for support.
Lucía laughed softly in the dark room. "It’s over, Daniel. Once I lift these shutters, Hector’s team comes in, and you spend the rest of your life in a cushioned room while I spend your fortune."
She reached for the red hydraulic lever mounted near the breaker box.
But as her hand touched the metal, she stopped.
Her eyes adjusted to the dark corners of the room, beyond the desk and the legal documents. In the far back corner of the pantry, behind a stack of false drywall panels that had been shifted aside, stood something that was not supposed to be there.
A heavy, industrial steel safe. One that Lucía had never seen before.
The safe’s digital keypad was glowing with a fresh, green light, displaying a message on its small LCD screen:
DATA TRANSFER COMPLETE. REMOTE SERVER UPLOAD: 100%.
Lucía’s breath hitched. She slowly backed away from the safe, turning toward Daniel with a look of absolute, unadulterated horror. "What... what is that?"
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Daniel, leaning heavily against the doorframe, wiped blood from his lip and let out a cold, breathless laugh.
"Did you really think Mateo was the only one recording you, Lucía?" Daniel whispered.
