Chapter 5 - THE TRAP IS SETAdriana did not panic. Six years of living under Mauricio's roof had taught her exactly how his weak, pathetic mind worked. He wasn't a mastermind; he was a frantic animal driven by panic.
She immediately called Tomás. "Trace the burner phone Mauricio just used. And set up a private meeting at the abandoned warehouse district near the docks."
"Are you sure, Miss Adriana?" Tomás asked. "We can have the federal police take him down in twenty minutes."
"No," Adriana answered coldly. "The police will give him a trial, a lawyer, and a comfortable prison cell. I want him to know true defeat before he spends the rest of his life behind bars."
Later that evening, Mauricio met with a shifty, dangerous man named Victor—a high-level underworld enforcer whom Mauricio had secretly paid off during his days running the Ferrer Group. Mauricio had convinced himself that if he could kidnap Renata and ransom her back to Don Mateo, he could flee the country with enough cash to start over in Europe.
"Is the plan clear?" Mauricio asked, his hands shaking as he lit a cigarette in an alleyway. "We grab her when she leaves her music lesson tomorrow."
"It's clear, Ferrer," Victor grunted, taking a puff of his cigar. "But you better have my half upfront."
"You'll get your money!" Mauricio snapped. "Just do your job!"
What Mauricio didn't know was that Victor’s phone was already tapped. Every word of their conversation was being transmitted directly to Adriana’s laptop.
Sitting in her luxury vehicle outside the dockyard, Adriana listened to the audio recording. A slow, terrifying smile spread across her face.
"He wants to play the monster," she whispered to herself. "Then I will show him what real monsters look like."
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Adriana picked up her phone and dialed a number she hadn't called in years—the private line of the Commander of Mexico's Special Forces, a man who owed his life to Don Mateo Salvatierra.
"Commander," Adriana said calmly. "I have a small favor to ask."
