Ximena lifted her hips to land on her high back, and as she had learned in a jiujitsu class, with her hands she squeezed those of her attacker, forcing him to let go of her hair. He turned slightly to see the face of his treacherous opponent. He observed the contracted face of a woman with short hair and red lips. With a mole above her upper lip, some wrinkles were revealed despite the Botox tightening her skin. Likewise, he stood up without letting go of her hands and opened them to return her offense with a powerful headbutt. Which, when it hit the lady, caused the poor woman to collapse, lying on the floor and rubbing her forehead. Ximena did not hear what Diego was shouting; she only felt her hair being pulled again. This time she did not try to grab those hands; what she did was turn around and throw a left hook, calculating the opponent's face. He glimpsed that it was another younger woman who was screaming like crazy, and before she recovered, he landed a right. She was about t
She thought it would be uncomfortable to see the accusing faces of the doormen when they saw a religious couple enter a place like this. But the inexpressive faces of these professionals, who only spoke as much as necessary, calmed her down a little, but not enough to dull her blushing cheeks. That calmed her down a little, but not enough to extinguish her blushing cheeks. “What an embarrassment,” she reflected, although it was not comparable to everything that would happen next.“Only one bed, what a problem!” this time she opined aloud.Erik colored to reply to her, “Calm down; you can use it; I'll sleep in the tub or in that weird chair.”“That's not fair; that chair looks uncomfortable, and in the Jacuzzi you can catch a cold; we'd better sleep in the same bed. I know you're a gentleman, and you won't try to overdo it; besides, I'm very tired from partying all night, and she's running away.” She looked around the room. She was curious about the mirrors on the ceiling and the TV co
Ximena could not move; she felt like she was drowning. For a moment, she had faith that Angelo would appear out of nowhere to hit this guy, but that was unlikely because they were no longer anything. These mixed emotions triggered the tears to overflow. Erik saw or felt them and got up, grabbing his head with both hands, and walked around several times as if he were a model on a catwalk, only to end up kneeling in front of her and beg her:"I apologize, Ximena; I misinterpreted everything and became carried away by desire." I thought you were playing hard to get; there are women who do that. Besides, you started it. I was already falling asleep when I felt her restless hands.”Ximena sat on the bed, covering herself with the sheets. She wiped her tears with her hands and tried to look at him to answer him, but her sight was blurred by crying. She only told him this:“You are right, although that does not excuse your crazy behavior. Although the truth is that I did want to, in part, I
Ximena was perplexed that the lawyer she despised so much had appeared out of nowhere to help her, sent by his bosses. Although what affected her most was what he said—that Angelo had been killed—at that instant, she forgot that two policemen were holding her hands. She slipped away from them like soap in the shower, and with both hands she shook the jurist, demanding an answer,“What happened to Angelo?”The lawyer turned his head, trying to make her react, and the policemen were silenced to measure their reactions. He shrugged his shoulders and, lowering his head, let out a few words like a deflating balloon: “What happened is that, apparently, your uncle collaborated with the authorities and testified against your ex-husband and Mr. Joseph. The police captured the grandfather. While, according to what I heard from Angelo, he was killed when he tried to flee by sea, the only thing is that they have not confirmed it because they have not found his remains.”“So, is it possible that h
A few nights later, Ximena accepted Erik's invitation to go dancing. After a thousand phone calls to beg him and several pushes from her friend, she finally made up her mind. Although she almost stayed on the road or went back, she even tried to wake up her children, looking for a pretext to stay. Erik proposed that they meet at the site, a clumsy strategy typical of the stingy or to avoid giving importance, which leaves open the possibility that it deviates from the road or that it does not arrive. The wait seemed eternal, so he had better go out to look for her, although the possibility that they would cross stopped him. He almost got into a cab; if she arrived and did not find him, he would be upset. He felt his shoes loose; he looked down to check them, and while detailing them, he remembered that he had chosen shoes without laces. When he looked up, it seemed like he had bumped into an angel. Ximena walked in. undecided, feeling strange, struggling in her head—it was as if she ha
“What are you doing at this hour of the morning in these dangerous streets?” a policeman questioned them.“Thank heavens you arrived; the ones from the bar around the corner were going to kill us.” Erik declared to them, believing that they had come to his call, but the officer answered him, waving his hand like a rattle.“Danger! These people are very dangerous!”Their pulse quickened. How was it possible that they had a problem with people who were feared, even by the defenders of the law?The police went to the place. While the couple watched from afar, everyone in the bar went down to meet the patrolmen. They shook hands, and the manager hugged them. When they saw this, they decided to turn around and look for a cab or something to take them. They ran several streets without finding a car; Ximena's cell phone had run out of charge, and Erik had run out of minutes. Finally, in the distance, a yellow car appeared like a star and stopped, asking for their destination. Before opening
