The Confrontation with Santiago

The rain started just as they pulled into the outskirts of town, turning the streets into a glistening labyrinth of reflections. Jessica sat in the passenger seat, staring out the windshield as water streaked down the glass. She could feel it in her bones—something wasn’t right.

Leanna parked a few blocks from the café where Santiago had told them to meet. A quiet place, tucked between darkened storefronts, the kind of place where conversations disappeared into the air before they could be remembered. It was too perfect.

Kevin killed the engine. "This is a bad idea."

"We don’t have a choice," Jessica murmured. Her voice was steady, but her pulse wasn’t.

Hannah adjusted her rain jacket. "If it was a setup before, what makes you think it isn’t one now?"

"Because he knows we’re still alive," Olivia said, closing her laptop. "Which means he either failed to get rid of us, or… he never wanted to. Either way, we need answers."

Leanna glanced at Jessica. "We go in together. No splitting up. No risks. If anything feels off, we walk."

Jessica nodded. "Agreed."

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

The bell above the door chimed softly as they entered. The place was nearly empty—just an old man nursing a cigarette in the corner, a waitress stacking glasses, and Santiago sitting at a booth by the window.

He didn’t look surprised to see them. If anything, he looked resigned.

"Sit," he said, his voice low.

Jessica slid into the seat across from him, the others filling in around her. The rain outside blurred the world beyond the glass, isolating them in a cocoon of uncertainty.

"You sent us to a dead end," Kevin said, his tone sharp. "That outpost was abandoned. We almost died."

Santiago exhaled through his nose. "I know."

Jessica narrowed her eyes. "Then why send us there?"

"Because I needed to know if they were watching you," he said, leaning forward. "And they were."

A tense silence settled over the table.

"They let you go," he continued. "They could’ve killed you at the outpost, but they didn’t. Ask yourself why."

Jessica clenched her fists beneath the table. "You tell me."

Santiago studied her for a long moment. Then he reached into his coat pocket—slowly, deliberately—before sliding a small flash drive across the table. "Because you’re more important to them alive than dead."

Leanna picked up the drive, turning it in her fingers. "What’s on this?"

"Proof," Santiago said. "Or as close to it as you’re going to get."

"Proof of what?" Olivia asked.

Santiago’s gaze flicked to Jessica. "That you were never meant to escape. That this was always part of the experiment."

Jessica felt a cold weight settle in her stomach. "What the hell does that mean?"

Santiago shook his head. "I don’t know. I was given orders, same as everyone else. I was told to watch, to wait. But then you disappeared for years. And when you resurfaced…"

He gestured toward her. "You were stronger. Faster. A perfect adaptation. And they weren’t hunting you. They were waiting for you to come back."

A chill ran through Jessica’s spine. Everything she had done to escape, to carve out a new life—it had all been accounted for? Planned?

Leanna’s grip on the flash drive tightened. "And this?"

"It might help you understand what they’ve done to you. Or maybe it won’t. But it’s the only thing I can give you. And after this, we’re done."

Jessica’s mind raced. "Where is the primary facility?"

Santiago hesitated, then scribbled something on a napkin. He slid it across the table. "You didn’t get this from me."

Jessica picked it up, scanning the coordinates. Deep in Patagonia. Isolated. Remote. Exactly where something like this would be.

A loud crash from the back of the café made them all jump. The old man had knocked over his coffee cup. Or at least, that’s what they thought.

Until Jessica saw the way his hands were shaking. The way his eyes flicked toward the window.

She followed his gaze— A black SUV idled across the street.

Her blood ran cold. "We need to go. Now."

Santiago nodded once. "They won’t follow you yet. But they will. So whatever you’re going to do, you better do it fast."

Jessica stood, the others right behind her. As they stepped into the rain, she glanced back through the window. Santiago hadn’t moved. He just sat there, watching them leave. And in that moment, Jessica knew she would never see him again.