Chapter 11 Ashes Of Truth

• Dawn arrived like a pale specter, light piercing the warehouse windows in narrow beams that dusted the cracked concrete floor. Valentina stood in the center of the safehouse’s main room, the morning chill through open doors brushing against her skin. Around her, plans lay scattered: maps of Tijuana, blueprints of El Gallo, hastily scrawled notes. Each paper carried the weight of their mission, the promise of retribution, and the risk of total collapse.
• She inhaled, tasting the stale air and the faint tang of blood from Dante’s bandages. Her shoulder throbbed where Lucia’s bullet had grazed, a reminder that none of them were untouchable. She shifted her weight, boots scraping the floor.
• “Twenty minutes,” Hector said, emerging from the shadows with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. His eyes were focused, scanners flitted over the room. “Truck’s fueled. Backups briefed. Camila’s outside with the passcodes.”