CHAPTER 2 – PART 4
The pain in my ribs and the burning cut above my eyebrow became meaningless the moment I heard the dispatcher answer.
The voice on the other end of the line sounded distant, almost unreal.
It felt as though I were speaking to someone on another planet while my own world burned to the ground.
I gave her our exact address in Mexico City.
I repeated the apartment number three times because I could barely breathe.
"There are two elderly people who have been brutally assaulted," I said.
"My seven-year-old son has been kidnapped."
As soon as she confirmed help was on the way, I ended the call.
I couldn't afford to waste another second.
I crawled back down the hallway.
My mother was still kneeling over my father, crying uncontrollably.
Arturo's eyes remained closed.
But when I leaned closer...
I heard it.
A faint wheezing sound.
He was still breathing.
Barely.
His pulse fluttered weakly beneath my bloodstained fingers.
"Mom," I said as calmly as I could, though I was shaking inside.
"The ambulance is coming."
"Stay with Dad."
"Press a clean towel against his back."
"Don't move him."
She grabbed my hand.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
"Where are you going?"
"Look at yourself."
"You can barely stand."
I kissed her forehead.
"I'm going after Mateo."
"I swear on my life..."
"I'm bringing him home."
With more effort than I thought possible, I forced myself to my feet.
Every breath sent a knife through my ribs.
I stumbled into the living room.
The apartment looked like a battlefield.
Cold wind poured through the shattered window.
Broken glass glittered across the floor.
Near the kitchen...
The golf club still lay where I'd knocked it from Valeria's hands.
I picked it up.
The cold steel felt strangely comforting.
If Héctor thought I was just some frightened shoe store owner who would sit in a corner and cry...
He had made the biggest mistake of his life.
I ignored the elevator.
It would take too long.
Instead, I raced down the emergency stairs.
Every step jarred my broken ribs.
But adrenaline refused to let me stop.
I reached the underground parking garage and jumped into my car.
I knew I couldn't outrun a truck or SUV driven by a man like Héctor.
But I had one advantage.
One he didn't know existed.
Two months earlier, after delivery drivers for Linh Nguyễn Shop had been robbed several times, I'd bought Mateo a smartwatch with built-in GPS tracking.
Valeria had complained that it was a waste of money.
I doubted she'd even remembered he was still wearing it.
With trembling fingers, I opened the tracking app on my phone.
The map appeared.
A blinking blue dot flashed across the screen.
They were moving.
Fast.
They had already passed the Indios Verdes area and were heading toward the Mexico–Pachuca Highway.
They weren't flying north.
They were driving.
Probably because airports required identification for children, and an Amber Alert could stop them before boarding.
This way...
They thought nobody would catch them.
I slammed the accelerator to the floor.
The tires screamed as my car shot out of the garage.
Rush-hour traffic filled the streets.
I didn't care.
I cut between lanes.
Used the shoulder whenever I could.
Ran red lights.
My eyes kept darting between the road and the GPS.
The blue dot raced north.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The mysterious phone calls Valeria always took inside the bathroom.
The nights she claimed she was visiting a friend.
The smell of stale tobacco she'd come home with.
The money that disappeared from our savings account.
It had all been planned.
This wasn't a desperate mother trying to reclaim her child.
This was a calculated kidnapping.
She wanted a new life with Héctor.
And she intended to finance it with everything I'd spent years building.
After nearly thirty minutes of reckless driving, the blue dot stopped moving.
It blinked steadily beside a gas station along the Mexico–Pachuca Highway.
They must have stopped for fuel.
Or food.
This was my chance.
I pushed my car even harder.
The engine screamed in protest.
If it blew apart...
I'd keep running on foot.
Eventually, I spotted the bright lights of the station in the distance.
It was a large truck stop.
A twenty-four-hour convenience store sat beside several fuel pumps.
I slowed down.
Turned off my headlights.
And parked behind a large semi-truck where I couldn't easily be seen.
Carefully...
I looked around.
There it was.
A large black SUV.
Baja California license plates.
Its taillights glowed in the darkness.
Keeping low, I stepped out of my car.
The golf club rested against my leg.
Every breath hurt.
But the cool night air cleared my head.
Moving through the shadows, I approached the driver's side.
Through the tinted windows...
I saw Valeria sitting in the passenger seat.
She was calmly touching up her lipstick in the vanity mirror.
As though none of this had happened.
As though she hadn't nearly killed my parents.
I couldn't immediately see Mateo.
But I knew he had to be inside.
Probably forced to stay on the floor in the back seat.
Héctor wasn't in the vehicle.
I searched the parking lot.
Then I spotted him.
He walked out of the convenience store carrying a plastic bag filled with drinks and snacks.
Relaxed.
Confident.
Certain no one had followed him.
I knew I couldn't beat him in a fair fight.
Not in the condition I was in.
My body had already taken too much punishment.
The only chance I had...
Was surprise.
I slipped into the shadows beside the corner of the convenience store.
The path back to the SUV ran directly past me.
I tightened my grip on the seven iron.
My knuckles ached.
Blood from the cut above my eyebrow dripped into my left eye.
I didn't wipe it away.
I simply waited.
Héctor walked closer.
The smell of stale cigarettes reached me before he did.
The moment he passed...
I exploded out of the darkness.
With every ounce of strength I had left...
I swung.
The golf club crashed into the back of his knees.
CRACK!
The sound echoed across the nearly empty parking lot.
Héctor let out a gut-wrenching scream.
The plastic bag flew from his hand.
Soda cans and food scattered across the concrete.
His legs buckled instantly.
He collapsed onto both knees.
I didn't give him a chance to recover.
Before he could reach into his pocket—
Possibly for a weapon—
I swung again.
This time...
The club smashed into his right shoulder.
The same shoulder he'd used to slam me into the hallway wall.
The impact threw him sideways onto the pavement.
He cried out in agony.
I stepped over him.
The golf club remained raised.
Ready for another strike.
"I warned you," I said through clenched teeth.
"You should never have touched my son."
Héctor looked up at me.
The cold confidence was gone.
The arrogance had vanished.
For the first time that night...
I saw fear.
His cheek was swollen and turning dark purple where I'd punched him back at the apartment.
His mouth hung open as he struggled to breathe.
"Wait..."
He coughed.
"Easy..."
His voice sounded completely different now.
Weak.
Desperate.
Nothing like the threatening growl he'd used inside my home.
Just then...
The rear door of the SUV flew open.
Valeria jumped out.
The moment she saw Héctor lying on the pavement...
She screamed.
"What are you doing, you animal?!"
"Leave him alone!"
She rushed toward me with her long fingernails extended.
I slowly turned to face her.
The golf club remained in my hands.
A smear of Héctor's blood stained the steel.
"That's enough, Valeria."
My voice was calm.
Cold.
"If you take one more step..."
"I won't care that you're the mother of my child."
She stopped instantly.
For the first time that entire night...
I saw genuine fear in her eyes.
She finally understood.
The quiet husband who avoided arguments...
The man who always gave in...
Had died on the floor of that apartment.
Standing before her now...
Was only a father.
May you like
And he had nothing left to lose.
To be continued...
