Chapter 403 - I'll Be the Chief Again - mdfour
Miguel and Gustavo had left an hour ago to look for our brothers. Roland doesn’t have to tell me, but that son of a bitch Moore has something to do with it. I've been investigating secretly, cross-referencing information, and I just hope you process the data. He knows it, from the very moment he took him out of the game, and this week our suspect has been acting very strange.
While Cooper continues with the plan, he's shown all the pain he evidently feels. We watched the funeral from here; she was given a send-off with full honors. At least she died on her own terms. Every new face we see through him, we analyzed. I looked at the boss again; he's thinking, playing, and snapping his fingers, which he does when his mind is racing.
On the satellite screen, we saw our brothers. Under Lobo's watchful eye, we saw Rino extracting the bullet from Freddy. We heard him say he was going to put him to sleep for about four hours. Cereza is just waiting for nightfall. If a helicopter sees them, it would be very suspicious for a luxury car to be in this abandoned place.
My computer beeped. Now I would know if my theory was correct. At that moment, Roland got up from his chair.
“Rat, investigate if Moore has had contact with Emilio in prison and, in turn, who he has seen in the last six months. This smells like the past.”
He said it, and as I opened the image on the screen, a photo of Moore talking to John Hoolt appeared before me. I uploaded the information to the main database, and they fell silent as the photograph was displayed before us.
“You son of a bitch!” he shouted.
At that moment, my watch, Roland’s, and Simon’s beeped. We looked at each other. There was no need to say a single word to know that we had been attacked where it hurt the most. I took my phone and called Lupe, just as the bosses did. Aníbal just watched us. No one answered. My heart wanted to jump out of my chest.
“Lupe’s not answering.”
“Victoria’s going to voicemail.”
“Andrea’s phone is off.”
Each of us tried to analyze what was happening. My phone rang. It was an unknown number.
“Hello.”
“Dad!”
My heart raced when I heard Dayana, but I was speechless. Aníbal snatched the phone from me and put it on speaker.
“Who is this?”
“Uncle Aníbal!” My daughter was crying.
“Day, calm down, breathe, my love. Now tell me, where are you?”
“At the mall. They killed the cowboys, they took Mom, Victoria, and Andrea. I was saved because I had forgotten a bag and went back to get it. When I came back, I saw them being held at gunpoint and put into a van. I’m alone.”
“I’m coming for you, princess. Stay somewhere crowded, in the cinema area.” Churrusco took control, while I was still in another world, my wife, my little girl kidnapped. “We need to talk to the family,” Aníbal said, while I was still dazed. “LISTEN!” Churrusco’s voice brought us back. “They want to destroy the pillars! Now more than ever, you must be the Boss, the Rat, and the Turd. We’re going to rescue them. Understood? First, we need to find Dayana.”
The images on the screens showed our friends being surrounded by three vehicles, and the gunfire began. Cereza accelerated, crashing through a car blocking his way. Lobo threw a grenade, which exploded, and the chase began. I don’t think they’ll catch them.
“Damn it! Just what I needed, for the three of them to lose their heads. But I understand, my brothers.”
I was just registering what my friends were doing. Well, what Aníbal was doing. He called someone.
“Veronica, things got out of control….” Silence. “Dayana is alone at the mall, in the cinema area. Please, send someone to get her.” That was the last thing he said before hanging up. He looked at me.
“Dante went to get her.”
……
Roland
My ears were ringing while Aníbal tried to keep the situation afloat because literally, the three of us were disoriented. All I could think about were moments with my daughter; her hugs, her laughter, the times we spent hours watching princess movies, her smiling face.
Seeing her next to her mom with the animals, everything came to my mind: playing with her brothers, how I scolded them, hours spent marveling at the perfect creation of life in a being... My princess, one of my five people for whom I would give my life without hesitation, my little girl.
"Boss, look at me!" Churrusco shook me. "If they don't react, they'll kill them!" Something clicked in my head. "React or I swear I'll kick your ass! We have forty-eight hours to not lose their trail."
He said it, and I stood up and saw when Aníbal stopped the fist he was about to use to make me react.
"Were you going to hit me?" he lowered his hand.
"Yes, but I was going to run away after doing it. Are you back now? Because look, Boss."
I looked at the screens; the satellite was tracking the car. Rata must have linked the trackers the kids have in their ears. They were being chased by two trucks. I only had two days... don't think like a father, now I just need to be the son of a bitch I was in the past. I need to be cold. Think... analyze.
"Simón, I need you to track where they are." He breathed a couple of times as if accepting and coming to his senses. "Arnold... Arnold! We only have forty-eight hours to rescue them. They haven't killed them; if they wanted that, they would have done it right away. They want to blackmail us. Get me everything on Jhon Hoolt and where I can find that bastard. If he's behind all this, I want to know if there's a connection with all the brothels we've taken down."
"Do you think he's the main one?" I looked at Aníbal.
"That was his strong point. Something tells me we're screwing up his life without knowing it. I want everything, and we only have hours to get it all ready while the team arrives. Everything ready for their return. Rata, Churrusco, and Mojón, he already knows about us. So let's make him believe we're lost, that we don't know what to do."
"Roland, I don't know what to do," Arnold whispered, and Simón remained silent.
"Then Aníbal will give us the punches when he sees us losing our way."
"As long as you don't hit me back, because you three hit the hardest." This guy made us smile with his comment.
"They're still alive; they all have their trackers. We know where they are, we'll only move when they let their guard down. Let's make him believe he checkmated me. And while he thinks he screwed me over, we'll destroy his damn empire. Arnold, fill Cooper in on Moore."
"Aníbal, start setting up distractions, make him think we're convinced the kidnappers are from another country." I activated the audio. "Cereza, Lobo, Rino, and... Zombi was asleep. Stop playing cat and mouse. Eliminate them, we need you here. Lupe, Andrea, and my Princess have been kidnapped."
"What?!" they said simultaneously.
"We don't have time, resolve it, get rid of those bastards. Be at the airport in eight hours, Miguel will meet you there."
"Normally, it's an eighteen-hour drive from here to Bogotá. If we don't stop to pee, I promise we'll get there in less time."
"Excellent, Cereza, now get rid of those leeches." I deactivated the audio.
"We have twenty-four hours to know everything and spread the information, and another twenty-four to rescue them."
"For now, the signals are coming from this place." Rata put the image on the screen. "They're in Blanco, in some warehouses on the outskirts. There are about a hundred men there."
"We know where they are, let's go get them!" Arnold was desperate.
"Calm down! We're all feeling the same. If we show up without a plan, they'll kill them before we get to them. They're close, now we need to take out those following the kids, wait for them to arrive with Cooper's escorts, and then, we'll have our feast screwing those bastards."
"Roland. They have my little girl."
"I'm the Boss, I need you to be Mojón. Got it? And remember, they have Victoria and Andrea too; they're also kidnapped. Once we eliminate those two damn cars, we'll talk to our women, you'll hug your kids, and we'll tell the families we'll bring them back alive. Churrusco, I want everyone at El Renacer."
"Yes, sir."
"Arnold." He looked at me. "We can only save them if we work as a team, so I'll be the Boss again if necessary. If they touched them, I'll skin Hoolt myself."