Fate (2): Fate, #2

By Laura Sánchez Herráez

Fate (2) by Laura Sánchez Herráez

Lost

Police story with touches of science fiction that begins in the streets of Barcelona and becomes an international case of possible of human trafficking with implicated police forces and governments around the world

Fate (2)

New disappearances of people in the international arena, very similar to those disappearances of fifteen years ago, make Joan and Carme investigate. England, Spain, Russia, Romania ... Their unit will have to dedicate itself thoroughly to this case if it is to finally solve it. But what no one imagines is that it is so deep that they will have to hide their investigation even from official bodies because many of its members are involved. Pulling on the thread of a human trafficking organization will mark her life and that of her entire environment, even that of her little daughter Adriana. New scenarios, new people involved, new situations bordering on the inexplicable. In the end, all of them will have one last question to resolve: Fate or coincidence?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adriana LS Swift
• Release date: Mar 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781071591413

Book preview

Fate

two

Lost

Laura Sánchez Herráez

Pandora

© Author: Laura Sánchez Herráez, 2026

© Traductor: Jeffrey Isfeld, 2026

© Fate 2 - Lost, 2026

© Pandora, 2026

Apartado de Correos 4015, 24010, León (Spain)

www.pandora-magazine.com

[e-mail]

© Cover Edition: Pandora

This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and events that appear are the product of the author's imagination or are used in the framework of fiction. Any resemblance to real people (living or dead), companies, events or places is purely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over the author's or third party's websites or their content, nor does she assume any liability that may arise from them.

First edition.

Registered in Safe Creative.

Registration code: 1911202521837

Edited in Spain.

The total or partial reproduction of this book, nor its incorporation into a computer system, nor its transmission in any form or by any means, be it electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or other methods, is not allowed without prior permission. and in writing from the editor. The infringement of the aforementioned rights may constitute a crime against intellectual property (Art. 270 and following of the Penal Code).

Index

Author's note .................................... 9

Foreword ................................................ ... 15

I ................................................ .. ...... 39

II ................................................... .... 53

III ................................................ ...... 75

IV ................................................ ...... 8 9

V ................................................ ..... ... 95

VI ................................................ ..... .. 117

VII .......................................... .. ......... 139

VIII .............................. ............ .. ...... ... 159

IX .......................................... .. ......... .. 173

X .......................................... .. ............ 185

XI .......................................... .. ......... .. 213

XII .......................................... ..... ....... 219

XIII ................................................... .. 227

XIV .................................................... 249

XV ................................................... .. 259

XVI ................................................... 281

Epilogue ........................................ ...... 323

Acknowledgements..........................................331

Author's note

The characters in this story, as well as the plot, are totally fictional. They are not based on any real person, living or dead, either.

The places that are cited in this part are real or based on others that are.

The events narrated with respect to the crimes or the characters’ lives are not real nor based on others that are.

To Míriam, Desirée and Toñi (in memoriam),

to their relatives and to all

similar cases that,

unfortunately, abound in the world.

"Fate is the one who shuffles the cards,

but we are the ones who play "

William Shakespeare

Foreword

––––––––

Five years later...

––––––––

Joan

We had promised. We told her that this time we would spend more time with her. She likes London. She is happy here, as if something is hopelessly drawing her and pulling her. Barcelona is her home, but London brings her to life. Before coming she told us that she wanted to go see things and pretend she lived here. Her mother and I were surprised by her strange request but we agreed. And we have broken our promise. The operation has been complicated and, in addition, Carme is still obsessed with the case of that woman murdered almost twenty years ago. She says that she promised it to a boy long ago and that she always keeps her promises. But we are not keeping our word with what we said to our daughter. We are working excessly on this trip and our daughter is with the nanny too long.

And that puts me in a very bad mood.

Fuck ...

Don't be foul-mouthed, Carme cuts me off.

Me? I complain. But if I got it from you.

I have already told you that you have to speak well so that the girl does not scare people.

She won't be fluent in any language until she knows all of its vocabulary.

From the other side of the street, another pair of police officers make fun of us, so we lower our tone.

You don't need to know how to speak bad, she insists.

You have to know when someone is insulting you so you can kick their balls.

She clicks her tongue, annoyed.

-I have told you...

It was no insult.

She rolls her eyes and keeps looking intently where our suspect should appear.

Now shut up for once.

