Sofia furrowed as she saw one of the guards sitting in front of the house. "New position?" she asked Mr. Francisco, as she sat in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. The teacher had steadfastly refused to ride in the back seat next to Liam, especially when they were just going to school, it also happened when they went shopping. Sofia still felt uncomfortable with so much privilege. "I think Mr. Vos transferred him to that job today." The chauffeur almost shrugged. "But we already have to go with a security team back there." She looked in the rearview mirror, spotting the vehicle following them; at that moment, it was parked next to the curb, just like them. "Live with another team surrounding the house, have fixed communications on recording alert in case a suspicious call comes in, not to mention the alarms activated 24 hours a day, the cameras around the perimeter..." "And some of them are living by the pool, right mom?" Liam interjected with his innocent voice to complet
Liliana gave a splendid smile. She sat down in one of the high chairs across the counter from the teacher. "Boricuas love romance as much as we love to party. And we can smell the chemistry of two people a mile away." She shrugged and stood up. "I don't know what the story is between you, but there's candela, there's candela pura." Sofia laughed, felt her cheeks flush, and hated herself for it. What the cook said reminded her of some people back in Spain. "You take me back to my years in Madrid. By the way, I met some of your fellow countrymen there. Not many, mostly clients of the restaurant where I worked. Are you usually that extroverted all the time?" "Well, what can I tell you? Yes, yes we are. Not all of us, but it's something that is definitely in our blood." She pointed to her arm. It's inevitable, you know? And it gets rough when we get infatuated with someone. And wham, there we are, watching and seeing everything, so we don't miss anything." Sofia loved the accent of
The hours passed under great tension. Frank was worried about his boss, who had not left his room all afternoon, after moving from the mini-mall back to the building to get ready before going to meet Gael Cliff. Mark was prescribed rest that day, as he had hardly had any, so he didn't notice their arrival on the floor. The time to leave for the meeting at Troy arrived, Loman was to let Mr. Vos know that they were to leave. Leonel permitted him to enter the bedroom after hearing the knock on the door. Loman found him readying his gun and placing it behind his back, pulling his jacket over his black sweater, and tucking his gloves into his pockets. He turned and Frank could see the determination washing over his boss's face. "All set?" Vos asked. "Yes, sir. The team is waiting downstairs and another one has already started." "Raymond?" "Monitor the area. He left for there an hour ago." Leonel nodded. With his bulletproof vest on over his sweater, his thick jacket with zipper i
Everyone would know perfectly well that the place was not watched by any camera. Only a few knew that Leonel once, not so distant that time, came to own shares of the place, that after parading almost completely from Gael's ranks, he sold those shares to never again own anything that would link him to Mr. Cliff. However, Leonel kept going to that improvised gym, a huge and transformed shed with a wide space, almost as big as a mini hangar, but he did it in very specific cases, those in which the businessman needed to touch from time to time that opaque world devoid of feelings. The parking lot was open; no one could notice anything strange; it was just vehicles entering the site like any other night; with the difference that day, it would be closed for training. Neither Frank nor he said anything at all, silence was the best behavior they could perform as they drove the van into the large covered parking lot of the shed. Both gentlemen could see the Nordic man standing by the back d
"I'd love to put a bullet between those wretched eyebrows," Gael growled. "I don't know what you're waiting for." Gael looked into Leonel's dark eyes. "If you won't do it, then put that gun down, your arm is going to get tired," Leonel said.Gael took a couple of seconds, but he lowered the gun and smiled as if he was dumbfounded by something in particular. "Leo-Leo, the businessman who orders." He laughed. "I'll pretend that none of your detective friends are around here, somewhere in the walls or on the ceiling, waiting for me to say something that will bring the fucking police here." He pointed around with his gun and gestured with his free hand. "I'll also pretend I'm crazy enough to imagine you've already made a deal with your old Intelligence department to turn me in like a Thanksgiving turkey. Anyway, I came all this way so that you could tell me yourself what you intend to do with Sophia and what the plan is to use her. I certainly don't know exactly where you've taken her
Sofia was not feeling well that day, it seemed that the previous night's dinner had gone bad for her.She experienced a fever in the early morning, which she cured on her own by taking medicine. "Liam?" she said to her son, who was entering her room. She stretched to check the time on her cell phone. It was about 06:00 in the morning. "Mommy, are you okay? Why aren't you out of bed yet?" Sofia wrinkled her eyebrows tenderly as she saw her little boy worried and talking in his tiny voice. "Oh, honey. Yes, I've been feeling a little sick since last night, but I'm better now. I'll be changing soon, okay? Now, tell me something, I see you already dressed, why did you get up so early?" She was really surprised to see her son ready to go to school when there was more than an hour left for his classes to start. "I woke up to a noise." She accentuated the furrowing of her brows. Liam was not a light sleeper, especially at night, as opposed to naps, the few times he took them. "What no
