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Stephen was silent for a long moment, studying me as if trying to gauge whether or not I was serious. I held his gaze steadily, despite the fear churning in my gut.
"Alright," he finally agreed, breaking the tense silence. "I'll arrange it."
“And you have to promise me that you’re going to keep him safe. Sammy, too.”
“Yes,” Stephen said. “I promise.”
“Okay. Where do we go next?”
“I know where they’re staying and I can use a burner phone to get in touch,” Stephen said. He reached below the coffee table and pulled out an old, battered flip phone. "It's not traced, I made sure of it. My heart pounded in my chest as he handed me the phone. It felt heavy in my hand. Too heavy, like it carried the weight of the world on its slim, rectangular frame.
But I had to do this.
The phone rang once, twice. Nothing. I gave it back to Stephen after the fifth ring, feeling like I was about to burst into tears.
“Do you want me to try to call your brother?” Stephen asked.
I nodded. “Please.”
He dialed a number, then an extension. I held my breath until I heard a familiar voice pick up the line. But it wasn’t Sam. It was Teo.
Teo.
My heart ached at the sound of his voice, and it took everything I had not to break down then and there. But this wasn't the time for weakness. I grabbed the phone from Stephen's hands and cleared my throat before speaking.
"Teo," I managed to croak out, my voice trembling with the effort to remain calm.
"Sofia?" His voice was filled with disbelief and relief that made my heart clench. "Where are you? Are you okay?"
“I’m fine. I’m okay. Are you okay?” I asked him. “I don’t remember much of…”
“I’m fine,” Teo said. He also sounded like he was about to burst into tears, which wasn’t at all like him. “I was so worried about you, I thought…I thought I lost you.”
“What happened?”
“I think your dad had explosives planted around the cabin,” Teo said. “Some of us got it worse. Sam was in surgery, he’s okay now. Recovering. I was hurt, but I’ll be okay. But you and Victor were taken and I thought, fuck, I don’t even want to talk about what I thought. How did you get away? Is Victor with you”
I could tell he was trying to keep his own voice steady, but the sheer relief in it almost undid me. "Teo, listen...it's not what you think. I'm safe. I'm not with my dad."
A brief pause. "What? Sunshine, what's going on?"
"I'm...working with someone. A federal agent," I said, hesitating just a second before I added, "Stephen. My dad thinks he’s one of his capos."
There was a long silence on the other end of the line and I had to resist the urge to fill it with explanations.
“Stephen… That’s…”
“Yeah,” I interrupted him, knowing exactly what he was about to say. “It’s a lot. And we don’t have much time.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, fear creeping into his voice.
"Listen, Teo," my words rushed out all at once now, "I’m going to help him take down my dad.”
"I have to," I countered. The desperation in my voice matched his. "This is important, Teo. This is my...our chance to stop him once and for all. Look at what he’s done to all of you. I don’t know where Victor is, he almost killed you, he almost killed my brother…”
"Sofia, please,” Teo said, and for the first time since I had met him, I realized that he was actually pleading. It was horrible. I hated it. “This is so dangerous. I can handle this.”
“This is on me,” I replied, tilting my head back to stop myself from crying. “This is my father, Teo. This is my fight.”
