Chapter 14

Elias's POV

Detective Ortega texted me the location of the place where we were supposed to meet. I quickly put on my shoes and grabbed my jacket.

Before leaving the house, I checked the address one more time.

I wanted to make sure I was going to the right place.

When I arrived, I saw Ortega sitting alone at a small restaurant. He was drinking something and looking around the room.

I walked over to him.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

He finished his drink and stood up.

"Yes. Let's go."

We both got into his car. Ortega started the engine and drove toward the street shown on the map.

The road became quieter as we went farther from the busy part of town.

After a while, we reached the street.

But something was not right.

The place was supposed to have a building where we could find answers. Instead, we saw an old, abandoned building standing by itself.

The windows were broken, and the walls looked dirty and damaged.

I looked at Ortega.

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

He checked the address again.

"Yes. This is exactly where the map brought us."

We got out of the car and looked around.

There were no cars nearby.

No lights.

No people.

Just the old building.

Then I noticed something strange.

"There are people inside," I whispered.

Ortega looked toward the building.

"How many?"

"I don't know. I only saw their shadows."

Ortega became serious.

He reached for the weapon he was carrying and kept it safely at his side.

"Stay behind me," he said. "If anything goes wrong, do not run ahead."

I nodded.

"Okay."

We slowly walked toward the building.

The closer we got, the more nervous I became.

My heart was beating fast.

I kept wondering what we would find inside.

Maybe this was the place Detective Adrian had been talking about.

Maybe the answers about my father's death were waiting for us inside.

Ortega pushed the door open.

Creeeeak!

The sound echoed through the empty building.

We stepped inside.

It was dark and cold.

I could barely see anything.

Ortega used his flashlight to look around.

There were broken chairs, old boxes, and dust everywhere.

Then we heard a sound from somewhere deeper inside the building.

Footsteps.

Someone was coming toward us.

Ortega raised his hand, telling me to stay quiet.

I held my breath.

The footsteps came closer.

One step.

Then another.

Ortega looked at me.

Neither of us moved.

Whatever was waiting for us in that building was about to reveal itself.

We used our flashlight to look around. The building had electricity, but we did not want to turn on the lights because someone might see us. So, we had to move in the dark.

“We have to find the vault. There might be some important evidence inside,” he said.

As we walked through the building, we found a room with a large vault. The vault was sealed with a wheel. I tried to turn it, but I could not open it.

Ortega helped me, and together we opened the vault.

Inside the vault, we found another small lock. I looked at it carefully and realized that it could only be opened with a small key.

Then I remembered that there was a single key that I had taken from the box we found at the police station.

I opened my wallet and took out the key. I hoped I was right. I put the key into the lock and turned it.

The vault opened.

Ortega and I looked at each other in surprise. We could not believe what we had just found.

Inside the vault, we found several things that immediately caught our attention. There was an old photograph, a gun, and a cassette. A few pieces of paper were also lying on a small table inside the vault. Everything looked like it had been hidden there for a long time.

Ortega quickly reached for the cassette.

“Give me that,” he said.

I handed it to him. He turned it around and looked at it carefully. He checked the front, the back, and even the sides.

“This cassette was damaged deliberately but we can fix it”, he said.

I nodded.

After a few seconds, he looked at me.

“This cassette is important,” he said. “We need to find a way to play it. It might have something that can help us solve the case.”

“What do you think is on it?” I asked.

“I don't know yet,” he replied. “But whoever hid it here did not want anyone to find it.”

He handed the cassette back to me.

I looked at it for a moment before putting it safely into my pocket. I knew we had to protect it because it could contain an important clue.

Then I turned toward the papers.

“Let's see what these are,” I said.

Ortega nodded.

We were just about to pick up the papers when something strange happened.

Click!

The lights suddenly came on.

I froze.

The room that had been dark only a few seconds earlier was now bright. Ortega and I looked at each other in shock.

“Someone is here,” Ortega whispered.

He quickly reached for his gun and held it carefully. His eyes moved around the room as he searched for anyone who might be hiding nearby.

My heart began to beat faster.

“How did the lights come on?” I asked quietly.

“I don't know,” Ortega answered. “But someone must have turned them on.”

I slowly looked toward the doorway.

At first, I saw nothing.

Then I noticed a shadow moving across the floor.

Someone was coming toward us.

I took a small step backward. Ortega raised his gun, ready to protect us if we were attacked.

The person came closer.

I stared at the figure, trying to understand who it was.

Then I saw a familiar face.

It was Damon.

But he was not alone, Marco accompanied him.

