Chapter 13 - The Desperate MatriarchOn the outskirts of the city, in a dingy, smoke-filled motel room that smelled of cheap bleach and desperation, Elena Villaseñor was losing her mind.
She was wearing the same white Chanel suit from two days ago. It was wrinkled and stained. Her pearls felt heavy. Her phone battery was at three percent.
She had called every contact she had. Senators, judges, board members. Every single one of them had sent her straight to voicemail. Diego’s warning had been absolute: anyone who helped Elena would be financially destroyed by noon.
"Ungrateful little bastard," Elena hissed, throwing her phone across the cheap bedspread.
A heavy knock on the motel door made her jump.
She cautiously opened it, leaving the chain lock on.
Standing in the hallway was a massive, scarred man wearing a leather jacket. He didn't look like the corporate fixers she was used to dealing with. He looked like the kind of man who made people disappear.
"Señora Villaseñor," the man grunted. "You called?"
Elena unlatched the door and let him in. She pulled a heavy manila envelope from her designer handbag and tossed it onto the rickety table.
"There is fifty thousand dollars in cash in there," Elena said, her voice shaking with toxic rage. "It’s all I have left from my private emergency safe."
The man checked the envelope, thumbing through the thick stacks of bills. "Who is the target?"
"Not a hit," Elena snapped, her eyes wide and manic. "A retrieval."
She pulled out a photograph of a three-year-old girl holding a stuffed rabbit.
"That is my granddaughter," Elena lied smoothly, twisting the narrative to fit her delusion. "Her mother is a deranged, drug-addicted former maid who brainwashed my son and kidnapped the child. Diego is too blinded by her to see the truth. I need you to take the girl."
The man frowned, looking at the picture. "Kidnapping a billionaire's kid? That's suicide. Diego Villaseñor has half the city's police force in his pocket."
"He won't call the police," Elena insisted frantically. "Once I have the child, I will have the leverage. I will force him to sign the company back over to me, and I will force him to exile that filthy woman. Just grab the girl and bring her to the private airstrip in Toluca. I have a pilot waiting."
The man stared at the cash. It was a risky job, but fifty thousand was fifty thousand.
May you like
"They drop the kid off at the St. Jude Academy at 8:00 AM," the man said coldly. "I'll grab her during recess."
Elena smiled. It was an ugly, broken smile. "Do whatever it takes. Just get me that leverage."
Related Stories
