The Key is in the Past

Buenos Aires had taken on a different feel. What was once a vibrant, unfamiliar city had turned into a sprawling labyrinth of shadows and unseen threats. The gang moved carefully through its streets, no longer just tourists but fugitives in the making.

Jessica sat across from Leanna in the small, dimly lit hotel room, the notebook laid out between them. The pages were worn and stained, carrying the weight of secrets long buried. Olivia was stationed at the desk, hunched over her laptop, fingers moving at lightning speed as she ran queries through secure channels. Kevin and Hannah were in the next room, acting as a buffer, watching for anything that seemed out of place.

Leanna flipped through the pages, her brow furrowed. "There’s more here than just words. Look at the way the ink has faded unevenly—some sections were either written at different times or with different methods."

Jessica leaned in. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, some of this text might be hidden."

Olivia looked up from her screen. "Invisible ink?"

"Possibly. If they expected this to fall into the wrong hands, they wouldn’t just leave their secrets exposed."

Jessica traced her fingers over the old leather binding. "So how do we reveal it?"

Leanna grabbed a portable UV light from her bag and switched it on. The dull blue glow ran over the pages, illuminating faint scribbled marks beneath the surface. Olivia leaned forward, eyes narrowing.

"There!" Olivia pointed at a string of numbers, appearing only under the UV light. "It’s some kind of code."

Kevin stepped into the room, arms crossed. "Tell me that’s not coordinates."

Olivia tapped at her laptop. "It might be. Give me a second."

The group sat in tense silence as Olivia worked. Jessica turned her gaze to the window, watching the flickering neon signs outside. The paranoia that had started at the airport hadn’t left her. If anything, it had settled deep in her bones. Something felt off.

Kevin must have sensed it too because he muttered, "Has anyone else noticed the same white sedan parked across the street since this morning?"

Jessica’s stomach twisted. "It could be nothing."

"Or it could be everything," Kevin countered.

Leanna sighed. "We knew this wouldn’t be easy."

Before Jessica could respond, Olivia let out a breath. "Got it. The numbers are for a cemetery. Just outside the city. La Recoleta Cemetery."

Jessica frowned. "Why would a scientist from Project Prometheus be leading us to a cemetery?"

Leanna shut the notebook, her expression unreadable. "Because the dead don’t talk."

******************************

They left the hotel in pairs. Olivia and Kevin walked ahead, blending into the late-evening crowd, while Jessica and Leanna followed at a careful distance. Every step felt heavier.

Jessica couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being followed.

She scanned the street corners, the passing faces, looking for something—anything—out of place. A man with sunglasses reading a newspaper at night. A woman at a café, glancing at them for too long. A shadow moving in the reflections of the glass storefronts.

When they reached a busy intersection, Leanna murmured, "We need to lose whoever’s tailing us."

Kevin, up ahead, nodded subtly. "There’s a market coming up. We split there. Change direction. No direct routes."

They moved in separate directions, weaving through the thick crowd of vendors and shoppers. Jessica ducked between stalls, pretending to inspect woven goods while her heart pounded in her chest.

Minutes passed. The tension didn’t fade.

When they regrouped two blocks away, Olivia gave a tight nod. "We might have lost them."

"Or they want us to think we lost them," Hannah muttered.

Jessica adjusted the strap of her bag, trying to steady her breathing. "We’re going to the cemetery first thing in the morning."

Leanna met her gaze. "And if this is a trap?"

Jessica exhaled slowly. "Then we walk right into it—prepared."

The weight of their reality hung between them. They had been noticed. And someone, somewhere, was watching.

Tomorrow, they would have answers. Or they would have something much worse.