Chapter 15: The Man Behind the Watch
Chapter 15: The Man Behind the Watch
Smoke filled the street.
Gunfire echoed between the abandoned warehouses.
Alejandro remained behind the concrete barrier, his pistol raised as his security team returned fire.
"Hold your positions!" he shouted.
The shooting lasted less than a minute.
Then...
Silence.
Too much silence.
The attackers had vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
Javier cautiously scanned the rooftops with binoculars.
"They're gone."
Alejandro looked toward the warehouse where Valeria had supposedly been held.
"Move in."
The heavy metal doors hung open.
Inside, the warehouse was empty.
The chair.
The ropes.
The hanging light bulb.
Everything Valeria had been tied to was still there.
But she was gone.
Javier examined the ropes.
"They were cut."
Alejandro frowned.
"Not untied?"
"No."
He held up the frayed ends.
"She escaped."
A faint smile crossed Alejandro's face for the first time that night.
"That's my Valeria."
Doña Socorro looked around the room.
"They expected us."
Alejandro nodded.
"This entire place was built to delay us."
One of the guards approached from the far corner.
"Sir."
He pointed toward the dusty concrete floor.
"There are tire tracks."
Alejandro followed them.
Two different vehicles had left the warehouse.
One heading east.
The other north.
"They split up."
Javier sighed.
"They wanted us to choose."
Several miles away, Valeria hid beneath an old loading dock.
Her wrists were bleeding where the ropes had rubbed against her skin.
She had escaped during the confusion created by the explosion outside.
The kidnappers had rushed to reinforce the perimeter.
One careless guard had left his knife on the table.
That single mistake had saved her life.
She reached into her pocket.
To her surprise...
Her phone was still there.
The screen was cracked.
The battery showed only three percent.
She quickly dialed Alejandro.
No signal.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a narrow staircase leading to the second floor of the abandoned building beside her.
She climbed carefully.
From the broken window above, she could finally see the surrounding streets.
Her heart stopped.
The warehouse where she had been held was only one of dozens.
An entire abandoned freight complex stretched across the district.
The kidnappers could be anywhere.
Back at the mansion, Mateo woke suddenly from a nightmare.
He sat upright in bed, breathing hard.
Doña Socorro hurried to comfort him.
"It's okay."
"You're safe."
But Mateo kept staring toward the window.
Then he pointed outside.
"The train..."
Doña Socorro frowned.
"What train?"
Mateo whispered,
"...red..."
She immediately called Alejandro.
"He said 'red train.'"
Alejandro closed his eyes.
"The freight yard."
Javier looked at a map.
"There used to be a red maintenance locomotive there."
Alejandro pointed immediately.
"Search every warehouse near the old rail line."
Meanwhile, Valeria cautiously crossed a narrow catwalk connecting two buildings.
Below, she heard voices.
She froze.
One of them belonged to Ricardo.
She slowly knelt and looked through a gap in the rusted floor.
Ricardo stood inside the office below.
Facing another man.
The stranger's face remained hidden in the shadows.
"I told you the maid would become a problem," Ricardo said calmly.
The other man answered,
"She served her purpose."
"What about Alejandro?"
"He'll keep chasing the wrong enemy."
Ricardo smiled.
"Good."
Valeria listened carefully.
"So..."
Ricardo continued.
"When do I receive the rest of my payment?"
The stranger stepped forward just enough for Valeria to see one gloved hand.
He placed a thick envelope on the desk.
"You'll receive everything..."
"...after Mateo dies."
Valeria's blood ran cold.
Ricardo looked surprised.
"The boy?"
"He's remembering."
"That makes him dangerous."
Ricardo hesitated.
"For the first time."
Valeria noticed.
"You promised no children."
The stranger's voice turned icy.
"I promised nothing."
A tense silence filled the room.
Then the stranger quietly added,
"If you can't finish the job..."
"...someone else will."
Valeria slowly backed away.
A loose bolt rolled beneath her shoe.
Clink.
Both men looked up.
"Who's there?"
Ricardo reached for his pistol.
Valeria ran.
Footsteps thundered behind her.
She raced across the catwalk.
A bullet shattered the railing beside her.
Another struck the metal wall inches from her head.
She reached the far stairwell and threw herself down the steps.
More gunshots echoed through the building.
She burst onto the street.
No time to think.
No place to hide.
Then headlights appeared.
A black SUV.
She instinctively turned to run.
The driver's door flew open.
"Valeria!"
It was Javier.
She jumped inside just as another bullet shattered the rear window.
Javier slammed the accelerator.
The SUV sped away.
Back at the mansion, Alejandro rushed toward the vehicle before it had fully stopped.
Valeria climbed out, exhausted.
Without thinking, Alejandro wrapped her in a tight embrace.
For a moment...
Neither of them spoke.
Finally, Alejandro stepped back.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm okay."
"Barely."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"I saw Ricardo."
Alejandro nodded.
"I know."
"He isn't the leader."
Alejandro frowned.
"What?"
"Someone else is giving the orders."
Javier looked shocked.
"Are you sure?"
"I heard them."
She repeated every word of the conversation.
Especially the final sentence.
After Mateo dies.
Alejandro's face turned pale.
"They're coming for my son."
Before anyone could respond, alarms suddenly blared throughout the mansion.
Every security light turned red.
One of the guards shouted through the intercom.
"Sir!"
"What is it?"
"The power grid has been breached!"
All the lights went out.
Emergency generators failed to start.
The mansion was plunged into complete darkness.
Then...
Somewhere upstairs...
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A child's terrified scream echoed through the halls.
It was Mateo.
