Chapter 10 - The Ransom of BloodThree hours passed in the subterranean silence of the vault.
Valeria sat on a cot, rocking Mateo back and forth, singing soft lullabies to keep his mind off the muffled vibrations of explosives hitting the mountain above them.
Then, the shaking stopped. The muffled gunfire ceased.
Silence fell over the compound. It was a suffocating, terrifying silence.
Valeria stared at the heavy steel door, praying to see the green light on the keypad activate. Praying to see Alejandro walk through.
Suddenly, the encrypted satellite phone mounted on the bunker wall began to ring.
It was a harsh, jarring sound. Valeria jumped. Only Alejandro had the number to this phone.
She practically ran to the wall and snatched the receiver off the hook.
"Alejandro?" she breathed out desperately.
A low, cruel chuckle echoed through the speaker.
Valeria’s blood turned to ice. It wasn't Alejandro.
"Well, well. You must be the little maid who caused so much trouble," a raspy, heavily accented voice said. "The one who killed Ignacio."
"Who is this?" Valeria demanded, her grip tightening on the phone.
"I am the man who currently has El Patrón on his knees with a gun to his head," the voice said smoothly. It was El Verdugo—the executioner for the Sombras cartel. "Your compound is ours. Your men are dead. But Alejandro... he is proving to be quite stubborn. He won't give us the access codes to his offshore accounts."
Valeria couldn't breathe. Alejandro is captured.
"What do you want?" she whispered, her voice shaking.
"He cares about you, little maid. And the boy," El Verdugo said. "I found his security monitors. I see you sitting in that vault. Cute."
Valeria’s eyes darted to the small camera mounted in the corner of the ceiling. They were watching her.
"Here is the deal," the man continued. "You have the override code to open that vault from the inside. Open the door. Bring the boy up to the courtyard. If Alejandro sees a gun pointed at his son's head, he will give me the bank codes. Do this, and I will let you and the boy walk away."
"You're lying," Valeria spat.
"Maybe," El Verdugo laughed. "But if you don't open that door in exactly two minutes... I will blow Alejandro’s brains out on a live feed for you to watch, and then I will pack this mountain with enough C4 to turn that vault into your tomb. Your choice, maid."
The line went dead.
Valeria dropped the phone. Her hands shook violently.
Mateo walked over and tugged on her dress. He looked up at her, his big brown eyes filled with an unspoken question.
Valeria looked at the keypad next to the door. She looked at the terrified little boy who had finally learned to smile again. And she thought of the ruthless, broken man who had kissed her like the world was ending.
She wasn't a cartel soldier. She was a twenty-two-year-old girl from the slums of Santa Catarina. But she was done running.
Valeria walked over to a heavy metal cabinet at the back of the vault. She opened it. Inside were rows of body armor, tactical gear, and high-powered weaponry.
She pulled out a lightweight Kevlar vest and strapped it over her dress. Then, she picked up a sleek, fully loaded 9mm Glock.
"Mateo," Valeria said, her voice dropping an octave, finding a cold, hard resolve she didn't know she possessed. She knelt in front of him. "Hide under the cot. Put your hands over your ears. Do not come out."
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She walked to the vault door and placed her hand over the keypad.
She wasn't going to hand over the heir to the Ríos cartel. She was going to save its king.
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