Chapter 124 - Roland's mother - meddos
Simón
I had the same feeling, and it wasn't new. Something was happening, and I had no damn clue.
"That makes two of us."
No matter how much I looked, I couldn't find anything. We got into the truck, found the hotel's address, picked up what we had left, and checked out. On the way back to San Antonio, we arrived at a hotel, rested a bit after lunch. We decided to go to the only address we had about the older woman who was there the day Roland died. Mojón stayed in the truck while I waited in front of a house in a very luxurious neighborhood.
"Good afternoon, sir." A woman with Latin features opened the door.
"Good afternoon."
"How can I help you?" I sighed.
"I'm looking for a woman who lived in this house."
"Who is Lupe?"
"We need information, ma'am." An older woman came to the door, and I stepped forward to introduce myself.
"My name is Simón Moreno, I come from Colombia, I'm looking for this lady." I took out the photo. The old woman looked at it and then scrutinized me.
"Come in, Consuelo was also Colombian," she said.
"I came with a friend."
"Tell him to come." The lady looked toward the truck, I signaled to Mojón, and he joined us. We entered the house. "Bring us something to drink, Lupe."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Take a seat. Believe me, I'm very curious as to why you're asking about who was my housekeeper until six years ago."
"Do you know where I can find her?" The old woman looked at us, and after a few minutes, which seemed eternal to me, she spoke.
"She worked for me for ten years until Luisa became a professional and took her out of work. She has a wonderful daughter, a great girl. Why are you looking for her?"
"That's what I want to know, ma'am. We only have one lead, and we need to find the woman who was with her. Now it could be her daughter accompanying her."
"I've never seen a mother-daughter relationship as close and beautiful as theirs. I suppose life repaid her a bit for her pain."
"Do you know where I can find her?"
"She always called me, but she hasn't for almost a year. I wouldn't know where she might be. Because of her daughter's job, they travel all over the country. She works with a government agency, holds an important position."
"Can I count on you if I leave my contact information for you to give her and tell her I'm looking for her?"
"Consuelo has American citizenship."
"Don't worry, I just need her to tell me what she was doing in Colombia about three months ago in a clinic."
"She went back?" The old woman was surprised. "She constantly cried about not being able to return. She always said she left half her heart in her country. She managed to save Luisa, but she couldn't save the second one. It's a shame I can't help you locate her. I miss her a lot, she was my companion for many years. She told me her life story."
"Could you tell me something about it?" The old woman scrutinized me again.
"She was fleeing from her husband who wanted to kill her. She rescued her daughter from the clutches of her father who was about to rape her. When she found out, the girl was naked, he had molested her. She arrived just in time before it got worse, which prevented Luisa's trauma from being more severe." I felt anger, I hate those damn rapists.
"She left the house with the girl in her arms to put her to safety, intending to return the next day to get her son, Luisa's twin brother, but her husband had taken him. She spent a year trying to find them, not to save her marriage, no, she needed to rescue her boy.
"The day she found her husband, she confronted him with the police. The scoundrel told her he had left the house. Since then, Consuelo was never the same. She didn't find him. She searched for another year but didn't find him, while her husband did locate them and threatened them again. At that moment, she decided to leave the country with the help of a cousin who already worked in this city.
"As an undocumented immigrant, she worked for many years in family homes until she came to my house, and under my protection, she was able to get her papers. Luisa was able to study. There wasn't a single day that Consuelo didn't entrust her son's soul to prayers. Her dedication to prayer was admirable. For a believer, she protected him and kept him away from death."
"It's strange what you're telling me, something tells me... It couldn't be... What was Mrs. Consuelo's last name?"
"If my memory serves me right, it's Manjarrez." My heart skipped a beat. "And her husband's was Sandoval."
"Roland found his mother..."
I couldn't understand how I could have been so blind to what this idiot was doing behind my back. One thing was for sure, he found and met his match when Mrs. Veronica showed up. I felt like laughing, cursing, and laughing again. You were so close to getting what you wanted, Roland, so close.
On the way back to the hotel, Mojón drove. I was still overwhelmed by what I had discovered. I needed to talk to Mrs. Veronica, to see if she wanted to live in this country. Tomorrow, I would go back to the estate to take pictures and show her. She could continue breeding thoroughbred horses. So much to think about.
We had dinner, slept, and left for the estate very early. Staying there for a while seemed like the best option until the threat from Roland calmed down. I took pictures of the entire place and felt the same sensation of being watched. I must be getting paranoid. We returned to the truck in the afternoon; it was time for the flight, and I needed to get back. Each of us retreated to our rooms to pack the few things we had bought when the alarm from the clock signaled that Roland's wife was very scared.
I called her, but she didn't answer. I called Cebolla, but he didn't answer either. I pulled out the information. From the bag I always carried, I took out a cable, connected it to my laptop, and confirmed that they were not at the house. Damn it! I called again without getting a response, even dialing Rasca culo's cell phone.
"Shit!"
The knocks on the door made me react; I had been standing still like an idiot. When I opened it, Mojón came in with his gun in hand.
"Help me call anyone from the house. No one is answering, and the lady is in danger or something happened to her." More than five damn minutes passed, which felt like cursed years. I didn't think I could get more upset than I already was when I saw Cebolla's name on the phone screen.
"I took care of the problem, Rata," Cebolla's voice was tense. "They killed one of ours… Navaja. I took down Zuluaga and a squad of his men. The bastard was going to kidnap her. This shit is heating up."
"Good job. I'm leaving today at three in the afternoon. Pass her to me."
"Sure!"
I closed my eyes, remembering the time she was kidnapped before her wedding. Again, the same thing. I heard her crying.
"I'll be there at dawn," I said.
"They were going to take the child. They hit Diana and Inés, and Miguel was injured." My blood boiled.
"Did they do anything to you?"
"Apart from the scare, nothing. We're on our way to the clinic to get Inés's hand checked and stitches for Diana and Miguel. Isaac is fine; Cebolla arrived in time. He told us not to go out, but we wanted to run some errands."
"Errands?!"
"We were accompanying Diana to look for an apartment," she confessed.
"Don't look for trouble. Starting Monday, Colombia will be hot. There's a lot to talk about, and don't make me be drastic."
"Miguel is hysterical, angry… well, very mad."
"And so am I. You're lucky I'm far away… What were you thinking?!" I yelled.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think… besides, Diana wants to be independent."
"She can't now! Believe me, in our damn world, our weaknesses spread like gossip. Now they know who Cebolla's weakness is. Didn't life with her husband teach her that she isn't free to roam the streets like nothing?"
"I'm sorry, don't scold me. We're at the clinic. I'll pass you to Miguel."
"Rata… we'll talk later. I'm still… If I don't follow them..."
"Good job."
"You found out something, right?"
"You have no idea… we'll talk later. Set up the priority security protocol, add two more rings, and keep only our inner circle near them."
"Yes, sir. Inés barely made it out..."
"It doesn't matter. I want them all to have a tracker."
"I'll have them made."
"Everything okay, boss?" Mojón asked. I shook my head.
"They tried to take the lady again, injured Cebolla, beat up Inés and Diana, almost took the kid, and Navaja is dead."
"What did they do to my girl? I can't imagine Cebolla's reaction." I confirmed.
"He exposed himself. In these cases, there's always someone watching. Now they know our friend's weakness. They know about his family, a woman and a child."
I bet my balls that as soon as he killed the last threat, he kissed Diana in front of everyone. I would have done the same.
"Wow! Rasca culo won the bet. He said that bastard finally fell in love. See what I mean? That man is spot on with his visions."