"But if I just ...

She and the couple of police officers who accompany us to this arrest come back to tell me. Up above! They are so much in denial that we had to come in person to catch the guy who is extorting one of the big London businessmen. The asshole - the businessman - is a careful adulterer, he cheats on his wife with everything that comes his way, and there is a savvy man - the extortionist - who has already taken several hundred thousand pounds from him in just one month, threatening to give the information in the press. All this would be fixed with a timely divorc, but of course, John Spencer owns half the automobile industry throughout Europe and such a scandal would indecently affect the economy .

Although it may also be influenced that he has slept with half a European monarchy, including queens and kings. Married ones. Queens and kings in plural, wow. Sometimes in the same act.

Yes, that will be it.

We see our suspect appear in the distance. He's meeting John Spencer here to hand him a new bag of money. He has asked him to bring the remaining material on him but of course, we do not trust him, so while he is here, a part of the team has gone to search what is his house. We have had too much trouble finding his identity not to take advantage of the opportunity before he realizes that the police know all about him. What he does not know is that we are going to intervene in this delivery as soon as the businessman gives him the bag.

For me, I was arresting both of them, but Carme has insisted on requesting an arrest warrant for only one of them.

And the boss is the boss.

Carme feels her pocket and takes out her cell phone. She looks at it and passes it to me.

It's your turn today, she says, paying attention to the scene in front of us.

What does the babysitter want at this hour? She usually calls us alarmed by any minutia that occurs to her but my ears are still not used to it.

Yes? I whisper.

Mr. Soto, I urgently need you to come!

And her screams pierce my ear.

Even Carme must have heard him, because she turns with a frown for a few thousandths of a second.

Better lower the volume of the phone a little ...

What's going on? I ask now, lower still.

It isn’t here!

Mr. Spencer is about to deliver the bag with the money and Carme asks the whole team by radio to get ready.

What isn't there, Mrs. Harris?

The door! I was ... And there were ... There were some boxes and ...

What about boxes?

Carme looks at me again and asks with her lips if Ari is okay.

The boxes! Stacked! The babysitter keeps screaming, completely unhinged.

I do not intend to hire the services of this company again; They have sent an insane woman to take care of our daughter.

Let's see, is the girl okay? I ask slowly.

The bag of money is already halfway between the businessman and the extortionist, and everyone is ready to act.

I told you she's not here! she yells louder.

She’s not there! I say aloud to Carme, who looks at me first without understanding what is happening is about to fuck the mission.

But when she sees my face of utter anguish, she understands that I am talking about our daughter.

Now! She suddenly yells urgently, causing police officers to come out of every corner of this London mew, some coming from the corners, others from the houses, some even jumping from the low roofs of the same.

Carme takes my cell phone on the fly and starts talking to the babysitter, trying to understand everything she is saying to us. She beckons me to go to the scene and I do my part of the work, but I can't focus. I make a gesture to one of the companions so that he can be the one to put the handcuffs on and take the credit.

Fuck them all; our daughter comes first.

What? I ask as soon as she hangs up.

We have to call for Scotland Yard to be mobilized right now, she says, quite upset, calling on the radio and explaining the situation as professionally as possible.

But how could she...? She is only five years old, she doesn't even come close to opening the apartment door!

I think stacking boxes from what I could understand, she explains with a blank look. "They may have done something to her and... We... Those people...

She starts to breathe hard and fast. I grab her arms and get her to focus on me at last.

Let's go find her too, I propose. She couldn't have gone very far from the apartment.

We don't know when she ran away either, she says, beginning to cry, completely overwhelmed by the situation.

Someone comes to warn her that they are taking the extortionist and extortion victim to the police station and she simply nods and waves her hand at them to get out of here. She begins to be overwhelmed with so much congratulation and looks at me, trying to see in my eyes the calm she needs right now.

But I don't know if I will be able to help her this time.

Let's go find her, okay? I repeat, tugging at her arm as I put my gun away.

She keeps hers too and nods. We both ran towards the first police car we saw outside the mew and as soon as we started to explain the situation to them, they took us to the area of ​​our apartment, trying to calm down on the way.

But both they and we know that if someone finds Ari and manages to recognize her...

––––––––

Carme

Ari, darling! Her father continues shouting in the middle of the street.

Excuse me, have you seen this girl? I ask the fiftieth passerby who passes us, showing him a photo of our daughter.

