Carlos doesn’t open it. “You think I’ll run?”

Carlos sinks the putt without looking. “Tell them the ledgers are with God. God is on vacation.”

She encrypts the file: EL_PRESIDENTE_S01E03_FINAL.mov Carlos announces a new housing project. Cameras flash. He’s mid-sentence when his phone vibrates. He glances down. A single image: the duffel bag, circled in red.

“They’re asking for the 2019 ledgers again,” she says.

Her editor calls. “If you publish, he’ll kill the story – and you.”