Page 123 of Damián

The five-minute alarm blares, cutting him off.

I reach over to silence it and clap my hands together once, forcing a smile so they can feel confident in my confidence… if that makes sense.

“Okay! Are we ready?”

They nod, and I pray… because, holy fuck, here comes the hardest part.

For the last few minutes, I turn the wait into a game for the kids, seeing who can be the best quiet magician and who will be the first to spot the magical mermaid once they are in the ocean.

By the time the engines finally cut out, the cabin is clean from toys and snacks, the family is bound, and their eyes are convincingly red, puffy, and full of tears from the menthol.

So once ready, I take my awesome Jurassic Park shaving cream can and wait for the knock.

On the screen, we watch Castor limp up to the door and knock.

“Come in,” I say.

He steps inside. “The men have pushed the party to the front.”

“Good job,” I reply, and hum the Jurassic Park theme song as I slide the vials of their hair into the fake can and twist it shut. I toss it into my duffel bag, snap the lock closed, and draw my gun, leveling it right at the husband. “Let’s go, pretty boy.”

From then on, everything went exactly to plan.

I lined the family up at the edge while Castor held my duffel bag. I then took pictures of them for proof with a Polaroid, and honestly… They looked genuinely terrified.

But I guess even when you know it’s a setup, being thrown into the pitch-black ocean is pretty scary. Still, it always helps sell the lie perfectly.

Once everything was done, I pushed them, and just as planned, as soon as they hit the water, our boat sped away.

Afterward, I came back to the cabin to change my clothes and to make sure everything was in place.

BZZT! BZZT!

I open my texts, and I see one from Tom.

TOM: 🍾

Oh, thank God the family is with him, and they are okay…

My hands shake, and I want to cry. The anxiety and nerves I’ve been suppressing come flooding back, and hit me with a rush of conflicting emotions.

I feel so happy that a loving family gets to live, but at the same time, I feel so sad that I belong to a family so rotten that it keeps forcing me to do things like this.

But now everything is okay.

And not just because the family is safe, but because this could be the last time I ever have to do this.

According to Damián, the intel we’ve collected is piling up, and it won’t be long before we find a loose thread that connects everything directly to my father.

I open Damián’s chat.

OLIVER: Hey, babe. The party is a success, but I wish you were here.

I am about to set the phone on the desk when it vibrates in my hand. I open the thread and read a reply I never thought I would get.

DAMIÁN: I’m proud of you, nene.

DAMIÁN: And yeah… I miss you too.