Chapter 5 - The Cost of Loyalty
Camilo refused to leave his best friend behind in the fire.
He told Joanna to stay in the tunnel and keep moving south toward the river.
Joanna grabbed his sleeve and begged him not to go back up.
Camilo pulled away and climbed the iron ladder back into the inferno.
The heat was agonizing, singing his eyebrows and burning his lungs.
He crawled onto the catwalk, dodging walls of flame.
Gabriel was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his shoulder, barely conscious.
Camilo hauled Gabriel up by his tactical vest and dragged him toward the ladder.
The metal grated beneath them groaned under the intense structural heat.
They tumbled down into the sewer tunnel just as the entire catwalk collapsed into the fire.
Camilo dragged Gabriel through the murky water until they reached Joanna.
She was waiting with her torn apron, pressing it against Gabriel's bleeding wound.
They waded through the dark tunnels for an hour until they reached a storm drain outlet near the river.
The cold night air hit them like a physical blow.
Camilo helped Gabriel climb up onto the muddy riverbank.
Gabriel coughed violently and told Camilo that Silas had the ledger.
Camilo frowned and asked what ledger he meant.
Gabriel explained that Silas kept a physical book of every illegal debt and corrupt politician he owned.
If they found that book, they could destroy Silas and clear Joanna's name instantly.
Joanna listened quietly, her face pale in the moonlight.
She suddenly spoke up, her voice trembling but resolute.
She said she knew exactly where Silas hid his private documents.
Camilo looked at her in shock.
Joanna explained that she had cleaned his private office every Tuesday for a year.
She had memorized the combination to the floor safe because Silas carelessly left it written on a notepad.
Camilo realized this maid held the key to his entire empire.
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A blinding spotlight suddenly hit them from the water.
A heavily armed police patrol boat drifted toward the riverbank with its sirens blaring.
