Chapter 13: The Abduction
Chapter 13: The Abduction
The shadow slipped silently down the hallway.
No one noticed.
By the time Javier opened the office door a few minutes later, the corridor was empty.
Alejandro stood by the window, staring out at the estate.
"They know we're getting close."
Valeria nodded.
"They've been one step ahead of us from the beginning."
Javier placed the personnel file into a locked briefcase.
"We need to move everything from the greenhouse archive."
Alejandro agreed.
"No one outside this room can know where those files are."
Doña Socorro looked uneasy.
"I wish Elena were here."
Valeria gently replied, "She left us a path to follow."
"And we're finally beginning to understand it."
That afternoon, life inside the mansion appeared to return to normal.
The cooks prepared lunch.
Gardeners trimmed hedges.
Housekeepers dusted the endless hallways.
Only the increased number of armed guards hinted that something had changed.
Mateo spent the afternoon in the garden with Valeria.
For the first time since she arrived, he laughed.
It wasn't loud.
Just a quiet giggle when a butterfly landed on his shoulder.
Valeria smiled.
"There you are."
The little boy looked up at her with bright eyes.
The sadness hadn't disappeared.
But for a brief moment...
It loosened its grip.
From an upstairs window, Alejandro watched them together.
Doña Socorro joined him.
"I haven't seen him smile since Elena."
Alejandro's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Neither have I."
Later that evening, Valeria called the hospital to check on her younger brother, Diego.
The nurse answered immediately.
"He's doing much better."
Valeria sighed with relief.
"Can I speak with him?"
"I'm sorry."
"He's asleep."
"His surgery has been scheduled for next week."
Tears filled Valeria's eyes.
"Thank you."
As she ended the call, a message appeared on her phone.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
Your brother is safe. Keep him that way. Come alone.
Attached was a photograph.
Diego.
Sleeping in his hospital bed.
The picture had been taken only minutes earlier.
Valeria's blood ran cold.
Someone was watching the hospital.
A second message arrived.
Old train station. One hour. Tell no one.
Valeria's first instinct was to show Alejandro.
But then she imagined Diego.
Alone.
Unprotected.
If the threat was real...
She couldn't risk it.
She quietly wrote a short note.
I need to check on my brother. I'll be back soon.
She left it on the guest room desk.
Then slipped out through the servants' entrance.
The abandoned train station sat nearly thirty minutes from the mansion.
Dark clouds covered the evening sky.
The parking lot was empty.
Valeria stepped out of the taxi and looked around.
"Hello?"
Only silence answered.
An old loudspeaker creaked in the wind.
"You came."
The voice echoed from somewhere inside the station.
Valeria walked cautiously toward the platform.
"I did what you asked."
"I came alone."
"You shouldn't have."
She spun around.
No one.
Then she heard footsteps above her.
A man dressed in black stood on the second-floor walkway.
His face was hidden beneath a cap.
"Who are you?"
He ignored the question.
"You've been asking dangerous questions."
"What do you want?"
"The journal."
Valeria's heart skipped a beat.
"What journal?"
"The one Elena hid."
"I don't have it."
The man laughed softly.
"You're a poor liar."
Before Valeria could react, headlights suddenly flooded the platform.
Three black SUVs surrounded the station.
Doors flew open.
Six armed men stepped out.
Valeria turned to run.
A gloved hand grabbed her from behind.
A cloth covered her mouth.
The world began to spin.
Her vision blurred.
The last thing she saw was the man on the walkway calmly checking the time on his silver watch.
Everything went black.
Back at the mansion, Mateo wandered into Valeria's guest room carrying his stuffed rabbit.
He expected to find her reading.
Instead...
The room was empty.
He noticed the note on the desk.
Unable to read all the words, he carried it downstairs to Alejandro.
Alejandro unfolded it.
His expression immediately changed.
"She went to the hospital?"
Javier frowned.
"Without security?"
Alejandro pulled out his phone and called Valeria.
No answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
A third time.
Her phone was turned off.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Twenty minutes later, the hospital called.
Alejandro answered immediately.
"This is Alejandro Ríos."
The nurse sounded confused.
"Sir... we're trying to reach Miss Gómez."
"Why?"
"She never came."
Alejandro's grip tightened around the phone.
"What do you mean?"
"She hasn't been here today."
His heart sank.
She had been lured away.
Within minutes, the mansion became a command center.
Maps covered the conference table.
Security teams spread across the city.
Alejandro's most trusted guards searched highways, hospitals, hotels, and abandoned warehouses.
Nothing.
No sign of Valeria.
No signal from her phone.
No witnesses.
Mateo sat silently on the staircase, clutching his stuffed rabbit.
He looked at the front door every few seconds.
Waiting.
As if expecting Valeria to walk back inside.
She never did.
Near midnight, Javier rushed into the conference room carrying a tablet.
"We found something."
Alejandro stood instantly.
"What?"
"A traffic camera."
The screen displayed a grainy image taken less than two hours earlier.
Valeria was being forced into the back of a black SUV.
One of the kidnappers briefly looked toward the camera.
His face wasn't visible.
But his left wrist was.
A silver watch.
The same model found in Elena's hidden archive.
Alejandro's eyes burned with anger.
He looked at the image for several long seconds.
Then quietly spoke.
"No more waiting."
Javier understood immediately.
"You've made your decision."
Alejandro nodded.
"For two years, I've searched for the truth."
He picked up his jacket.
"Tonight..."
"...I'm bringing Valeria home."
Just then, Javier's phone buzzed.
A live video message had arrived from an unknown number.
He opened it.
The screen showed Valeria tied to a chair inside a dimly lit room.
She was conscious.
Frightened.
But unharmed.
A masked man stepped into view.
He looked directly into the camera.
"You have twenty-four hours."
He held up Elena's journal.
The real one.
Not the empty copy.
"Trade the hidden archive..."
"...for the girl."
The video ended.
The room fell silent.
Alejandro slowly looked at the frozen image on the screen.
Then at Mateo, who was staring at Valeria's face with tears in his eyes.
May you like
There would be no negotiations.
The war had finally begun.
