Chapter 6 - The Safe House
Mateo drove with his lights off, navigating by the pale light of the rising moon until he reached the main highway toward San Miguel de Allende. He knew he couldn't go to a hotel, and he couldn't go to a public hospital, even though Emiliano desperately needed medical attention.
He made a call to the only person he trusted implicitly: Dr. Manuel Torres, a retired pediatrician and an old family friend who lived in a secluded ranch on the outskirts of San Miguel.
"Mateo," Manuel said, answering on the first ring. "What's going on? Laura called me. She was hysterical. She's on her way to my place now."
"We're coming to you, Manuel," Mateo said, his voice cracking with exhaustion. "I have Emiliano. He's... he's in bad shape. He's been held in a basement or crawlspace for a year."
"Good Lord..." Manuel gasped. "Bring him. I'll have my medical kit ready. My ranch is secure. No one knows I'm here."
Two hours later, Mateo pulled the battered, dusty SUV through the wooden gates of Manuel’s ranch. The gates closed behind them, and the lights of the old stone house felt like a beacon of hope in the dark.
As soon as the car stopped, the front door of the house flew open. Laura ran out.
She didn't look like herself. Her hair was wild, her eyes red and puffy. She threw herself at the back door of the SUV, tearing it open.
"Emiliano!" she shrieked.
Emiliano blinked at the sudden light. He looked at Laura, his little face transition from fear to disbelief. "Mommy?"
Laura collapsed into the backseat, gathering her son into her arms. She wept with a raw, primal agony that quickly transformed into pure, ecstatic joy. She kissed his face, his hair, his dirty hands, holding him as if she could fuse him back into her own body.
"My baby... my beautiful baby..." she sobbed.
Mateo stepped out of the car, carrying Jimena, who was finally fast asleep from sheer exhaustion. He walked over to Manuel, who was standing on the porch with a look of utter shock on his face.
"He's malnourished, Manuel," Mateo said quietly. "And terrified. Julian kept him under the floorboards of Rebeca's house."
"We need to get him inside," Manuel said, his professional instincts kicking in. "I need to check his vitals, hydrate him, and make sure he doesn't have any severe infections."
Inside the warm, rustic living room, Manuel set up a makeshift clinic. He gently examined Emiliano, who refused to let go of Laura’s hand.
"He's severely vitamin D deficient, and his muscles have begun to atrophy slightly from lack of space to move," Manuel whispered to Mateo and Laura. "But miraculously, he is stable. He’s been fed, though poorly. The trauma is deep, but physically... he will recover."
As Laura held Emiliano, feeding him warm broth spoon by spoon, Mateo sat at the wooden dining table with Manuel.
"We need to go to the federal authorities," Manuel said. "Julian is powerful in Querétaro, but he has no reach over the Federal Police in Mexico City. I have a contact there. A commissioner who cannot be bought."
"We go tomorrow morning," Mateo said.
May you like
But as he spoke, the lights in the house suddenly flickered.
And went out.