Damon stood quietly beside Marco, staring directly at us. Its presence made the room feel cold and frightening.

Ortega was about to shoot, but he suddenly stopped.

“Wait,” I said.

He looked at me.

I could not take my eyes off Damon.

And why had they turned on the lights?

Marco slowly raised the gun in his right hand but Damon signaled him to hold fire.

For a few seconds, nobody spoke.

We simply stood there, staring at each other.

I knew that whatever happened next could change everything.

I was furious, so I walked up to Damon and confronted him immediately.

Ortega brought out his gun and pointed it at Damon. He was ready to use it if Damon tried anything.

I looked at Damon angrily.

“Why the hell are you following me, Damon?” I asked.

Damon looked at me calmly.

“Did I do anything wrong to you? Why have you decided to make my life miserable? You don’t even give me the freedom to move around without following me everywhere.”

Damon stared at me for a moment before speaking.

“Why should you have freedom when you are clearly hiding something?” he asked. “You were here at this building at such an ungodly hour. What were you doing here?”

He paused and looked at me carefully.

“Maybe if you answer that question, I might consider leaving you alone,” Damon said.

I walked closer to him and took a deep breath.

“I’m going through a lot right now,” I said. “I’m trying to prove my father’s innocence, and I’m doing everything I can to find the truth. If I can prove that he is innocent, maybe my life can finally return to normal.”

I looked down for a moment.

“But right now, it feels like I’m completely alone. Everyone seems to be against me, and I don’t even know who I can trust anymore.”

Damon stared at me and said, “How does going out late at night into an abandoned house help you clear your father’s name?”

“I came here to find evidence that could help us,” I replied.

Before I could say anything else, Detective Damon was shot by the people who had followed us. They were the same people who had been watching us.

“Things just got worse,” Damon said.

Damon came closer to me, and our eyes met. My heart began to beat very fast. I could feel the fear growing inside me. I knew Damon could hear my heartbeat.

Suddenly, we heard a loud gunshot.

We quickly moved away from each other and tried to find somewhere safe to hide. The same men entered the building and began shooting at us. Bullets flew through the air as everyone searched for cover.

Marco and Ortega fired back at them, but the men kept coming.

Then I realized that they had set a trap for us.

I looked at Ortega and shouted, “Cover me! Now!”

Before Ortega could say anything, I rushed into the middle of the scene.

I ran toward the vault and kicked the door open. I quickly searched for the papers and then headed back to our car.

As I was running, one of the men fired at me and I got hurt in the arm.

“Elias!” Ortega shouted.

He quickly ran toward me while Marco covered him. Ortega helped me up and took me to a safe place.

Damon came closer and held my arm, trying to stop the bleeding.

“We need to get him out of here,” Ortega said.

Damon agreed, so Ortega helped me walk away while Damon and Marco followed us. We hurried toward the cars as fast as we could.

Ortega helped me into our car, while Damon and Marco got into their own car.

Just as we were about to drive away, we heard a huge explosion coming from the building.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

The whole building shook.

“They planted bombs there!” Damon shouted.

We quickly drove away from the area before the masked men could come after us.

Ortega took me to his house as quickly as he could. I was still in pain, and every step made my wound hurt even more. My clothes were stained, and I could feel how weak I had become after everything that had happened.

When we reached his house, Ortega quickly brought out a first-aid box. He made me sit down while he carefully checked my wound.

“Stay still,” he said. “I need to clean this properly.”

I nodded and tried not to move.

Ortega cleaned the wound and stopped the bleeding. He worked carefully and made sure I was comfortable. After treating the wound, he wrapped a clean bandage around it.

“Thanks for your help, Ortega,” I said quietly.

He smiled at me and shook his head.

“You should thank Damon,” he said. “He was the one who helped stop the bleeding when you were hurt.”

I looked at him in surprise.

“Damon?” I asked.

Ortega nodded.

For a few seconds, I did not know what to say. Damon had been following me and asking questions about everything I did. I thought he wanted to make my life difficult. Yet, when I was in danger, he had helped me.

Why would he help me if he was really against me?

I sat quietly, thinking about everything that had happened.

Maybe I had judged him too quickly.

Or maybe there was another reason behind his actions.

“What is Damon really trying to do?” I wondered.

I knew he was hiding something from me. There was someth

ing about him that I could not understand. His actions did not match his words.

One moment, he acted like he was against me. The next moment, he was helping me when I needed him the most.

I looked down at the bandage around my arm.

Whatever Damon’s true intentions were, I knew one thing for sure.

The truth would eventually come out.