Chapter 26 - The Informant in the Shadows
The silence in the office was suffocating. Elena’s eyes widened, her hand instinctively reaching for a pen to take notes.
"Where are you, Jimena?" Natalia demanded, her protective instincts instantly flaring at the threat against Doña Refugio.
"I can't be seen anywhere near your office. Javier is paranoid. He has Salazar’s men watching the building," Jimena whispered frantically. "Meet me at the old botanical gardens on the south side of the city. In one hour. Come alone. Please, Natalia. I am trying to make things right."
The line went dead.
Elena immediately stood up. "You are not going alone. It’s an obvious trap. Javier could be using her to lure you out."
"I know it’s a risk," Natalia said, grabbing her car keys and her jacket. "But if Javier truly gave Salazar the address to my mother’s house, I cannot afford to ignore this. Jimena sounded genuinely terrified. Javier must have crossed a line even she can't stomach."
"Then I am driving you," Elena insisted, pulling a small, legal pepper spray from her briefcase. "And we are calling private security to sit outside your mother’s house immediately."
An hour later, they parked two blocks away from the dilapidated botanical gardens. The area was overgrown and mostly abandoned, shadowed by massive, ancient weeping willow trees. Natalia told Elena to wait in the car with the engine running, promising to shout if anything went wrong.
Natalia walked down the cracked stone path, her senses on high alert. Deep inside the ruined greenhouse, sitting on a rusted iron bench, was Jimena.
The woman looked nothing like the arrogant, spoiled girl who had shrieked over a broken jar of French face cream. Jimena was painfully thin, wearing cheap, unbranded clothes, and her eyes were darting around in absolute panic.
"You came," Jimena gasped, standing up and clutching a manila folder to her chest.
"Talk, Jimena," Natalia commanded, keeping her distance. "What does Javier have to do with Salazar?"
May you like
"Everything," Jimena cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Javier was broke and furious. Salazar hired him two weeks ago. Javier still had copies of your old corporate structural files from before the divorce. He gave Salazar the blind spots in your camera networks. He told him exactly how to hurt you."
Jimena shoved the manila folder into Natalia’s hands. "This is Javier’s notebook. I stole it from his room this morning. It has all the dates, the payoffs, and the plans for the next attacks. He wrote it all down. He is so stupidly arrogant he thought no one would ever find it."
