Chapter 6 - The Night Cortez Came Back
Cortez returned two nights later.
He came for the evidence.
But the ranch was under surveillance.
At 2:13 a.m., the security alarm went off.
I woke immediately.
Mariana was sleeping beside Sofia.
I grabbed my phone.
The sheriff answered.
“Stay inside.”
I heard footsteps outside.
Then glass shattered.
Sofia woke up screaming.
Mariana pulled her close.
I locked the bedroom door.
“It's okay.”
“No,” Mariana whispered.
“He's here.”
I knew.
Cortez.
The hallway went dark.
Then the door handle moved.
I stood behind it.
The door opened.
A deputy tackled the intruder.
Another man ran from the back door.
Gunshots echoed outside.
Then silence.
Cortez had escaped.
But he left something behind.
A phone.
The sheriff searched it.
There were hundreds of messages.
One from Rodrigo.
Mom knows everything.
Another from Cortez:
Then she dies tonight.
I stared at the screen.
The sheriff looked at me.
“It's over.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“It isn't.”
“What do you mean?”
I pointed to the message.
“Cortez doesn't know where the evidence is.”
The sheriff understood.
“He'll come back.”
“Yes.”
So we waited.
At dawn, another message arrived.
This time, from Cortez.
Meet me at the barn.
I went.
The sheriff wanted to stop me.
I refused.
We arranged surveillance.
I stood inside the old barn.
Cortez appeared.
Older than I remembered.
Tired.
Desperate.
He pointed a gun.
“You should have stayed in Spain.”
I looked at him.
“My husband warned me about men like you.”
“He was stubborn.”
“He was brave.”
“He was foolish.”
I smiled.
“He was smarter than you.”
Cortez laughed.
“Do you know how much that land is worth?”
“Enough to kill for?”
“Enough to change the state.”
“Then why are you still broke?”
His face tightened.
I had hit the truth.
“You don't own anything,” I said.
“You've spent your whole life taking.”
He stepped closer.
“Where are the documents?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
I smiled.
“Somewhere you will never find them.”
Then the lights turned on.
Sheriff's deputies surrounded him.
Cortez dropped the weapon.
He was arrested.
And for the first time in years, the ranch became quiet.
Not peaceful.
May you like
Not yet.
But quiet.