He shakes his head. Of course not. And now what, I have asked two hundred people.

She has to be close, Joan repeats over and over, as scared as I am.

It's cold, I tell him. And if she hasn’t got a coat ...

My girl. My little Adriana. My Ari is lost. We are unable to find her and I feel like the most useless person on the face of the earth. We're good cops, the best fucking ones! And yet our little girl has left the apartment without anyone noticing and not half the London police staff is able to find her.

She couldn't get very far, Joan tells me again, looking in all directions.

You've been saying that for an hour, I reproach him.

He looks at me with a frown.

Carme, I’m  doing everything I can.

Apparently not enough.

And now his angry expression turns surprised.

Seriously? And what are you doing that is working so well?

Nothing, I'm doing absolutely nothing.

Tears jump like a waterfall, making me even more vulnerable than I was a few seconds ago. Joan hugs me, both of us forgetting our stupid anger from just now. I try to calm myself in his arms but I can't even think clearly.

What if they took her?

That hasn't happened, he says, stroking my hair. Let's find her, okay?

If any of those bastards find Ari and recognize her ...

He pulls me apart and holds my face in front of his.

Listen to me. Our little girl is very smart and will know what to do.

But she's five years old, Joan, five years old! I'm going to put that babysitter in jail, I swear. I will...

My radio rings and I almost fell to the ground trying to catch it as soon as possible.

And we both listen to the news together.

And we start running towards the direction they have given us.

––––––––

Joan

Honey, but why did you leave, Carme repeats over and over again, without letting go of Ari from her arms.

Are you okay? Have they done something to you? I keep asking her, stroking her silky jet black hair, kneeling at her height.

In my life I hadn’t cried as much as when we saw our little girl again.

A moment ago they told us by radio that they had Adriana in a police station. She was fine, it's the only thing we heard before we started running to the place where they had her. When we arrived, she seemed somewhat frustrated but, as soon as she saw us, she extended her tender little arms towards us and began to tell us everything, she loved us and that she had missed us. The moments of anguish were over and we were back with her.

Today a miracle has happened.

I'm fine, Daddy, she answers in a tired voice, making me smile.

Why did you leave? Carme continues repeating without letting go.

Ari gestures with her tongue, pulling it out of her little mouth, mimicking a funny choking on her mother's hug.

Honey, let her breathe, I tell her, resting my hand on her back.

Little by little she stops putting pressure, releasing our daughter again but not completely. She keeps holding her arms gently.

You have to help my friend, she tells us now, taking advantage of the fact that her mother lets her breathe for the first time since we arrived. He is one of the good ones.

Your friend? Carme asks, still with tears in her eyes.

His name is Charlie, she explains, pronouncing that name fluently. One of the bad guys wanted to take me with him but my friend got angry and left.

The bad guy left? I ask her now, starting to hyperventilate again, knowing that they wanted to take our little girl.

I stroke her hair to calm her, or rather to calm myself.

Yes, she tells me, "the evil man started running and then Charlie took me and brought me here. The good guys think he's one of the bad guys, but he's also one of the good guys and you have to explain it to them."

I love that Ari talks . She does it with determination, as if she doesn't know that she still talks jibberish.

I look at Carme and we both smile with that tender explanation. The only thing they told us upon arrival is that they had found her with a dangerous drug lord who had just escaped from the police station. But she is apparently confused.

Honey, sometimes... I start to say, trying to explain.

He's one of the good guys, I know, she insists in an angry tone. What happened is that his parents died and he is sad, so he seems angry. But he is very nice and he brought me even though he said they would be mad at him if he came. But I asked him and he came with me.

Do you think he's one of the good guys? asks careful Carme asks her now.

Yes, he is, she answers, turning completely towards her, seeing that one of us is understanding what she wants to tell to us. I didn't know where you were and he brought me here. And it was not a cooooincideeeence —and she lengthens that word so much that we hold in laughter when we hear it. You have to go get him out of there, please, he's good ...

She points at us with her little finger to the area of ​​the interrogation rooms.

We will do one thing, Carme tells her. You stay here with dad while I talk to one of the good guys to convince them that that boy is also one of the good guys. But if you promise me that you're never going to run away again, okay?

But you weren't there and I... she complains, pouting.

Never again, honey, her mother insists, anguish still in her voice.

And our