Chapter 45 - The Federal HandoffMateo burst out of the drainage pipe into the cool night air, miles away from the Vargas compound. The sky was beginning to turn a bruised purple, signaling the dawn.
He collapsed against a concrete wall, gasping for air, his muscles screaming in agony.
He reached into his jacket. The heavy black ledger was safe.
He tapped his earpiece. "Silva. I am clear. I have the book. What is your status?"
Static.
"Silva? Come in!"
Nothing. Only the terrifying, empty hiss of dead air.
Mateo’s heart sank. The old federale had bought him the time he needed with his life. Silva had known it was a suicide mission from the start.
Mateo forced himself to stand up. He couldn't mourn now. He had to finish what Silva had started. He began the long, agonizing walk back to the secure warehouse on the outskirts of the city.
When he arrived, the heavy metal gates were exactly as they had left them. He punched in the code, slipping inside.
Laura was pacing the concrete floor of the office, holding a sleeping Jimena. When she saw Mateo, covered in dirt, smelling of ozone and smoke, she broke down in tears of absolute relief.
"You're alive," she sobbed, throwing her free arm around his neck.
"I have it," Mateo whispered, pulling the ledger from his jacket and dropping it onto the desk.
"Where is Silva?" Laura asked, looking at the door behind him.
Mateo looked at the floor, shaking his head slowly. "He didn't make it out. He held the line so we could live."
Laura covered her mouth, a fresh wave of tears falling.
"We have to make his sacrifice mean something," Mateo said, his voice hardening with absolute resolve. He opened the ledger, flipping to a page in the back that Silva had told him about before they left.
It was a list of emergency contacts, but not cartel contacts. It was a list of uncorrupted federal judges in Mexico City.
Mateo grabbed the secure landline phone from Silva’s desk. He dialed the number for a man named Magistrate Reyes.
The phone rang three times before a groggy voice answered. "Who is this?"
"My name is Mateo Castillo," he said clearly. "I am in Guadalajara, and I have the physical ledger detailing the bribery network of the Vargas cartel, including the active Governor of Jalisco."
The line went dead silent.
"Where are you?" Reyes finally asked, his voice instantly alert.
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"I'll text you the coordinates," Mateo said. "Send the military. Not the local police. The military. If you send anyone else, we burn the book."
"Hold your position, Castillo. The helicopters are launching now."
