“Thank you very much, Don Missal. I promise to come very soon to visit you properly.”“I am counting on that, Ximena; please take care of yourself. If it can be of any help, I heard that General Suarez is obsessed with capturing that guy; it is said that he has him in his sights. Maybe that man can help you with something. In any case, don't talk to him about me; we don't want each other either. Although I just remembered that there is a man who can be of great help to you; he works in his mine; that man who is in charge of his affairs with the government, Don Molina, is the man your real father trusts; he knows half the country. Talk to him as a first step.”“I didn't know that; thank you very much. In that case, we are going back to the mine.” Ximena said goodbye to Don Missal without knowing that it was the last time she would see him.“Goodbye, my child.”“See you later, Don Missal; please take care of yourself and stop being in bad places.”In a matter of minutes, they returned t
“It seems strange to me that he has not shown up; please, Luis, find out where they are; Liz is not answering me either, nor are any of the gastronomic bodyguards; we have to start a search.”“Don Angelo, the last thing we know is that they went to his mine, then to a drug dealer who just got out of jail in the United States, and from there they went back to the mine to talk to a man named Molina; he was about to send men to look for him.”“I can't stand the anguish that is devouring me; if I am here alone waiting, let's go; get the helicopters ready.”“Chief, Mrs. Ximena took both of them; rent another one; they won't take long to arrive”.“I don't need just one; I have to take several guys; this operation can be very dangerous. Max is getting close to her, and the very slippery one hasn't let himself be killed.”“Chief, let's go by land; we will be a small army; let's leave at once; anyway, that place is about four hours away; even at this time of the night, the road must be empty;
“Angelo, I don't think it's right that we leave the servants alive; they could testify against us, and besides, they have seen our faces; that's dangerous.”“Luis, they are innocent, hard-working people who are not to blame for the fact that their boss was a rat.”“That's true; it's difficult, Angelo, but you know very well that we must not leave any traces.”“Yes, in that case, I would like them to trace the general's money accounts and leave them to the families of his servants, and please make the executions quick; besides, we also have to burn everything; this has to be left in ashes; we can't leave any trace that could incriminate us.”“Yes sir, I will take care of that, oh, Angelo. I forgot, Miss Liz, she is conscious; she saw how we killed some guards, and I am sure she heard when someone called him Doctor D. I don't know if we should kill her, because she is Mrs. Ximena's best friend and her father is one of her partners.”“We can't kill Liz; she is also my friend, Luis. I wil
“I've stopped crying, Mr. White; you look like a child. I remind you that if you don't go with your big mouth to Mrs. Ximena, nothing is going to happen to you. She is going to go to the mine; you better get dressed up and go to that place; watch your tongue, or you will end up in a hole deeper than a mine shaft, is that clear?”The poor, terrified guy just shakes his head in the affirmative and starts to smell horrible.“Well, I'll leave you; please take a bath because you smell bad; we don't want you to make a bad impression on the boss either.”He slaps him gently, and they leave without a trace. Almost that Don White questioned if it was just a nightmare, although without hesitation he gets up to take a shower, where he cried so that his tears were confused with the jets of the bath column, which had gold trim and buttons with emeralds, “how unnecessary, it is only luxury, something for people to admire or envy me, they would surely hate me, if I had to label in each thing the or
“I tracked the whereabouts of your parents; through a camera near the airport, I saw that the car they were driving was intercepted by Max's people. We were able to follow their destination, looking for more recordings, but we lost the trail in a town called Biota, about three hours from Bogotá.”“I'm ready for my life; let's go right away.”“No, my Ximena, it will be too dangerous for you; let me go; I'm going with all my men to find out what happened.”“My love, they are my family; I have to go. I feel bad enough for not having been aware of them. You see, if it wasn't for that whippersnapper White, I wouldn't have found out about his kidnapping. It has been hard for me.”“I know, baby, you haven't stopped crying. Ximena, please trust me; I will bring them back safe and sound.”“Both go; I know that town; it's very nice; its climate is very pleasant; it has a lot of beautiful biodiversity.”“And a lot of guerrilla due to its rugged topography, according to my research, although I co
“Ximena, we have to do something to rescue my parents; Angelo is taking too long with that.” “Emily, you're right; I'm already hiring a group of mercenaries that know that sector; most of them are professional soldiers, retired, that work taking care of oil wells for Liz's father.” “Those are perfect; since they know those mountains, can I go with you?” “Of course not, sis; it's going to be very dangerous. We are going disguised as a special brigade of Catholic missionaries; we will go disguised as nuns and priests to mislead those slugs.” “When are you leaving, sis?” “We are already here; I am the nun Maria Price; I am a surprise; see you later; I will call you later.” Ximena got off disguised as a nun with a bible in her hand, accompanied by about twenty priests and five nuns. When they arrived at the farm where they had been kidnapped, they were met by a group of heavily armed men who asked them, “What is offered to you, father, and sisters?” “We have come to perform a mass,
“Love, please, everything I'm doing this, so you can take care of yourself, we have to protect the baby as much as possible.”“Angelo, you are exaggerating; you hired a battalion of doctors; it would be better if you put me in a clinic.”“Ximena, in my heart, they are only nutritionists, pediatricians, cooks, and other specialists, although your idea is not bad.”“Please, my Angelo, I'm being sarcastic; that's too much to care. I wish you had told me, not the way I found out, I assure you, I wouldn't have risked rescuing my parents if I knew I was pregnant. I was so stupid, I could have lost my baby.”“I didn't know how to tell you; I was afraid you would be upset. You know, we had agreed to have children only after you finished your studies.”“No, baby, I don't know how you got that idea. I swear I would have jumped on one foot and I wouldn't have done so many stupid things. It's true that it got in the way of our plans, but as my mother used to say, what's done is done.”“Yes, love,
“Liz, it's complicated, going back to this hustle and bustle again. I miss the beach and the sea. I'm really thinking of buying an island for myself. Likewise, I don't know why people from there like to go on vacation here to Bogotá, to this cold land where those conquistadors clumsily founded the city.”“Don't take it against everything, that pregnancy is affecting you a lot, the conquistadors founded the city for its quantity of water sources, that now most of them are polluted or canalized, besides the climate that doesn't produce so many dangerous diseases or poisonous bugs, for those times that was the ideal, now we have better medical science but nothing to cure the temperament of a crazy woman like you, my dear Ximena, anyway it is easier to wrap up warm in a cold climate than to cool off in one of those towns that are branches of hell.”“It's all this; the truth is that it makes me want to postpone my career for about fifty semesters.”“Ha, ha, ha, ha, my friend, don't be so e
“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