Ximena wiped her tears. She remembered that she had been through worse situations; she could not allow this one to dominate her. She took a breath and called the guard.“I need to call my lawyer.”The guard, a fat policeman with a smile that only showed his lower teeth, simulating a laugh, replied, “Miss, this is not a hotel. They will let you call when you are incarcerated in the women's prison.”“You can't do this to me; I know my rights!” Ximena protested by grabbing the bars. But she was stopped by the guard, who hit her with the baton, crushing her fingers.Her partner pulled her in, hugging her to keep her from losing her mind. She spat at the policeman while whispering, “You are pig garbage!”“Damn you, you dykes, you filthy. Don't worry, that doesn't fit that size; now I won't even give you a glass of water.” The guard walked away, cleaning himself in disgust.“Quiet girl, it is obvious that you are of high class. You shouldn't be here; besides, you are very beautiful, and you
“He doesn't know who he's messed with.” The bar manager spoke, swinging a chainsaw.Detective Das heard him. When he came to his senses, he felt a strong pain in his head that made him remember how clumsy he had been. He arrived at the bar, where he was greeted very well—too well—although he did not want to receive anything that was offered to him. He concentrated on the label of an empty bottle. When something hit him, like a club, he managed to place his hands so as not to hit the ground, and then apparently another blow knocked him unconscious.“That's what I say to you. I am a high-ranking officer; your crimes will be made worse if you kill me. I propose that you release me, and I promise you that I will look for a way that only your bosses will be the ones to be judged.”“That is a very dirty strategy, Mr. Das.” One of the policemen appeared, although he was already in civilian clothes. “That's complicated, since the boss is neither more nor less than this chest.”“There is nothi
“Angelo, I will kill your children first, then your sister-in-law, then you, although I will take my time with everyone.” The old man took a rusty poker and went to the prisoners' cage. “Sir, we are informed that Alexandros took another route; it is possible that he went wrong. Or he kind of stole the money.” A henchman arrives to inform him.“That can't be possible, and if it is, we will look for his mother, and we will apply five hundred bullets to make that rat come out of his hiding place.” Giuseppe spat on the ground and almost dropped his box of teeth.“Besides, there is something very strange; the lookouts on the road report many cars in the sector. More than usual, it is possible that it is a rescue; it would be better, sir, if you were eliminated quickly, and we leave.” The assistant lowered his head as he spoke to him.“Nonsense, that doesn't mean anything. Besides, I have been waiting for this moment for years; I am going to savor it; I will be delighted; it will be a spec
“I thank you very much for this last favor.”“Do not worry and remember it very well; I can't have friendships with a snitch. Although your grandfather also helped, the old man sold the castle and the little that was left.”“Yes, José Luis, I know; he told me that he feels very guilty about everything that happened with Ximena; he knows that he will have to pay for that when he dies.”“Angelo, enough with the sermons; we must concentrate on the operation; they shouldn't have called the police; it complicates everything.”“I didn't do it, it was up to her and Detective Das; I would have preferred something from us.”“It might be better; Max's father, whose real name is Giuseppe Latin, has more money than all of us together, therefore more men and means.”“I am confident that we will succeed, as we always do.”“Of course, Angelo, we make it, or we die, either way, for the hole we drive.”“It may happen, but at least I'll take Giuseppe with me; I'll send him to meet Max.”“At least the c
Fire trucks arrive on the scene, making their way through the curious and opportunists. The police cordon off the scene and search for witnesses to the tragedy.“Detective, a wounded soldier. He says that some very suspicious subjects were going to leave a car on the front sidewalk, and that a comrade went to stop them, and the driver shot him, so they returned fire, and that caused that terrible explosion.” A policeman informed his superior.“I knew they were going to attack Ximena. And as usual, my boss didn't listen to me.”“Detective, they took a lot of precautions, and that's why they doubled the guard.” The officer left to help the firefighters remove debris.Ximena emerged from the chaos, filthy and disoriented, accompanied by escorts.“Mrs. Ximena, are you hurt?”“Detective Das, what happened? Do you know anything about Angelo?” Ximena greeted her, hugging her detective.“It seems they were planning to blow this building sky-high to silence her. As for Angelo, I assumed he was
