Page 9 of Born of Vengeance

He stepped back.

The web was narrowing.

The hunter had a scent.

Chapter 5 – Ghosts in the System

The sea was different at night.

Quieter. Heavier. Like it was hiding something beneath the waves.

Rafael sat in the sand with his boots off and jeans rolled up, the tide brushing his toes. In the distance, the surf broke gently over rocks, the moonlight silvering the edges. It looked like peace. It always had.

Ana was dancing again.

Not far. Just a few feet away. Her arms out, her laugh barely louder than the waves. She wore that white dress—the one with the thin straps that tangled around her when she spun too fast. The wind was in her hair. There was salt on her skin.

“You promised,” she said, smiling at him.

He raised the beer bottle in a lazy toast. “I always do.”

She stepped closer, leaned in, kissed his forehead.

Then she turned.

And walked into the dark.

________________________________________

Rafael woke to the sound of static.

He didn’t move, didn’t breathe, not at first. Just stared at the ceiling of the safehouse as the dream drained from him like smoke through a broken window.

The radio hissed again—barely audible—before it clicked into silence.

He blinked, pulled himself upright, and crossed to the desk. The encrypted laptop sat open but dark. He tapped the spacebar. The screen blinked on.

A flashing message in code:

Clean Line Ready

LV. CONFIRM ID

He typed: R.S. ALPHA-3.

Two seconds passed.

Then the chat window opened.

LUCIANA VARGAS

(05:37 BRST):

You look like hell.

(05:38 BRST):

Morning to you too.

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