Frank sat in front of his boss's bed, who was lying down, resting from an operation on his left arm. Mr. Vos would recover, but the bullet wound tore the muscle, entering from the shoulder and exiting a point below, causing cracks and splinters in the forearm bone. The businessman should have been operated on immediately, but Frank himself, aided by the family doctor and his influences, arranged to leave the hospital as soon as possible. After what had happened, they couldn't risk staying inside the medical center at the mercy of any of Gael Cliff's henchmen. "Now this looks like a clinic," Mark joked, entering the room and speaking in a low tone so as not to wake Vos. "What the hell happened?" he asked, already seated in another corner of the room. "I think that Mr. Cliff wanted to prove a point of authority over Leonel, albeit a messy one. He didn't ask very intelligent questions. He insisted on knowing where his son's mother was and by logic, he must already know. We thought he
It was already 20:00hrs in San Juan, and Leonel had not answered a couple of calls and text messages. Frank called her, explaining his boss sent word that he would contact her soon and apologized for the inconvenience and absence, he was attending to matters that consumed all his time. Half an hour after she hung up the short conversation with Mr. Loman, Liliana arrived out of her working hours, bringing with her a couple of pizzas and soft drinks, plus some desserts that, according to the cook, were sent by Mr. Vos as an apology. Sofia didn't say anything, but it all seemed very strange to her. However, she didn't know exactly what Leonel's work routines were like, the exact things he was dedicated to, she didn't know the details of his specific tasks. Food plans at Larry's school? In other schools or NGOs? Sale of the articles he saw that time when he invited her to dinner? Coordination of companies, management of shares, assets, protocol acts, commitments with personalities, inv
Leonel and Sofia were in a part of the gear of the San Juan house, near the pool area. It was daytime, almost lunchtime. Both of them stood, hugging, enjoying the quietness they needed. She took her cheek off Leonel's chest to look at him, caress him, and let him caress her. "Are you feeling well?" she asked, worried. They had operated on him again; his internal stitches had been compromised, and she wanted to be careful not to hurt him. He smiled and denied it at the same time. "That's for me to ask you." He lightly caressed his girlfriend's left shoulder; she was wearing a short-sleeved blouse, and the dressing of her wound could be seen through the fabric. "Are you sure you don't need one of these?" He moved his injured arm a little, talking to her about the sling he was wearing again. "Your friend's wife told me it's not necessary." "Great. If Pilar says so, it must be so; it means you will heal soon." "Yes, she's very good at what she does, I'm glad you contacted that nur
"Baby, look at me! LOOK AT ME! Sofia, don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes, baby, keep looking at me... Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?!" "We're local police, let us help. We have to take her immediately to the hospital," one of the officers announced in English, trying to get Leonel to let the authority that managed to get there do their job since the ambulance hadn't yet arrived and had to act fast. Leonel took his girlfriend in his arms, he wouldn't let that man touch her. He ran to the patrol car, his truck was further away. They opened the back door, he got in with her, the officer who spoke to him got in front of the steering wheel, a colleague of his in the other front seat, and they sped off with sirens blaring, while the co-pilot radiated the situation, calling for backup. Dolores, who was still in the street, was crying inconsolably, hugging Liam, placing her face against his chest with the intention of not letting him hear, or listen. Other policeme
"I'm sorry, officer, you can't make me get into any car, I haven't committed any crime." From the vehicle stationed behind, the back door opened. "Cut the crap, Sofia, and get in the car. Let's go." One step back, stiffening, holding her child tighter, the teacher could feel the sulfur stink emanating from the voice of Gael Cliff himself, who had spoken to her. "What are you doing here? No, no! Help!" She wanted to take advantage of the fact people were recording, shouting for help as a way of making them see that these guys were bad and wanted to harm them. "Help me, help us, please! Help! They want to kidnap us!" "Mom, Mom, what's wrong?" Liam's whimpering touched Sofia's heart, it made her angry at the discomfort of living through that dreadful moment. Her little boy was so scared. "It's going to be ok, honey. Leo and his people are coming for us; nothing bad is going to happen to us." "My dear son, wouldn't you like to see what I have for you in the van?" "Don't say a wor
