CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Road to Belize
They traveled through the night.
The river stretched endlessly beneath the moon, black and silver beneath the stars.
Gila sat beside her mother at the front of the boat.
For hours, neither said much.
There were too many questions.
Too many wounds.
Too many years between them.
Eventually, Gila spoke.
"Why did you leave me?"
Her mother looked at the water.
"I didn't."
"You disappeared."
"I was taken away."
"By Rymus?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Her mother was silent.
Gila waited.
Finally, she said:
"People who were more dangerous than Rymus."
Gila frowned.
"Who?"
"They called themselves the Circle."
Thelma, sitting nearby, looked up.
"The Circle?"
Gila looked at her.
"You've heard of them?"
"Only rumors."
Her mother nodded.
"The rumors were true."
"Who are they?"
"A network that existed long before Rymus."
Gila felt a chill.
"Then Rymus works for them?"
Her mother shook her head.
"Not exactly."
"What does that mean?"
"He wanted to escape them."
Gila stared at her.
"Rymus?"
"Yes."
"You expect me to believe he's a victim?"
"No."
Her mother looked directly at her.
"Rymus is responsible for terrible things."
"Then why would he be afraid of them?"
"Because even monsters can be hunted."
The boat continued through the darkness.
Gila thought about everything she had learned.
Rymus wasn't the beginning.
He wasn't even the center.
He was part of something much larger.
She looked at the wooden box.
"What is inside?"
Her mother hesitated.
"Evidence."
"Of what?"
"The Circle."
"Names?"
"Names. Locations. Transactions."
Gila's pulse quickened.
"And why did you hide it?"
"Because whoever controlled that information could destroy them."
"Then why didn't you give it to the authorities?"
Her mother looked away.
"Because I couldn't trust them."
Gila remembered the professor.
The university.
The people inside it.
She understood.
"You didn't know who was working for them."
"Exactly."
Her mother touched the box.
"That's why you were never supposed to find it."
"Then why did you leave it for me?"
Her mother smiled sadly.
"Because I knew one day I wouldn't be able to protect you anymore."
Gila swallowed.
"How long have you known?"
"Since you were a child."
"That I would find it?"
"That eventually, you would have to know the truth."
The boat slowed.
A second boat approached from the darkness.
Gila immediately became alert.
"Who is that?"
Her mother stood.
"Wait."
The approaching boat drew closer.
A familiar face appeared.
Elias.
He looked exhausted.
Blood stained one side of his shirt.
Gila stood.
"What happened?"
"Rymus."
"Is he coming?"
"No."
Elias climbed aboard.
"He let us escape."
Gila frowned.
"Why?"
Elias looked at her mother.
"Because he wanted you to leave."
Gila's mother became tense.
"You know what he wants."
"Yes."
"What?"
Elias looked at Gila.
"The box."
"We have it."
"I know."
"Then why let us go?"
Elias looked toward the darkness behind them.
"Because he doesn't need to chase you."
Gila's stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
"He already knows where you're going."
"Belize."
Elias nodded.
"And he knows someone will be waiting there."
Gila's mother closed her eyes.
"The Circle."
"Yes."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Gila looked at her mother.
"Then why are we going?"
"Because there is nowhere else."
Her mother turned toward the horizon.
"Belize is where this began."
She looked at Gila.
"And it is where it must end."
The words stayed with Gila.
But something about them felt wrong.
Not an ending.
A beginning.
The boat continued.
Hours later, the first lights appeared along the distant shoreline.
Belize.
Gila stood.
She had never seen the place this way.
Beautiful.
Quiet.
Almost peaceful.
But she knew better now.
Peace could hide terrible things.
Her mother stepped beside her.
"You need to understand something before we arrive."
"What?"
"You cannot trust everyone."
"I know."
"No."
Her mother shook her head.
"You still don't understand."
She pointed toward the lights.
"There is someone there who has been waiting for you since you were a child."
"Who?"
Her mother didn't answer.
Instead, she handed Gila a folded piece of paper.
Gila opened it.
There was one name written inside.
A name she knew.
Someone she had trusted.
Someone who had helped her before.
Someone who had been beside her when she first began searching for answers.
Gila looked at her mother in disbelief.
"That's impossible."
Her mother said quietly:
"That's what I said too."
Gila looked toward Belize.
The shoreline was getting closer.
And suddenly, the city no longer looked like safety.
It looked like a trap.
Behind them, far out on the river, a single light appeared.
A boat.
Following.
Gila watched it.
Her mother whispered:
"He's coming."
Gila closed her hand around the box.
"Then let him come."
The boat moved toward Belize.
Toward the next chapter of the truth.
And somewhere ahead, someone they trusted was waiting to betray them.