“OMG! I'm sorry,” I whispered, realising it was just Miguel's daughter. She ran back inside, not uttering a word. And I know for sure she was going to tell her mum, I had to leave, I'm not welcome here anymore.

I need to go get my bags and look for a way to get out of this God forsaken place without creating any more scenes. I got up, picked a note from the side table and wrote down'thank you, you will be compensated for your car, and maybe next time I'll spend more time in Colombia before leaving.

I got outside and took a cab back to my hotel in Ciudad..

“What the hell?” I said to myself as we went through some familiar places. It was as if nothing had happened; all the destruction was gone, even the bakery was fixed, like a magician had shown up and cast a spell for everything to remain the way it was.

It's barely 3 hours since the incident, how did everything get fixed so fast?

I got close to the hotel and asked the driver to stop, we were about two blocks away from the hotel building. My eyes scanned the environment for anything suspicious, but there was none..

The hotel was next to a jewellery store that had a balcony facing it. I followed the stairs of the jewellery store, the balcony and jumped from it to the fence of the hotel. I got down quietly, making sure there were no cameras around.

There was no security guard or anyone at that part of the building. Following the route quietly, I climbed to the second floor where my room was located and got in through the window.

The moment I got in, I went straight for my bag. Everything was intact, and I picked it up as well as everything that belonged to me, hoping to leave the same way I got in without drawing any attention to myself.

But something was off; I wasn't alone in the room.

Before I could pull out my gun, I was hit on my back with a baseball bat. I moved away just in time to dodge the second swing headed for my head. I tried pulling out my gun, but another guy came out and kicked it out of my hands with two other guys rushing into the room all armed with axes, wrenches and bats.

“Four versus one? Not fair, guys, "I said while I properly assessed them and the amount of space we had in the room.

“ Are you scared?” the one with the axe replied.

“Scared? I meant it wasn't fair for you,” I replied with a cheeky smile.

Immediately, they started attacking, swinging their weapons while I tried to dodge every attack, but there were too many coming at once, and these weren't regular street thugs; they fought like they'd had training. That's when it clicked. These aren't regular street tugs hired in Ciudad; these are the company's security.

I was able to take down three of them, not without sustaining injuries..I punched one in the throat and took the bat from him, hitting the other two in the head, which knocked them out cold.

The last one seemed a bit tricky because he had an axe, he swung it at me, while I dodged every time, he got tired of me dodging and tossed the axe away to fight fair..

“Don't think because you took them out easily, it will be the same with me,” he said in a weird tone, like he was just learning how to speak English. We fought for what felt like forever, and finally, I was able to take him out, but this time with more injuries.

I took my bag and headed for the door, but on getting to the hallway, Ricardo and his boys were standing there with almost 20 men fully armed with assault rifles. There was nothing I could do; I'd already fallen for the trap.

Ricardo stretched out his hands, and I gave him a questioning look. “My documents, Alister,” he said.

“I don't have it..”

“What do you mean by you don't have it, what do you think, that I'm five?” he said, walking closer to me.. “You see, I liked you, really I did... and you almost fooled me with that foolproof plan you've got.. But have been in this business long before you started talking.. you can't steal from me.. this is my territory, Alister.”

“Nice to meet you again,” I said, rolling my eyes..

“Well, nice for me, but for you…hmmm, I'm not so sure about that.. you see nothing happens in this country without my knowledge,” he said. “The moment you stepped into this country, I knew, but I had to give you the benefit of the doubt, you know.”

All he was saying was bull shit, he can't be suspicious of everyone or anyone unless someone had warned him, but who could have done that? Who would dare to betray the chief?

“Alright enough talking,” he said, wrapping his hand around me. Before I could react, he hit me in the head with the back of his gun and I blacked out..

*****

I opened my eyes to a massive pain at the back of my head. I tried to at least get up, but noticed I was tied up and placed on a chair. I was bleeding as well.

“Welcome back”, Ricardo said, grabbing a chair and placing it across me, but instead of sitting, he just stood behind it. I looked around and noticed it was an abandoned warehouse.

The next thing I felt was a cold hand placed on my shoulder. This figure was wearing a perfume I recognised, but couldn't place my finger on where I knew it from.

‘Hello Alister,

It all came rushing back to me. I knew that voice.

“You?” was the only thing I could say.

“Did you think you would come out of Colombia without a scratch, you annoying rat?”

“It was you, Francis, why would you do this to your father?” I said in disbelief.

“Are you seriously asking this? Why wouldn't I ?” he replied. “Enough talking, bring them in”, he said as he gestured to Ricardo.

I couldn't believe my eyes, it was Miguel, his wife and daughter all tied up and blind folded.

“What is this? Why are they here? They have nothing to do with this,” I shouted, trying to free myself from the chair.

“Ooh, they have everything to do with it, you see.. If Miguel here had not driven you, we would have gotten to you much earlier, and we wouldn't have gone through the stress of having to clean up all of that mess.. He should know better not to mess with Ricardo in Ciudad.” Francis said with a scoff.

“No, please, I forced him into doing it; it wasn't his choice.”

“Ha, ha, ha.. how I love the chief of security begging.. You used to be so proud. What happened? Well, well, well, none of that is relevant now. You can beg the police when they get here.”

“What do you mean?” I asked darting eyes from Ricardo to Francis..

“Someone has to take the blame.”

“What blame?” I asked, fear slowly crawling into me.

“You see, dear Alister, the police are already on their way here. I guess someone reported the kidnapping of the Family of Don Miguel, the cab driver. It was a tragic incident, really,” Francis said as his laughter echoed across the room.

Upon hearing this, the family's cries increased. I begged and begged, Miguel fell to his knees begging Francis to spare his daughter and his wife, but the laughter only increased.

“I'll do anything, please let them go”, I said in a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable. A few minutes ago, I would have thought there was nothing they could do to me, cause they don't want to get on the chief's bad side, but now I'm not so sure about my fate.

“There's nothing on God's green earth you can do for me, Alister. I don't leave loose ends.” Francis said as he placed the gun on Miguel's head.

“Any last words, Miguel..” Francus said as he corked the gun..

“I'm sorry,” Miguel muttered to his wife..

“Noooooooo,” I shouted, but it was too late, Miguel was already lying cold on the floor, blood all over the ground, and a hole in the middle of his forehead.

“Daddddddddy,” his daughter shouted, but Francis didn't spare her or her mother; he fired at both, and their lifeless bodies slammed to the ground next to Miguel's corpse.

My heart sank and I couldn't help tears from rolling down my cheeks. I have seen people die, I've killed people myself, but this... this hurts so bad.. It's all my fault; I should never have dragged him and his family into this, or even gone to their house.

The memories from those few moments I shared with them started to play in my head, and I burst out screaming, hurling death threats towards Francis. All he did was laugh menacingly.

I tried freeing myself, screaming and crying, and just like before, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head, and everything went blank.