Victoria Blanca #3
The first guy didn’t bother answering and the other two just moved, as one fiddled with his hat, while the other scanned the garage.
There was a door at the end cracked open just enough to see cheap white tile and someone’s foot scraping against the ground.
I risked a quick and careful glance, just as peeked through a crack along with the blue sky Out there was my life, or at least the part of it that hadn’t been robbed from me or zip tied.
I rolled my thumb against the plastic tie again, feeling it loosen just a little more.
Each time hurt, but at this point I was used to pain.
It kind of reminded me that I was still here, even though I’d been kidnapped.
Inside, the humid heat had already begun soaking through my uniform and I hated to sweat unless I was working out or getting worked out.
I felt the perspiration building up on my neck and got angry all over again.
I kept my head down and tried not to look at their faces too much, but every detail did matter on down to the painted columns, the numbers on the doors, the way their shoes sounded on the concrete and everything.
I would count their heartbeats if I could hear them.
“Walk,” the first man said, and something in his voice told me he was done being patient with me.
I walked because there was nothing else to do, and the rough plastic digging into my wrists with every step was pissing me off.
The garage felt endless at this point simply echoing with footsteps just awaiting what was coming next.
I tried to keep my focus and to keep my head clear with every little detail flashing through my mind with my own voice in my head repeating everything unwilling to shut up.
I even memorized the way the first guy flicked his wrist in the direction the cameras pointed, which is how I was even aware that cameras were watching us in the first place.
We finally reached a metal door with a keypad and a blinking red camera at the top of it.
The man tapped something on the pad and waited for the buzz that meant we were allowed in.
I felt like we were being watched and maybe it was El Blanca himself, or maybe some bored security guy somewhere eating donuts.
It could’ve also been no one at all and was there for the theatrics.
I didn’t let my face give my emotions away, but my eyes probably showed a different story allowing them to believe whatever they wanted
The lock clicked and the man shoved the door open with his knuckles, revealing another guy waiting inside.
He had a tattoo on his right wrist of a black Aguila Negra Eagle, which was something I recognized from too many stories and too many warnings back home.
This wasn’t random at all… nope… this was planned and very personal.
I felt my pulse pick up and tried not to show it.
I was in the middle of something big and ugly, and there was no way to know who was watching or what they wanted from me at the moment, but I would soon find out.
I kept moving, because sometimes survival was just a matter of momentum and memory.
“Inside,” the first man said.
I obediently stepped forward with my heart thumping like crazy as the garage noise faded behind us.
The room was filled with a dim light and dirty white tile, and while on the other side of the door it smelled polluted, on this side everything smelled way too clean, but with that weird, sweet cologne mixed into the air.
The door slammed shut; and I was now locked in, and there was no turning back.
I thought of Dom and how he’d always seem to see or know every escape route and warn his people about exits that looked safe but weren’t.
His voice echoed in my head, and I knew I shouldn’t try to run unless I actually had somewhere to run.
I had it all played out in my head. If I took off, I didn’t know where I was going, but at least I’d still be moving trying to survive even if it felt like a trap.
My aching wrist snapped me from my foolish thoughts.
I’d been working it loose right up under their noses and they still hadn’t noticed.
I did one more wiggle with my thumb until something finally popped but not enough to break free. Shit!
All I needed was some kind of a distraction at the right moment and maybe I’d slip my hand out and cause some real trouble if I was going to die anyway.
The first guy put his hand on my backside, all fake and gentle like he was guiding me down the hall at some fancy party as my date or something, except there wasn’t a damn thing fancy here.
I kept walking, counting every step, and little every sound, no longer caring about taking in my surroundings memorizing faces, shoes, columns, everything I could in case I ever got the chance to run.
“Victoria,” he called like he knew me. I didn’t know him at all.
I lifted my chin. “My name is Valerie,” I replied, with pride of my new identity.
He smiled the kind of smile they usually always did when they wanted to put fear in people. “Not today.”
The tiny room swallowed us and the moment I heard that second bolt click on the door behind me, I felt every inch of freedom vanish like the world had got the best of me.
I’d survived cartel wars, and many more bloody situations but at this point, I had to be cursed simply for being El Blanca’s blood.
For a few seconds, it went silent as my heart raced and I scanned every face, looking for an answer.
Then, out of nowhere, a phone started ringing loudly interrupting the silence.
One of the men glanced down looking annoyed as he answered with a grunt in his voice sounding impatient making my gut scream even more.
I wished they’d cut all of the dramatics and kill me already if that was the case. He listened and then hung up.
“El patrón changed the plan,” he finally muttered, sliding his phone back inside of his pocket. His eyes cut to me like I was his worst enemy. “We’re taking you back to the spa.”
Back to the spa? I thought to myself as my head spun.
Why the hell did my uncle want me dropped off there right where he’d kidnapped me from?
My heart pounded even harder in my chest, but I kept my face cool.
No way I’d let these idiots see me sweat.
Another guy shoved a phone into my hand, and I didn’t need to guess who it was. That voice sent chills down my spine.
“Victoria…” My uncle dragged out my name like he owned me or something, like he was getting a kick out of this. “I’ll ask you one last time, are you ready to come home, to stand with your blood, have you learned your lesson? Or will you keep throwing yourself at a man who will never choose you?”
My voice got caught in my throat for a split second it’s like I was right there in his face instead of here in Miami.
I was a little girl again in Cuba, the weight of this life was on my shoulder, but he was the only family I thought I had left.
I remembered the safety, the control he carried, the way I mistook his dominance for love, but then that image burned away, replaced by everything I’d built here.
Dom had given me a chance, something El Blanca never would have.
He gave me my condo, my job, my freedom, my future… a life.
My voice shook, but I held it steady. “If it makes you happy to see me dead, then do it,” I said flatly. “But I’m not yours anymore. I have my own life now.”
The guy closest to me shoved another phone in my hand and this one was bigger and heavier.
I could tell right away there was a tracker hidden in it.
They were planning to keep tabs on me until I broke.
As quick as they took me, they drove me back to the spa and when they finally dumped me out of the van behind the spa, my legs felt like jelly, but my brain was already working overtime.
Right then, the garbage truck rolled up, squealing as it grabbed the bins.
I stood back for a few seconds and waited for the right second, then ditched the phone in a pile of trash bags when nobody was watching.
My heart was pounding so loudly, I was sure someone would hear it.
When I walked back inside the scent of lavender and eucalyptus hit my nostrils again and my head was pounding.
I faked a smile for the front desk and told them I was sick and needed to bail early.
They just nodded, without asking many questions about it or showed any concerns of where I’s been.
On the outside, the black truck waited on me, with tints so dark, I couldn’t see inside.
I hopped in and got comfortable into the leather seats, trying not to look too shaken up.
The driver did a couple loops around the block, and down random streets like we were in some movie, making sure no one was tailing us as two of Dom’s people sat on the side of me and one behind me without saying a word; the one closets to me kept gritting his teeth like he knew something.
I leaned against the window, watching Miami pass by.
It was such a beautiful place… the palm trees, the ocean, and just the aesthetic.
I didn’t want to leave this beautiful place.
My uncle’s voice kept bouncing around in my head, with every word hanging.
He was close, too close. I wasn’t gonna let him run me like some puppet, but the question was, should I let Dom in on this mess, or just keep it to myself for a while longer?