Chapter 38 - The Ghost of the FederalesThey ran until their lungs burned and their legs felt like lead.
Mateo led his family through a series of narrow, unlit alleys, avoiding the main avenues where Hector’s men were undoubtedly patrolling in vehicles. They ended up in an abandoned, half-constructed apartment building on the edge of the industrial district.
They huddled in the corner of a bare concrete room on the third floor, shivering in the cool night air.
Jimena was crying softly into Laura’s shoulder. Emiliano sat silently, his small hands gripping his father’s jacket.
"We have nothing," Laura whispered, rocking Jimena. "No money. No car. No phones."
"We have our lives," Mateo replied fiercely, though his heart was heavy with guilt. He had promised them safety, and he had failed.
"Hector has the ledger," Laura said. "Why is he still trying to kill us?"
"Because I saw his face. I know he has the book," Mateo explained. "That ledger contains the names of politicians and police captains on the cartel payroll. If anyone knows Hector has it, he loses his leverage. We are loose ends."
"So what do we do? We can't hide in an empty building forever."
Mateo looked out the empty window frame, staring at the distant city lights.
"We need help. Someone who isn't on the payroll. Someone who hates the Vargas cartel as much as we do."
"Who?"
"Silva," Mateo said.
Laura looked at him in shock. "Mateo, no. Silva is a ghost. He was forced into retirement because Arturo Vargas put a hit out on his family. He won't help us. He’s completely off the grid."
"He owes me," Mateo insisted. "Before I was a mechanic, before all of this... I fixed a car for him. A car he used to escape an ambush in Sinaloa. He told me if I ever needed a ghost, I should go to the old church in Tlaquepaque and light three red candles at the altar."
"That sounds like a myth, Mateo."
"It's all we have," he said, standing up. "You wait here. Hide in the shadows. Do not make a sound until I return."
"You're leaving us?" Emiliano asked, his voice trembling.
Mateo knelt down, looking his son directly in the eye.
"The knight sometimes has to go into the dark alone to find a weapon, Emiliano. But he always comes back. Do you understand?"
Emiliano nodded bravely.
May you like
Mateo kissed Laura’s forehead. "I'll be back before dawn."
He slipped out into the darkness, moving like a shadow through the city that had once again become a battlefield.
