Chapter 14: Mateo Remembers
Chapter 14: Mateo Remembers
The conference room was silent.
Everyone stared at the frozen image of Valeria tied to a chair.
Alejandro's hands were clenched into fists.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Finally, Javier broke the silence.
"They want the archive."
Alejandro nodded.
"They're not after money."
"They're after Elena's evidence."
Doña Socorro looked at the screen.
"If they already have the real journal..."
"...then they still believe we're missing something."
Valeria had once said the same thing.
The archive wasn't the end.
Alejandro slowly looked around the room.
"They think we're desperate."
Javier frowned.
"Aren't we?"
Alejandro's expression hardened.
"No."
"We're going to make them think we've agreed."
An hour later, the mansion became a hive of activity.
The hidden archive beneath the greenhouse remained untouched.
Instead, Javier prepared several identical storage boxes filled with meaningless financial records.
Every box looked authentic.
Every folder carried Elena's handwriting.
Only one contained a hidden GPS tracker.
"If they take the bait," Javier explained, "we'll follow them."
Alejandro nodded.
"Good."
Doña Socorro wasn't convinced.
"And if they search the boxes before leaving?"
"They won't."
Everyone looked at Alejandro.
"They're in a hurry."
"They believe they're winning."
Across town, Valeria slowly regained consciousness.
Her wrists were tied behind a heavy wooden chair.
A single light bulb hung from the ceiling.
The room smelled of dust and engine oil.
She looked around carefully.
An abandoned warehouse.
Rain tapped steadily against the metal roof.
She tested the ropes.
Too tight.
The steel door opened.
A masked man entered carrying a bottle of water.
He placed it on the table beside her.
"You should drink."
Valeria ignored him.
"Where am I?"
"You don't need to know."
"What do you want from me?"
The man leaned against the wall.
"You've become... inconvenient."
Valeria met his eyes.
"You killed Elena."
He laughed quietly.
"No."
"But I helped someone who wanted her gone."
Before Valeria could respond, another man entered.
Unlike the first, he wore no mask.
Only dark sunglasses.
Even indoors.
He placed Elena's leather journal on the table.
"You've caused us a great deal of trouble, Miss Gómez."
Valeria looked at the journal.
"You already have what you want."
The man smiled.
"No."
"We have only half."
He opened the journal.
Most of the pages were missing.
"The important pages aren't here."
Valeria remained silent.
The man closed the journal.
"Your employer has the rest."
Back at the mansion, Mateo refused to leave the security room.
He stood in front of the giant monitor wall, watching camera feeds from every corner of the estate.
Alejandro knelt beside him.
"I'm bringing her home."
Mateo looked at his father.
Tears filled his eyes.
Then...
Very quietly...
He spoke.
"Truck."
Alejandro froze.
"What?"
Mateo squeezed his eyes shut.
His breathing became rapid.
Like someone trapped inside a nightmare.
"Black..."
His voice shook.
"...truck..."
Alejandro gently held his shoulders.
"You're safe."
"Tell me what you remember."
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the memories came flooding back.
"They..."
Mateo whispered.
"...hit Mommy's car."
Tears streamed down his face.
"The truck..."
"...blocked the road."
Everyone in the room stood perfectly still.
Mateo had never described the attack before.
Not once.
He looked directly at Alejandro.
"The man..."
His tiny voice cracked.
"...with the silver watch..."
"...opened Mommy's door."
Alejandro's heart pounded.
"What did he do?"
Mateo covered his ears.
"He yelled."
"What did he yell?"
The little boy began shaking uncontrollably.
Then, through sobs, he forced out the words.
"Find... the... journal..."
The room fell silent.
Javier looked at Alejandro.
"They weren't trying to rob her."
Alejandro nodded slowly.
"They already knew about the journal."
At that same moment, Javier's laptop chimed.
"I've got something."
He enlarged a satellite map of Monterrey.
"The GPS tracker."
Everyone turned.
"It activated."
Alejandro frowned.
"But we haven't delivered the fake archive yet."
"Exactly."
Javier zoomed in.
"The signal isn't from our tracker."
"It matches another transmitter."
Valeria.
Her phone.
It had come back online for exactly twelve seconds.
The location appeared on the map.
An industrial district near the old freight yards.
Javier highlighted a large abandoned warehouse.
"There."
Alejandro looked at the screen.
Then at his security team.
"Prepare the vehicles."
"We move now."
Inside the warehouse, Valeria quietly studied her surroundings.
There were only two guards.
One remained outside.
The other paced the room while talking on a radio.
"...He's coming."
"...Yes."
"...Bring the father."
Valeria's pulse quickened.
Alejandro was walking into a trap.
She glanced toward the table.
The bottle of water.
A small metal spoon.
Nothing useful.
Then she noticed something beneath the chair.
A loose screw sticking out of the concrete floor.
She carefully began rubbing the ropes against it.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Thread by thread.
Twenty minutes later, Alejandro's convoy reached the industrial district.
He ordered the vehicles to stop two blocks away.
"No sirens."
"No lights."
"No mistakes."
Javier pointed toward the warehouse.
"Thermal imaging."
He handed Alejandro a tablet.
Four heat signatures appeared inside.
Alejandro frowned.
"Only four?"
"That's all we can see."
Something didn't feel right.
The building was far too quiet.
Far too exposed.
Doña Socorro's words echoed in his mind.
They're making you believe you're winning.
Alejandro looked around the empty streets.
Then upward.
Onto the rooftops.
Nothing.
Still...
His instincts screamed.
"It's a decoy."
Before anyone could react—
A deafening explosion erupted behind them.
One of Alejandro's SUVs burst into flames.
The shockwave shattered nearby windows.
Guards dove for cover.
Gunfire erupted from three different rooftops.
"It was a trap!" Javier shouted.
Alejandro took cover behind a concrete barrier.
His eyes searched desperately for the warehouse entrance.
Then he saw something that made his blood run cold.
Across the street...
Standing calmly beneath a streetlight...
Was Ricardo Salazar.
No body armor.
No weapon visible.
Just his perfectly tailored suit.
And the same calm smile he always wore.
He slowly raised his left wrist.
The silver watch gleamed beneath the flashing lights.
Then he looked directly at Alejandro...
...and tapped the watch twice.
As if reminding him of a promise made years ago.
Before Alejandro could aim his weapon, a smoke grenade exploded between them.
When the smoke cleared...
May you like
Ricardo was gone.
And so was Valeria.