Dolores approached Leonel a few minutes after Liliana cleaned the broken glass from the cup he threw on the floor. "Is it true what that article says?" Leonel turned his face to look at her "Excuse me?" "Sofia told me everything and I know it couldn't have been you who did that atrocity with that girl, but are you involved?" Leonel looked at her as if she had grown three heads. "Are you saying that I had her killed?" She looked at him with apprehension and doubt but also boldness and determination. "You aren't a meek dove," Leonel straightened up, "you have your past. All that money you show now must not have been earned in a good way and now this..." Leonel stood up from the chair, and Dolores took a step back. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the gesture. "Dolores, but what...?" "I called the police." Leonel stopped breathing. "What?" She felt a pressure in her chest. "I dialed the Interpol numbers and told them you were here. The numbers are listed in the articl
"Sofia, can I talk to you for a moment?" The teacher nodded to the principal of the school where she worked, then followed him into his office. "Sit down, please." She obeyed. "I'm so glad you came today. I understand you will no longer be attending the event with the mayor." «What?». Sofia looked at her cell phone screen, she had a missed call from Leonel. «So we won't be going to the event; he was surely calling me to tell me and giving classes I didn't answer him.» She made a mental note to call her boyfriend after that reunion. "Yes, well, I couldn't miss this last day of classes. Besides, I've made arrangements with some students in the higher grades to continue online classes to prepare them for next year's tests." "Are these classes private, or are they on the school's account?" She frowned. "Aren't they part of the academic curriculum?" "No, Sofia. If you're going to teach off-site, you'll have to charge the students separately." She was very surprised by the way the
Dolores found out every detail the next morning, her younger sister thought it was a good idea to tell everything. Dolores didn't like what was happening. She always accepted Sofia's decisions despite refuting them, but this time, she wanted to be more attentive. Leonel talked to Adam in the pool area. Sitting around one of the tables and under an umbrella, totally alone, taking advantage of the fact that Liam was in class and Sofia was working right there, the businessman was able to find out the health status of his lawyer's assistant through a phone call. Lawyer Adam Coney's worker had a severe blow to her head, doctors were keeping her sedated while she recovered from her injury, so she could not issue a statement yet. However, Adam filed the complaint with the emphasis of immediately finding the culprits of that attack, linking the assault to the Elizabeth Cord case, having the evidence in his hands of her attendance at that hearing which someone—they didn't know if it was Eli
It was a cool night, clear skies in that part of San Juan. The water was warm thanks to the pool system. Leonel had been swimming for a few minutes. It was a little difficult at first, but he found the perfect trick to do it without his arm. Now his feet were the only limbs submerged in the water. Wearing only a shorty-type swimsuit, he ingested some black soda with ice in a short glass. For the first time, he felt good. And the confirmation of this was given by the simple fact of being there with a group of people he could call Family. He thought of his mother. Living in the United States, south of Albany, she was the only blood family he had left. He had visited her little lately, although Frank helped him to make sure she lacked for nothing. He thought about bringing her to Puerto Rico, introducing her to Sofia, that she would also meet Liam and they would spend some time together in that beautiful place. While his longings and thoughts about it were shaping new plans, his cel
Lawyer Adam Coney's assistant arrived at his apartment on the outskirts of the Big Apple's largest Latino neighborhood. It was already late at night, she was carrying a huge fatigue, high heels that she was crazy to throw over any part of her apartment, and folders in her hand, along with a leather briefcase. Dressed in office attire, although with a slight dishevelment of her hair thanks to the cold that barely covered the long coat and the few beers on top ingested at the bar in the corner of the buffet, she lamented once again because that nice housing complex used magnetic cards for the doors, missing very much some keys as she fought with the system failure. About to launch another expletive, the young girl bent down a bit to set the gear on the floor so she could perform the task of unlocking her home with both hands. As she straightened up, a sudden push slammed her against the door. She cried out urgently, but no one would hear her, because the force of the gloved hand si
On the plane, the couple talked about Liam and the decision to live together. Leonel agreed to everything the little boy's mother proposed. It was not the best idea to sleep in the same room when they arrived. They wanted first to explain to Liam how the situation would be from now on, to see if he would accept it, but without stopping spending time together inside the house, investing more time between them as a new couple that longed to settle down in the middle of chaos and fear, with outings, in family life, now that Dolores was there and that the others seemed to join that nice circle. So it was done, all accomplished, and in a couple of days, which were work days for the teacher at the school, as well as school days for the child (these being the last school days of the year), they began to make room for Christmas; it was not yet December, but it was so close, that guided by traditions, they began to decorate the house. They had the time of their lives, as never before. Therap