33.
DANTE FERRAZ
I waited fifteen minutes.
Not because I believed Aurora would find a better solution.
Because I had promised to listen.
The car was parked at a gas station along the highway.
Two federal agents waited inside another vehicle.
Miguel called.
“Aurora wants to use the museum’s conservation system.”
“Explain.”
“There is a technical passage behind the main hall. It leads to the old inventory room.”
“Does Otávio know about it?”
“Perhaps not. It was closed before he fully took control.”
“Aurora knows how to enter.”
“Yes.”
“She intends to come.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“No.”
“She said you would say that.”
“Because it is absurd.”
“The plan is better than entering through the front door.”
“For her, perhaps. Not for me.”
“This is not about you.”
The sentence everyone repeated.
“Where is she?”
“On her way.”
“Miguel.”
“I could not stop her.”
“You could have refused to help.”
“Then she would have come without me.”
The truth.
“Send me your location.”
Aurora arrived forty minutes later in a car with Miguel.
She got out before I opened the door.
“You promised fifteen minutes.”
“I waited forty.”
“Then you learned patience.”
“Do not test me.”
“I’m not.”
The tension between us still carried the mistake with the letter.
“What is the plan?” I asked.
Aurora opened the museum floor plan on the hood.
“Otávio arranged the meeting for eight in the main hall. You enter through the front.”
“And you?”
“Through the side passage with Miguel.”
“No.”
“Listen.”
I clenched my jaw.
“I’m listening.”
“The old inventory room has a viewing window into the hall. It also has access to the sound system and internal locks.”
“You may become trapped.”
“Miguel is with me.”
“Otávio may know about it.”
“Unlikely.”
“Not sufficient.”
“The police will cover both exits.”
The investigator confirmed.
“We have an external team. We need evidence of the blackmail and the location of the pages.”
“Why does Aurora need to enter?” I asked.
“Because she knows the system and can identify the documents.”
“Another specialist could.”
“Not in time,” Aurora said.
I looked at her.
“And the children?”
Pain appeared.
“With Mrs. Lurdes and Marta.”
“If something happens…”
“Do not use them.”
“It is not manipulation.”
“It is.”
“It is reality.”
“The same reality applies to you.”
“I can go in alone.”
“Otávio raised me. I know when he lies.”
“I also recognize men attempting blackmail.”
“You did not recognize his lies before.”
The blow was precise.
Deserved.
“All right.”
Aurora breathed.
“I did not want to hurt you.”
“You did.”
“A little.”
“It worked.”
Miguel interrupted.
“We need to decide.”
I looked at the plan.
“You remain inside the technical room,” I said.
“That was already the plan.”
“You do not leave.”
“If necessary…”
“You do not leave.”
“You don’t decide.”
I breathed.
“I am asking you not to leave.”
She looked at me.
“I’ll try.”
Insufficient.
It was all she would give.
“And you do not improvise,” she said.
“I’ll try.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
At seven fifty, we took our positions.
The Valen?a Museum had remained closed since its bankruptcy.
The facade seemed smaller than I remembered.
Aurora had grown up there.
I had helped take it away from her.
I entered through the main door carrying a folder filled with fake money and a recording device.
Otávio appeared in the center of the hall.
Older.
Thinner.
The same eyes as on the wedding day.
Calm.
Cruel.
“Dante.”
“Otávio.”
“Four years to understand.”
“You forged everything.”
“And you believed it because you wanted to.”
The sentence struck me.
“Where are the pages?”
“Money first.”
“First, prove they exist.”
He smiled.
“Still a negotiator.”
“And you’re still a thief.”
“A survivor.”
“Did you kill álvaro?”
The smile disappeared.
“Accidents happen.”
A partial confession.
The device recorded it.
“Where is Aurora?” he asked.
“Far away.”
“Liar.”
My body went alert.
“She never lets you face the past alone.”
“You don’t know her anymore.”
“I have known her since childhood.”
“Then you know she does not forgive traitors.”
Otávio looked toward a column.
Toward the technical passage.
He knew.
“Come out, darling.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“Aurora is not here.”
“You were always terrible at lying when you care.”
He drew a weapon.
The agents had not entered yet.
They needed the location of the pages.
That no longer mattered.
“Police!” I shouted.
Otávio fired into the ceiling.
The hall exploded with echoes.
I ran toward the column.
The technical door opened.
Miguel pulled Aurora back.
Otávio aimed.
I stepped in front of her.
Another shot.
Pain struck my shoulder.
Hot.
Violent.
I fell.
I heard Aurora scream my name.
Agents entered.
Gunfire.
Orders.
Otávio ran.
Miguel attempted to hold Aurora.
She pulled free.
Knelt beside me.
“Dante.”
“I’m all right.”
A lie.
Blood spread across my shirt.
“He shot you.”
“In the shoulder.”
“Look at me.”
Her eyes were terrified.
“The pages,” I said.
“To hell with the pages.”
“Aurora…”
“Stay awake.”
Agents pursued Otávio.
A woman pressed down on my wound.
The pain intensified.
“The children,” I said.
“They’re safe.”
“Don’t tell them…”
“I will tell them the truth in a way appropriate for their age.”
Even in that moment.
She had learned.
“I don’t want them afraid.”
“Then don’t die.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“You talk difficult.”
I tried to smile.
Aurora cried.
“I’m sorry about the letter.”
“Shut up.”
“I need…”
“You don’t need to solve anything now.”
The sentence.
Not everything needs to be resolved the instant it hurts.
“All right.”
The stretcher arrived.
As they carried me away, I saw Otávio on the floor in handcuffs.
Alive.
An agent held an envelope.
The pages.
Aurora followed beside me to the ambulance.
“Are you coming?” I asked.
“I am.”
“The children?”
“Miguel will notify Mrs. Lurdes.”
“You need to be with them.”
“Right now, I need to be with you.”
The answer struck deeper than the bullet.
Inside the ambulance, Aurora held my hand.
“Don’t close your eyes.”
“I’m tired.”
“No.”
“I’m not going to die.”
“Don’t promise.”
“All right.”
I kept my eyes open.
Not because I feared death.
Because Aurora had asked.
And for the first time, she needed me to stay.