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Somewhere in Brazil,
Rafael, Ramon and Bruno arrived at Vitor’s old safe house in a very remote location of Brazil. The structure before them was obviously man made out of parts of the surrounding jungle and this caused Bruno to smile because he remembered just how handy his twin brother Vitor was. Inside the building had a dark, rustic design and the dust over the furniture told everyone present that they were the first visitors to come here in a number of months. The walls were covered in large maps and photographs while there were newspaper clippings laid out across a desk that Vitor no doubt frequently sit behind.
“This is exactly how I thought he’d be living to be honest,” Bruno said as he looked over the maps on the wall. “His eye for detail was beyond my own and it rivaled Renan. Alexei gets it from both of them.”
“Speaking of Alexei, it seems he kept a close eye on him. All these newspaper articles are about his time at Inter,” Ramon added as he opened the lid of a laptop on the desk. “Hm. He’s even subscribed to Inter’s fan page from the looks of it. He was getting up-to-date information about the team. Look at this.”
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Ramon turned the laptop around and there was a headline about Marko Pjaca resuming training at Inter Milan on a website that was refreshing itself with news by the minute. The next bit of news that ticked over was about Gnoukouri signing a new contract.
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“Gives you the feeling that he was more of a fan than an enemy, doesn’t it? Nothing more than a proud uncle,” Bruno responded as he continued to look around.
They continued to search the building and grouped any files they deemed important. Rafael was now in the room as well after he had rummaged through some of his stuff in another room to find the map that showed Vitor’s presumed tracks. While they looked, the three men spoke about the past. Bruno and Ramon shared with Rafael just how A Sombra came to be while Rafael explained how Vitor took care of him and his brother over the years. They talked about Bruno handling his faked death and marrying and also talked about Alexei’s relationship with his entire family.
“Campeao amazes me each time I see him. He’s grown into a fine man that puts his family first despite the life he has led.” Bruno waxed lyrical about Alexei whenever he had the chance. To be honest, everyone did Rafael thought to himself. Despite his quiet demeanor, he commanded attention whenever he walked in to a room.
“Vitor used to speak of him just the same. It confused me and Carlos because you just don’t talk about someone you want to bring harm to like that. You know?” Rafael chimed in.
As Rafael and Bruno continued to discuss Alexei, Ramon was quietly perched over the desk looking through old photos and documents. Then something caught his eye and he started to hastily scatter through more and more paperwork.
“Rafael…” he spoke quietly. “What do you know about Natalia?”
“Natalia..?” Rafael answered confused.
Bruno shifted in his chair examining both Ramon and Rafael. “What did you find Ramon?”
“I’m…I’m not sure but I think I found what Vitor was searching for.”
“What’s that?” both Rafael and Bruno asked.
“A ghost,” Ramon answered and brought over some documents to both men. “These are journal entries Vitor had buried under more paper over there. Whether it was intentionally or not, I can’t determine. These however are particularly different from the ones he would write about A Sombra or Alexei. These were more ramblings than any detailed reports.” Ramon pointed out the scribbling and crosshatching format of the entries.
“Stoke-on-Trent. The trail grew cold again and I’m not sure where to pick up from here. I spoke to a young couple who were lawyers. They had a son named Ezra or something who reminded me of Alexei and Rafael. Determined boy. Big future ahead of him. The father said they couldn’t find any record of a Natalia Barbosa around the city or neighboring cities. That’s when it occurred to me, she must have been using the last name Lias,” Bruno read from one of the papers.
“Lias. Yes, that was Alexei’s mother. Vitor was obsessively in love with her or something. He would sign most documents off using her last name when he didn’t want to catch a trail,” Rafael explained.
“Or he did want to catch a trail. Just not his …” Bruno reasoned looking up at Ramon who was already looking at him.
“Impossible.”
Somewhere in Brazil,
Rafael, Ramon and Bruno arrived at Vitor’s old safe house in a very remote location of Brazil. The structure before them was obviously man made out of parts of the surrounding jungle and this caused Bruno to smile because he remembered just how handy his twin brother Vitor was. Inside the building had a dark, rustic design and the dust over the furniture told everyone present that they were the first visitors to come here in a number of months. The walls were covered in large maps and photographs while there were newspaper clippings laid out across a desk that Vitor no doubt frequently sit behind.
“This is exactly how I thought he’d be living to be honest,” Bruno said as he looked over the maps on the wall. “His eye for detail was beyond my own and it rivaled Renan. Alexei gets it from both of them.”
“Speaking of Alexei, it seems he kept a close eye on him. All these newspaper articles are about his time at Inter,” Ramon added as he opened the lid of a laptop on the desk. “Hm. He’s even subscribed to Inter’s fan page from the looks of it. He was getting up-to-date information about the team. Look at this.”
View attachment 168298
Ramon turned the laptop around and there was a headline about Marko Pjaca resuming training at Inter Milan on a website that was refreshing itself with news by the minute. The next bit of news that ticked over was about Gnoukouri signing a new contract.
View attachment 168297
“Gives you the feeling that he was more of a fan than an enemy, doesn’t it? Nothing more than a proud uncle,” Bruno responded as he continued to look around.
They continued to search the building and grouped any files they deemed important. Rafael was now in the room as well after he had rummaged through some of his stuff in another room to find the map that showed Vitor’s presumed tracks. While they looked, the three men spoke about the past. Bruno and Ramon shared with Rafael just how A Sombra came to be while Rafael explained how Vitor took care of him and his brother over the years. They talked about Bruno handling his faked death and marrying and also talked about Alexei’s relationship with his entire family.
“Campeao amazes me each time I see him. He’s grown into a fine man that puts his family first despite the life he has led.” Bruno waxed lyrical about Alexei whenever he had the chance. To be honest, everyone did Rafael thought to himself. Despite his quiet demeanor, he commanded attention whenever he walked in to a room.
“Vitor used to speak of him just the same. It confused me and Carlos because you just don’t talk about someone you want to bring harm to like that. You know?” Rafael chimed in.
As Rafael and Bruno continued to discuss Alexei, Ramon was quietly perched over the desk looking through old photos and documents. Then something caught his eye and he started to hastily scatter through more and more paperwork.
“Rafael…” he spoke quietly. “What do you know about Natalia?”
“Natalia..?” Rafael answered confused.
Bruno shifted in his chair examining both Ramon and Rafael. “What did you find Ramon?”
“I’m…I’m not sure but I think I found what Vitor was searching for.”
“What’s that?” both Rafael and Bruno asked.
“A ghost,” Ramon answered and brought over some documents to both men. “These are journal entries Vitor had buried under more paper over there. Whether it was intentionally or not, I can’t determine. These however are particularly different from the ones he would write about A Sombra or Alexei. These were more ramblings than any detailed reports.” Ramon pointed out the scribbling and crosshatching format of the entries.
“Stoke-on-Trent. The trail grew cold again and I’m not sure where to pick up from here. I spoke to a young couple who were lawyers. They had a son named Ezra or something who reminded me of Alexei and Rafael. Determined boy. Big future ahead of him. The father said they couldn’t find any record of a Natalia Barbosa around the city or neighboring cities. That’s when it occurred to me, she must have been using the last name Lias,” Bruno read from one of the papers.
“Lias. Yes, that was Alexei’s mother. Vitor was obsessively in love with her or something. He would sign most documents off using her last name when he didn’t want to catch a trail,” Rafael explained.
“Or he did want to catch a trail. Just not his …” Bruno reasoned looking up at Ramon who was already looking at him.
“Impossible.”
