## CHAPTER 16 — THE KEY TO ROOM 317
The address on Beatriz’s photograph led to an abandoned courthouse.
Daniel refused to let me go.
I refused to stay behind.
At eleven forty-five, our vehicles stopped two blocks away.
Federal agents surrounded the building while Daniel, Sofia, my father, and I entered through a side door.
Mateo remained at the safe house with Daniel’s wife and four security officers.
Leaving him felt unbearable.
But I could not continue protecting him without learning who was hunting us.
The courthouse had been empty for years.
Dust covered the benches.
Old case files lay scattered across the floor.
At the center of the courtroom sat a single metal chair.
Beatriz was tied to it.
Her head hung forward.
My father rushed toward her.
Daniel stopped him.
“Check the room first.”
Beatriz lifted her head.
Her face was bruised.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked frightened.
“You came,” she whispered.
I stayed several feet away.
“Where is Santiago?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who took you?”
She looked at Sofia.
“You already know.”
“The gray-coated man?”
“He is only a messenger.”
“For whom?”
Beatriz laughed bitterly.
“You still think this is about Santiago.”
“He helped you abuse me.”
“Santiago was useful. Nothing more.”
“You tried to take Mateo.”
“I tried to control where he was taken.”
“By replacing him?”
“That was not my order.”
Sofia stepped closer.
“Do not lie now.”
Beatriz’s eyes narrowed.
“You should have stayed dead.”
“You should have left the children alone.”
A projector switched on behind us.
Footage appeared on the courtroom wall.
Santiago sat in a dark room with blood on his collar.
A man outside the frame asked him a question.
“Where is the registry?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Subject B?”
“She has the child.”
“Does she know about Subject A?”
“No.”
The unseen man stepped closer.
Only his gray coat was visible.
“Then you have failed.”
The video ended.
A countdown appeared.
Five minutes.
Daniel immediately ordered everyone out.
Beatriz struggled against the restraints.
“Do not leave me here.”
“Is there a device?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know.”
My father cut her free.
We reached the courthouse steps with less than thirty seconds remaining.
Nothing exploded.
Instead, every phone around us began ringing.
Agents.
Daniel.
My father.
Even an old pay phone across the street.
Daniel answered his.
A distorted voice spoke from every device at once.
“Room 317.”
Sofia raised the brass key.
The number engraved on it was 317.
The abandoned courthouse had no third floor.
But beneath the courtroom, agents discovered an old detention level.
At the end of the corridor was a locked steel door.
Room 317.
The brass key opened it.
Inside were shelves filled with videotapes.
Each tape carried the name of a child.
Daniel searched until he found mine.
Another carried Luciana’s name.
Before he could remove it, Beatriz grabbed his arm.
“Do not play that.”
“Why?”
“Because once she sees what is on it, she will never forgive her father.”
I took the tape from the shelf.
My father did not try to stop me.
We inserted it into the recorder.
The screen flickered.
My mother appeared, holding two newborn babies.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then she said:
“Arturo, you can save only one.”
May you like
“Choose the child who belongs to you.”
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