“I need a way out; I have to go see him.” I have repeated these words many times, every day during these weeks, and I receive the same answers, although today a doctor answers me something different.“Mrs. Ximena, you know that it is something very complex because the gentleman is in another hospital since he was more injured. On the other hand, you still require special care, and although I have news for you, you are going to get out of here.” The doctor with the face of a kindly old man purses his lips to give a dramatic pause or to wait for my answer, but I just make a puzzled grimace, so he goes on, “Yes, as you can hear, we are going to get out.”“Explain me better; I notice something strange in the way you say it.” While I speak, the old man moves his mouth between fake smiles and sucker punches.“Mrs. Ximena, the judge who is handling your case demands that you be interrogated; that's what we are going to do, and it could be that your husband is also required; suddenly you will
“Where am I? Who am I?” I have asked these questions several times. Until suddenly my consciousness becomes clear, and the memories hit me all of a sudden. I look around me; it takes me a while to realize that I am in a hospital, in a first-aid room, and the smell of anesthesia raises my blood pressure. The doctors surround me with syringes, perhaps with painkillers, although they inject them in the serum, and I think I manage to ask for Angelo and my children before falling asleep.I have no hands, no feet, no face, or anything. It seems to me that I am a painting on a wall contemplating the horizon, but suddenly I am also someone who observes the painting. I detail that it is a canvas of my life and that it was painted with tears and smiles. I see it and I see me, both screens at the same time, until a blue energy shakes us and my eyes see a great light. Furthermore, as I turn my head and observe people dressed in white and blue, I hear, “We are going to intubate her.”It is a proce
“Calm down, my children; it won't be long now until we get to Bogotá.” Ximena consoled her children and herself.The long trip was coming to an end. She arrived at the central terminal; she went downstairs normally; the freezing city air calmed her; she breathed in the aroma of progress; and she prepared to leave to board the cabs. Everything seemed perfect until she saw a man who, upon seeing her, called someone on the phone.“I'm going to get caught.” These words escaped her, and she turned around, raised her children, and walked quickly. But, rather than running to avoid suspicion, she turned her head to see that the man was following her, accompanied by two others dressed in black. She calculated that her best strategy was to return to the fleet under the pretext that she had forgotten her luggage, so she could go back to the unloading area. But instead of looking for a non-existent suitcase, she marched quickly towards the exit of the buses, crossed the avenue, walked a few meter
“How is it that such a pretty young lady with such a pair of little angels walks around this region so full of dangers?”“I was visiting my grandfather; he lives in the mountains.”“It's good to go back to the country, to know the roots; besides, as an old man, you don't know when you will see your loved one for the last time; tell me, I haven't seen my daughter for a long time.”“And that, is it, that you are angry?”“No, miss, it's just that some criminals killed her. And she had two granddaughters who were taken by an uncle who refused to allow me to see them. It was very difficult; that's why I went to the country with my wife until she died. Now all I have left are memories of my life—of what I did, what I didn't do, and what could have been. Although the truth is that I'm not from around here, I'm retracing my steps. I know that the bone is breathing down my neck; although I'm still afraid of the uncertainty of the afterlife, I also long for it because this body no longer respon
“We are going to finish off even the sow's nest.” Angelo closed his black jacket, lowered his balaclava cap to cover his face, and jumped from the helicopter held by a rope. When he touched the ground, he landed with both legs, running straight ahead with the gun. He imagined he was diving from a very high pool; he didn't even turn to see if his men were following him. He neutralized a couple of guards and, little by little, his adrenaline went down as his sadness increased.“Sir, we went all over the place, and there is no trace of a woman and two children.” The mercenary Can-Can informed him, turning his head and looking for any threat.“It can't be possible; this is the place.” Angelo kicked a table to calm his mixed feelings.“My lord is not wrong; look here; we found this dog in a hiding place.” Jose Luis came in and pushed Diego to the floor.“Damn rat! What did you do with my wife and children?” Angelo lifted Diego by the neck while he was shaking. It was hard to understand wha
“Okay, Angelo, I'll tell you.” Emily cleared her throat, her voice almost unable to come out because those strong hands were choking her. “I made a mistake in proposing that question to you.”“Please forgive me; I didn't want to go to these extremes; it's just that I'm very worried.” Angelo whispered, letting go of her neck, “I know she's in danger; besides, I'm having the same symptoms as when she was pregnant with my twins; I hope it's just my psychosis.”“Angelo, I understand you. Hold on; I'll calm down, or I'll end up in an ambulance.” Emily exhaled, speaking fast, took a deep breath, mentally repeating the mantras that helped her calm down, and continued, “Please don't tell her that I was the gossip rat.”“You can tell her that I made you; although you will have to come with me, we must plan a way to rescue her.” Angelo picked up the hamburger again to eat it.“I remember when Ximena found me after we were separated because we were adopted by different families. She took me to e