Chapter 10 - The Ambush|
The word 'kidnapped' hung in the air like a guillotine. Mateo shot up from his chair, his hands balled into fists.
"Kidnapped? You saved my life!" Mateo shouted. "If you hadn't found me in that doghouse, I would be dead! Where was she then? Where was her money when I was freezing in the dirt?"
"Calm down, son," Detective Vargas said gently. "The law is a complicated beast. Biological ties carry a lot of weight in family court, especially when the biological parent has unlimited financial resources to drag things out."
"I won't go with her," Mateo spat, his voice trembling with a mixture of rage and fear. "I'll run away first."
"No one is running away," Mariana said firmly, walking over and placing her hands on his shoulders. "We fight this. We won before, and we will win again."
Later that afternoon, Mateo tried to clear his head by coaching the junior soccer team on the foundation's back field. He needed the normalcy, the sound of kids laughing, the thud of the ball against the grass.
He was setting up the bright orange cones for a dribbling drill when a black Mercedes sedan slowly pulled up to the curb. The tinted window rolled down with a soft hum.
It was Arthur Vance. The man from the yard.
"Mateo," the lawyer called out smoothly, leaning out the window. "A word, if you please?"
Mateo froze. The younger kids stopped their chatter, staring at the strange car.
"Stay back, guys," Mateo told the children, stepping cautiously toward the fence. "What do you want?"
"Just delivering a message from your mother," Vance smiled, holding up a small, velvet jewelry box. "She wanted you to have this. An heirloom. To prove she’s always loved you."
"I don't want anything from her," Mateo spat, gripping the chain-link fence.
"You're a smart boy. Surviving what you did takes grit," Vance continued, ignoring his refusal. "Mariana means well, I'm sure. But she's broke, Mateo. Her little foundation is hanging by a thread. Your mother can give you the world. Private schools, cars, a future."
"Mariana gave me a future," Mateo glared. "Tell my mother to go to hell."
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Vance’s smile didn't waver, but his eyes turned completely dead.
"Wrong answer, kid. We tried the carrot. Now, we use the stick. Watch the news tonight." The window rolled up, and the Mercedes sped off, leaving Mateo choking on the dust.
