Chapter 86 Untitled Chapter

Chapter 86 Untitled Chapter
Kendrix shook her head against his chest, tears slipping down her face before she could stop them. “Do not do that. Do not make this your fault.”
Roberto pulled back just enough to see her face, and his thumb brushed under her eye like he was catching tears she had not even realized were falling. “It is my fault,” he said quietly. “Everything that happens to you is my fault now, and I cannot breathe with that.”
Bash cleared his throat behind them, and when Kendrix looked over she saw he was blinking hard like he was fighting his own tears. “We will get them back,” he said, voice steady even though his hands were fists at his sides. “I swear on my life, we will get them back.”
Skyler nodded once, hard, and there was sadness in his eyes too even though he tried to hide them by turning back to the monitors. “I will tear this encryption apart if it kills me. I am not losing them, not like this. Not like the way we lost Nora.”
Roberto looked at both of them, then back at Kendrix, and something shifted in his face. The fear did not leave, but the resolve came back, hard and bright and furious. He cupped her face with both hands, thumbs pressing into her cheeks like he was trying to memorize the way she looked when she was still whole. “Listen to me,” he said, voice low and urgent. “I am going to burn everything down to get them back, and I need you to stay standing while I do it. Can you do that for me?”
Kendrix nodded, even though her whole body was shaking and part of her wanted to fall apart right there. “I can,” she whispered. “I have to.”
Roberto kissed her forehead once, hard and desperate, like it was a promise and a prayer at the same time. Then he let her go and turned back to the console.
Everyone waited for his instructions. Even Kendrix found herself holding her breath because she thought this was it, this was where he started giving orders and sending everyone out. Instead Roberto stared at the black screen for a long time. 
Then he said, “Nobody moves.” 
Bash frowned. “What do you mean nobody moves? We finally have…” 
“I said nobody moves,” Roberto cut him off, and he did not even turn around. 
Skyler slowly spun his chair away from the monitors. “Roberto, come on, we can’t just…” 
“No,” Roberto said. Just that one word, flat, and it landed heavier than it should have. 
Bash took a step forward, hands clenching at his sides like he wanted to grab Roberto by the shirt. “We have contact. We have hostages. We have Victor basically waving at us through the damn screen.” 
Roberto finally looked at him, and his eyes were not angry. They were worse. They were tired. “And you still don’t see it.” 
Bash opened his mouth and then shut it again because he didn’t know what to say. 
Roberto’s gaze dropped to the dead call log on the monitor. “He called us because wanted us scared. He wanted us to be angry.” His eyes flicked to Kendrix for half a second and then away like looking at her too long would hurt. “He wanted us to be emotional.” 
Skyler’s expression changed, slow, like something ugly was clicking into place in his head. “Oh. Shit.” 
Roberto nodded once. “Yeah.” 
Kendrix felt her stomach drop. “No. No, Maya is there, Antonio is there, we can’t just…” 
“I know they’re there,” Roberto said, and his voice cracked on the last word before he forced it flat again. “I know, Kendrix. God, do you think I don’t know?” 
“Then why aren’t we moving?” she asked, and her voice came out too loud, too desperate. 
Something crossed Roberto’s face, quick, something that looked a lot like pain, and then he wiped it away. “Because Victor wants us to. He wants us to run out there guns up and no plan and…” He stopped, swallowed hard. “If we do that, we lose them and we die as well.” 
Bash looked like he wanted to punch a wall. “So we just sit here? While they’re tied up somewhere?” 
“No,” Roberto said, and he folded his arms like he was holding himself together. “We think. For once we actually think before we do something stupid.” 
That only made Bash angrier. “While they’re tied to chairs at gun point?” 
The muscle in Roberto’s jaw jumped and for a second the mask slipped.
“If Victor wanted them dead, they would already be dead,” he said quietly. “You know that. I know that. So he’s not done. He’s not finished playing. He's not killing them now.” 
Nobody liked hearing it. Kendrix hated it most. But none of them could argue because it was true and it sat in the room like something rotten. The console beeped again and everyone turned. 
A new file popped up on the screen. No caller ID. No location. Nothing except a video file that looked like it had been waiting there. 
Skyler clicked it open without asking. 
The footage started right away. 
Maya and Antonio were still tied to chairs. Still breathing. Kendrix’s chest squeezed so hard it hurt and she had to press her hand to her mouth to stop the sound that wanted to come out. 
Then Victor stepped into frame. Not all of him. Just a shoulder, a hand, the corner of a smile that made Kendrix’s skin crawl. He crouched next to Maya like they were old friends, comfortable, relaxed, and he looked right into the camera. Right at Roberto. 
He smiled, slowly, like he knew exactly what he was doing. Like he was enjoying this way too much. 
The video ended and the screen turned black.
Roberto stared at it for a long time. When he finally spoke his voice was colder than before, but underneath it there was something shaking. “See? He’s not hiding. He’s watching. He wants me to move. He wants me to make the wrong call.” 
Kendrix shook her head, tears burning her eyes. “I don’t care what he wants. I care that she’s scared. I care that he touched her.” 
Roberto turned to her then, and for half a second he looked like he might break. He reached for her, stopped himself, dropped his hand. “I know you do. I care too. That’s why we can’t just run in there and give him what he wants.” 
Bash exhaled hard through his nose. “So what do we do?” 
Roberto looked back at the black screen. “We wait. We watch. And we figure out what he’s actually asking for before we give it to him.” 
Skyler muttered, “I hate this,” and nobody told him he was wrong. 
Kendrix crossed her arms and tried not to cry. “I hate it too. But I hate the idea of walking into his trap even more.” 
Roberto didn’t answer. He just kept staring at the screen like if he looked hard enough, Maya and Antonio would crawl out of it and be safe again.