CHAPTER 40: THE COMMAND

Xitllali

Beatriz’s question hung in the quiet air.

I knelt on the floor beside Guillermo, my knees soaking up the dampness of his blood from the floral rug. My heart pounded so hard it hurt my ribs.

For two years, I had been Esperanza to her. I was the quiet, smiling girl who brought her leftover lavender to help her sleep. I was the girl who swept the sidewalk every morning and never caused any trouble.

Looking at her shaking hands and wide, fearful eyes, I realized that girl was gone. 

Esperanza had died the moment Severo’s men fired their guns into my shop.

I took a slow, shaky breath and looked down at my hands. They were stained with blood.

"Um... Esperanza isn't my real name," I whispered, my voice hoarse and breaking.

She took another step backward, her back hitting the floral wallpaper of her hallway. She looked at Valdo and Mateo, who were still holding their rifles, their faces covered in soot and sweat.

"Then who are you?" She asked, her voice cracking. "Are you a criminal?"

"No!" I said quickly, wiping my bloody hands on my ruined sweater. I slowly stood up so I could look her in the eye. "I am not a criminal, Beatriz. I swear. Two years ago, I ran away from a very dangerous life in Jalisco. I came here to hide. I just wanted to be normal, I wanted to live a normal life."

She swallowed hard and pointed a trembling finger at Guillermo’s unconscious body on her floor. "And him?"

I closed my eyes for a second. Saying the words out loud felt incredibly heavy.

"He is... um..." I stuttered, my throat tight. "He is my husband."

She stared at me, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and growing anger. She looked at the blood ruining her floor, and then back at me.

"Your husband," she repeated, her voice shaking with outrage. "You said he saved Doña Carmen in the street. But those men... the ones shooting... did they not come here because of him? Because of you?"

I flinched. Her words felt like a slap to the face, mostly because they were entirely true.

"You brought a war to our street!" She cried, her voice rising in panic and anger. "People could have died today, Esperanza... or Xitllali, or whoever you are! Because he came here!"

"I know," I sobbed, tears spilling over my eyelashes. I took a step toward her, holding my hands up helplessly. "I know, and I am so, so sorry. 

I never meant to bring this to your door, Beatriz. But please... Please believe me when I say these men in your house will not hurt you."

She looked at Mateo and Valdo, who had remained completely silent, keeping their weapons pointed at the floor. She was terrified, angry, and exhausted. She wrapped her arms around herself, refusing to look at me anymore.

Before I could say another word, a low, heavy vibration shook the floorboards beneath our feet.

It started as a deep hum, like distant thunder, but it grew louder and louder until the glass in Beatriz's front windows began to rattle. It was the sound of heavy diesel engines. Dozens of them.

Valdo immediately rushed to the front door and threw it open. He stepped out onto the small porch and raised his arm, waving a small tactical flashlight.

I walked over to the open doorway and looked out over Valdo's shoulder.

The sight stole the breath from my lungs.

The quiet street was completely gone. In its place was a terrifying display of absolute military power. A massive convoy of black armored trucks had rolled into San Cristóbal. 

They were parked in a long, unbroken line that stretched all the way down the street.

Dozens of men in dark tactical gear were pouring out of the trucks. They moved with silent, lethal precision, securing the corners of the street, checking the rooftops, and setting up a complete perimeter.

The army had arrived.

A massive man stepped out of the lead truck and walked straight toward Beatriz's porch.

It was Hector, Guillermo's second-in-command. He was fully armed, wearing a heavy bulletproof vest and carrying a tactical rifle.

He walked past Valdo and stepped right through the doorway into the living room.

He took one look at Guillermo lying unconscious on the rug with a fresh white bandage on his shoulder. Then, his dark eyes snapped directly to me.

He didn't ask questions. He didn't demand to know what happened or why I was alive. He simply stopped, lowered his weapon, and bowed his head to me in a sign of absolute, unquestionable respect.

"Señora," he rumbled, his deep voice filling the small room. "The perimeter is locked down. Nobody enters or leaves this town without my permission."

"He lost a lot of blood, Hector," I said, my voice trembling but forcing myself to sound firm. "He needs a real hospital."

"We brought the mobile medical unit," he said, turning his head to shout out the open door. "Get the stretcher in here! Now!"

Within seconds, two medics rushed into the living room carrying a collapsible metal stretcher and a bag of IV fluids. They moved with frantic speed, carefully lifting Guillermo off the bloody floral rug and strapping him onto the stretcher.

I grabbed my coat and moved to follow them, but I stopped at the door.

I turned back to look at Beatriz. She was standing pressed against a wall. She was completely overwhelmed by the armed men swarming her home. 

"Beatriz... I am so sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I know this is a nightmare. I promise, as soon as things are calm, I will come back and explain everything better to you. Thank you for saving him."

She didn't reply. She just looked down at the ruined floor, wanting nothing more than for all of us to leave. She looked so scared.

I looked at Hector, swallowing the heavy lump of guilt in my throat. "We ruined her home, Hector. And she used her supplies to save his life. Leave some money to cover the damages to her floor."

He didn't hesitate. He reached into a pouch on his tactical vest and pulled out a thick stack of cash. Then he walked over and gently set the heavy pile of money onto Beatriz's small wooden entry table.

She flinched away from the money as if it were a snake. She didn't say thank you. She just stared at the cash with a mixture of shock and raw fear.

"And leave a squad of men on this street," I ordered Hector, surprising myself with how easily the commands came to me. 

"Make sure those men who attacked us never come near her or the other neighbors ever again. Do you understand me?"

"It will be done exactly as you say, Señora," Hector promised, bowing his head again.

I looked at Beatriz one last time, my heart aching, before I turned and walked out the door, stepping into the cold morning mist.