Fabricio laughed a little, his voice hoarse and sad. “My life has been a ticking clock, a countdown to my death.”

Nita licked her lips. “When is your eighteenth birthday?”

“Last week,” he admitted. “While I was in INHUP custody in Bogotá.”

Pieces clicked together in Nita’s mind. “This is why you were so desperate not to go back. Because you knew if you were sent back—”

“They’d bring me to the bank, I’d open the sealed vault, Martin would take the information.” He closed his eyes, breath whooshing out as he whispered, “And I would die.”

Nita was silent a long moment. Across from them, Martin snorted.

“Turning yourself into a tragic hero, Fabricio?” Martin looked up at them all with cold brown eyes. “Using that silver tongue of yours to spin the very best tale possible, make yourself the hero of this story. Always the tragic fucking victim, aren’t you?”

Fabricio’s smile was bitter. “You can curse me all you want, but I’ve only spoken the truth.”

“Oh, I never said you lied. You just strategically omitted things, the way you always do.” Martin turned to Nita. “What he didn’t tell you here is that he learned on his daddy’s knee. That he’s actually been a major force in preventing people from finding out his father is dead. I’m the fake face of Alberto Tácunan, but he’s the behind-the-scenes Alberto Tácunan.”

Fabricio shrugged. “It’s true. If the world found out my father was dead, and the situation with Tácunan Law, the monsters would descend. A million people would want to kidnap or kill me for the same reason you did, Nita. I’d never survive. And God knows Martin here didn’t have the knowledge to pass as my father.”

Martin ground his teeth. “Snotty as ever, I see.”

“I guess you shouldn’t have hired a zannie to torture me when I was thirteen, then. Maybe I’d be nicer.”

“Get over yourself.”

“Get over my—no. I’m not doing this again.” Fabricio’s face was a mask of rage, and his whole body shook. He turned to Nita, stiff and sharp. “There. You finally have the truth.”

Nita stared at him, mind racing. “So. In summary, you’ve had the passwords. You’ve always had the passwords.”

“Yes.”

“Then why the hell did you want me to kidnap him?” she snapped, gesturing at Martin.

Fabricio blinked. “Isn’t it obvious? I want him dead. He’s the one running Tácunan Law now. He’s the one who’s going to murder me if things go wrong. He killed my father.”

“So you made us kidnap him?”

Fabricio corrected her placidly. “I created a situation where you have no choice but to kill him.”

Nita raised her eyebrow. “No choice, huh?”