Chapter 212 - Steel nerves - meters
Guadalupe
I carried Milena, placed her in the car seat I had brought upstairs, and then Astrid handed me Andrea. At that moment, Arnold came in, grabbed the twins' car seat, I carried Isaac, and Astrid carried Sebastián, holding Melisa's hand while I held Enrique's. They were awake, so I grabbed my bag, and we went downstairs. We entered the garage with the lights off.
"Astrid, you'll have to hold this seat on your lap."
He handed Melisa her little brother, she got into the car, and Arnold gave her the baby seat. The car was quite spacious. He then lifted Melisa, placed Sebastián beside her, buckled her up, and gave her the baby to hold.
"Beautiful princess, don't let go of your brother for anything in the world." He then helped Enrique in, buckled him up, and handed him Isaac. "Champ, you need to hold and protect your little cousin. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Get in, kid."
I got into the car, and he left us. He went back into the house, and a few minutes later, we heard a burst of gunfire. Astrid screamed, nerves took over me, he wasn't there, anything could happen, and he wasn't there.
I felt relief when I saw him come in, his shirt stained with blood. He was a different man, cold, embodying his role as Mojón. He got into the car, handed me a large, heavy bag, and when I looked, I saw it was full of weapons and several passports.
"Buckle up."
With a calmness I admired at the moment, because I couldn't buckle up due to my trembling hands, he took the seatbelt and fastened it. Our eyes met.
"I apologize for what you're about to see."
Everything turned into an action movie. Never in my life had I thought I could be in the middle of a shootout. Two men entered the garage and fired at the car, the bullets ricocheting. Arnold stuck his hand out the window and coldly shot each one in the head. He opened the garage door with a button from inside the car.
A hail of bullets hit the car, the children's screams and Astrid's cries were heard. He accelerated and ran over four men, driving with the skill of a Formula 1 racer towards the exit. Along the way, he fired through a small opening in the window.
I don't know if he killed them, but they fell. I noticed they were wearing bulletproof vests. Arnold aimed to kill or immobilize them. The house guards were dead. As we exited, I saw Arnold had a remote control in his hand, and when he pressed it, there was an explosion. Looking back… he demolished the house!
"I knew you'd get us out alive, Uncle Arnold. I can call you uncle, right?"
"Of course, champ." The gunfire resumed just as Arnold's phone rang. "Lupe, answer it, it's Simón. Put it on speaker. Rat!"
"What the hell is happening?!"
"I've got three damn trucks chasing me! Where do I go?"
"Arenal, we were on our way back, we'll meet on the road… Mojón…"
"I know, Rat! In this damn car are the only reasons you guys are human. I'm worried about the ladies, they’ll be here soon. And I have three trucks chasing me down the north highway. I can't imagine the news and the cleanup we’ll have to do." At that moment, Arnold looked in the rearview mirror.
"Those sons of bitches!"
The car swerved to the side, and I saw a projectile hit the car in front of us, which exploded into flames. Arnold accelerated more. Rat's scream on the other end of the phone showed how helpless he felt.
"They just fired a damn bazooka, Rat! When the hell has that happened in Bogotá?! They're not from here."
"Mojón, don't let them catch up. Get ahead, you have a supercar. We'll meet on the way."
I was scared to death, but if I panicked, it would be worse for him. Astrid was praying with a rosary in her mouth, Melisa started crying, and thank God the rest of the babies were asleep. I put the bag on the floor and unbuckled myself to calm the girl.
"Melisa, sweetheart, look at me." The girl obeyed. "That's it. Nothing's going to happen to us."
"Lupe's right. I know they'll take care of us, they saved me once." Enrique took her hand.
"We need to be quiet, that's our way of helping Uncle Arnold."
I got back in my seat. We were going at an insane speed in the car. Through the rearview mirror, I saw the cars behind us. I had no idea what happened to the people who died a while ago. The phone rang again. I hit accept and put it on speaker.
"Luisa will take care of keeping the women safe. She just wants to know how the kids are."
"The kids are fine, Rata. They were after Cereza's kids. They said in broken Spanish that he was the only one of the cartel leaders who had children. Conclusion, they wanted to threaten us with our brother's kids and two; they don't know you all have kids."
"When they saw the house was surrounded, they killed whoever they found. I managed to take down about six of them. They jumped over the walls, I activated the security protocol, sent all the information to SSCTC, and destroyed all the hard drives. I also demolished the house. There were many men inside, but even so, I have three trucks on my tail."
"We're tracking you. We'll meet in twenty minutes, and you got a fifteen-minute lead on those bastards."
"Good, see you in a few minutes."
"Don't stop until the kids are safe."
"Yes, sir."
He hadn't lost his calm, and that feeling was transmitted to me. He didn't slow down. After a few minutes, I saw two cars approaching us at the same time.
"Arnold! They're going to hit us."
I almost howled. But at the same time, just before they hit us, each car swerved to the side to let us pass, and through the rearview mirrors, I saw them merge back. Arnold was smiling.
"Those sons of bitches are something else! One is Miguel, and the other is Cereza." I felt everything rise to my throat. "This time, I'll miss the party." I must have been pale. "You turned out to be a good copilot, Tadpole. I know you're scared to death, but you didn't scream like a hysterical old lady."
"This is no time for jokes. I need to go to the bathroom." It wasn't a lie. Arnold's laugh was contagious. "I've never been so scared in my life."
"Now we're going to a safe place. We should get there in an hour and wait for them."
"Can they kill them?"
"Maybe." He smiled confidently. "Don't worry, they'll be the ones to kill those who were following us."
"Why don't you call them to see how they are?"
"They'll do it. They need concentration now. They're calm because the kids are already safe. We've left hell behind, Tadpole." I covered my face, and Arnold's hand removed it, keeping my hand in his. "Are you scared of us?" I shook my head.
"On the contrary, you're admirable in your role as a Badass."
I couldn't decipher his look, and I didn't know what it meant that he still had my hand in his. Everything was shaking, and now I had to add the joy of having him beside me. It took a lot to control that.
"I just confirmed what I've been told about you. When you truly care about someone, you protect them to the death."
He looked at me and nodded. The rest of the trip continued in silence with our hands joined.
……
Miguel
Despite the situation, we were laughing. In the car I was driving, Rata was my copilot, and Rasca, Lobo, and Mole were in the back. They were admiring the badassery of the Badass for not showing fear. Since the invasion alert was activated at Cereza's house, a protocol installed by Rata in all our homes, we knew.
We were already on our way back. We stopped the cars to see what was happening and listened to the Badass updating us on how they tried to kidnap our nephews. Each of us armed ourselves. Rata and I stripped down on the side of the road to put on our suits.
I still don't understand his ability to anticipate certain situations. In the morning, when Gustavo said he felt something strange, we equipped the trucks with a good arsenal and our suits. I already had mine. We put the earpieces in our ears.
In the other car, Cereza was driving, Churrusco was the copilot, and Mueco, Cuajao, and Zombi were in the back. When Rata told us we were less than five minutes away, I proposed a challenge to Cereza. I wanted to test our younger brother's nerves. I felt proud to see that Arnold didn't slow down. He faced us, showing not only coldness but also confidence. He understood very well.
"Arnold has nerves of steel. That badass didn't slow down," commented Rata, also like a proud father. Our way of praising, not everyone accepted it. Our code was higher. Once again, we would be under Rata's orders. That made my adrenaline rise. There were many things to discuss, but the attempt to kidnap two of our nephews had us furious, and Cereza was ready to kill.