Chapter 7 - The Mastermind Unmasked
“Sofia, cover your ears!” I shouted.
Before Salgado could thumb the red switch on the detonator, I fired a single shot into the control panel mounted on the wall directly above his head. Sparks erupted in a blinding shower, blinding him for a split second.
I closed the distance in two strides, driving my shoulder into his torso. We crashed onto the concrete floor, rolling through shattered glass beaker fragments. Salgado fought with a manic, cornered strength, clawing at my face, but I managed to pin his wrists to the floor and strip the detonator from his hand.
I threw it across the room, wrapped my hand around his throat, and pulled him up until his face was inches from mine.
“Who else is on the ledger, Valentín?” I demanded, squeezing tightly. “Give me the names!”
“Cárdenas... Cárdenas has the master ledger!” Salgado choked out, gasping for breath. “It’s in his private safe at the corporate headquarters! The offshore bank accounts, the politician pay-offs, the clinical trial records—everything!”
I tossed him violently aside. He slumped against the base of a stainless-steel counter, sobbing and clutching his throat.
I ran over to the corner, pulled out a pocket knife, and carefully sliced the ropes binding Sofia’s wrists and ankles. I peeled the duct tape from her mouth.
She didn't cry. She immediately reached out, grabbed my thumb with her tiny, ice-cold fingers, and looked up at me with profound trust.
“Come on, little one,” I said softly, lifting her into my arms. “We’re finishing this.”
As we burst out of the bunker’s main exit into the pouring rain, the sound of approaching sirens echoed across the distant hills. Lupe’s call to the state police had worked—a convoy of four state patrol cars, their red and blue lights flashing wildly through the storm, slammed through the broken perimeter gate of the landfill.
I flagged down the lead cruiser. Commander Ramirez, an honest veteran officer I had known for years through municipal building permit clearances, stepped out of the car, his hand resting on his service weapon.
“Alejandro!” Ramirez shouted over the rain. “What the hell is going on here? Your housekeeper reported an armed home invasion!”
“Ramirez, thank God,” I said, setting Sofia down beside me. “Inside that bunker is Dr. Valentín Salgado and an illegal bio-chemical testing facility. They’ve been poisoning my wife and testing unauthorized paralytics on homeless children.”
Ramirez stared at me in disbelief, then looked down at Sofia’s skeletal frame and dirty clothes. He motioned to four of his officers. “Secure that entrance! Call for hazardous materials teams and ambulances!”
May you like
“Ramirez, I need your help with one more thing,” I said, pulling him aside. “Rodolfo Cárdenas is heading to our corporate headquarters in Santa Fe right now. He’s going to destroy the financial ledgers that tie this entire operation to state officials.”
Ramirez’s jaw hardened. “Get in the car, Alejandro. We’re going to Santa Fe.”
