Chapter 3 - THE HIGHWAY AMBUSH"Sir, the car is armored, but those are heavy-caliber vehicles!" Mateo yelled as the Maybach skidded across the slick pavement, coming to a halt just thirty feet from the barricade.
Out of the black SUVs stepped six men in tactical gear, carrying automatic rifles. The rain poured over their heavy armor, making them look like demons rising from the storm.
Inside the Maybach, Valeria was hyperventilating. "They’re going to kill us! You don't understand, they don't leave witnesses!"
Ignacio reached out, grasping her wrist firmly. His grip was steady, warm, and surprisingly grounding. "Look at me," he ordered.
Valeria met his gaze, her chest heaving.
"Nobody touches you while you are in my car. Do you understand?" Ignacio’s voice was absolute, an unshakable fortress of authority.
He turned to Mateo. "Activate the countermeasures."
Mateo pressed a red button on the center console. Instantly, smoke canisters deployed from the rear bumper of the Maybach, engulfing the highway in a thick, blinding cloud of chemical fog. High-intensity strobe lights flashed from the headlights, disorienting the armed men outside.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets rained onto the Maybach, but the reinforced bulletproof glass only cracked in spiderweb patterns without shattering.
Ignacio didn't hesitate. He opened his door slightly, using the heavy armor of the door as a shield. With terrifying precision, he fired three shots into the dark. Three muffled thuds echoed outside as the lead shooters dropped to the pavement.
"Mateo, RAM THEM!" Ignacio roared, pulling his door shut.
Mateo slammed his foot onto the accelerator. The 600-horsepower V12 engine roared like an angry beast. The Maybach launched forward, slamming directly into the space between the two blocking SUVs.
The metal crunched violently. Glass shattered, sparks flew into the night sky, and Valeria shrieked as the impact threw her against the seat. But the heavy luxury sedan pushed through the blockade, breaking free onto the open highway.
"We’re clear!" Mateo gasped, sweat dripping down his face.
"Don't slow down," Ignacio warned, reloading his magazine. "They’ll call in backup."
He turned back to Valeria. She was staring at him in absolute shock, her mouth slightly open. "Who... who are you?" she whispered. "You aren't just a businessman."
Ignacio lowered his weapon, his expression closing off like a iron vault. "My name is Ignacio Alcázar. To the world, I build software and telecommunications. But to the people who took my sister... I am the man who is going to burn their world to the ground."
He pulled out his satellite phone and dialed a encrypted number.
"Vargas," Ignacio said into the receiver. "Initiate Protocol Omega. Bring my private medical team and intelligence unit to the Valle de Bravo estate immediately. We have the missing piece of the puzzle."
A cold voice answered on the line: "Understood, Mr. Alcázar. But you should know... Estela Cruz just filed a police report. She’s publicly claiming you kidnapped her stepdaughter at gunpoint. The federal police are putting out an Interpol Red Notice for your arrest right now."
Valeria gasped, turning pale. "She’s turning the law against you!"
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Ignacio smiled—a dark, dangerous smile that sent chills down Valeria’s spine.
"Let her try," Ignacio whispered. "She just dragged herself into my arena."
