Chapter 27
The sound of shattering glass tore through the mansion like a gunshot. I froze. For a split second, my brain refused to process what I had just heard. Then a second sound came. It was louder. Closer. Eerie this time.
It was a scream. Sadly, it was not just any scream; it was one of the kids. My legs began to move involuntarily.
"Stay here."
The command came from behind me. Its owner's voice was very low, controlled, and dangerous. It startled me. Mr. Montoya. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. He must have heard it too. I disregarded him and kept moving.
"No," his voice sharpened, footsteps closing in fast, "Alice, don't—"
Another crash echoed throughout the mansion. This time it was closely followed by a series of gunshots and barks of incoherent commands.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs as I came to a sad realization. "They're both upstairs," I whisper-shouted to Mr. Montoya as his legs ate up the distance between us.
"She's inside. Search everywhere," one of the intruders' voices came to us from not too far away.
Mr. Montoya's cold hand gripped my wrist like a strong vice; a little more pressure, and I was certain I'd end up with a snapped wrist. Where were the other staff?
Where was Doña Esperanza and Lucy? Where was Mr. Montoya's older brother? I wasn't sure if he'd departed already. I made quiet prayers for the safety of the kids.
"Where?" Mr. Montoya's voice pulled me from my jumbled train of worries.
"Huh?" I muttered.
"Where'd you leave the kids, Alice?" Mr. Montoya asked impatiently.
"Carlitos's room," I replied.
In less time than I thought possible, we got to Carlitos's room, and Mr. Montoya burst it open and almost flung me into it before he slammed the door shut. The kids who were initially huddled close to each other on the floor stood quickly when they saw us. While Carlitos stood in place, Serena ran to me. I held her in a big, reassuring hug and whispered soothing words into her ears.
"It's alright, my love… I'm here… everything is going to be okay," I kept whispering soothing words to calm Serena.
"You don't know that," Carlitos argued defiantly.
He stood straight and alert. He also came across as brave for his little sister, but underneath the surface, he was terrified. I moved towards him and pulled him into me and Serena's hug. He didn't melt in, but he didn't resist either.
I looked up and saw Mr. Montoya watching us. His expression was unreadable, and his eyes were hooded. As he watched us, another gunshot rang out from somewhere in the mansion, shaking me and the kids. Serena resumed crying.
I heard shouts from outside, below the window. There were noises made by feet hitting the ground.
When I looked up at Mr. Montoya again, he was all over the place. First, he opened the wardrobe and shoved items aside, then pulled out a gun. What the fuck, I thought. A real-life gun? Then he went to pull the blinds of the windows shut and locked the door with a safety lock.
"Come on, let's go," Mr. Montoya commanded as he marched to Carlitos's shoe shelf. He raised a pair of shoes, and a hidden button on the wall was revealed. He pushed it, and Carlitos's bookshelf started to move.
I quickly searched my pockets for my phone; it wasn't there. I must have forgotten it in my room or something. In a flash, Mr. Montoya broke our little circle and carried Carlitos into the dark tunnel. A sudden bang came on the door that made me jump.
I had not for once ever imagined the circumstances under which I might exit this world. Even if I had, I wouldn't have thought I would die like this: death caused by panic, fear, and chaos. This was what Mr. Montoya's world consisted of.
In all the four weeks or so I'd been working here, nothing of this matter had occurred. Instead, it had been quiet, and I'd been completing little assignments and projects. My latest assignment, which was putting the kids in a suitable school, was just completed.
Mr. Montoya's work hadn't interfered with his personal home during all the time I'd been employed. I looked up at the ceiling and prayed. I didn't want to die. Not just yet, anyway. My Tía Elena still needed me.
Suddenly, two strong hands grabbed both of my shoulders and pulled me up. I started to struggle, but a familiar voice said, "I said stay behind me. That wasn't a suggestion. If you get yourself killed out of stubbornness, I'm not explaining that to my children."
My eyes did a quick sweep around the room, and I realized Carlitos and Serena weren't in it. He must have carried them through the secret tunnel while I had frozen and zoned out.
Together, we entered the secret tunnel, and the bookshelf slammed shut. We were greeted with pitch darkness.
"A gun in your son's room? That's careless," I addressed Mr. Montoya in the dark. He grunted an inaudible reply, and the tunnel was instantly illuminated.
The lighting clarified that the tunnel was narrow. There were inbuilt air vents and framed pictures on the walls. The framed pictures were of some politicians, both past and present. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Montoya was, by any chance, related to any one of them.
I followed his huge form as the sound of our footsteps echoed.
"I hate enclosed places such as this," I said. I really didn't know why I said that.
"Is that so?" Mr. Montoya asked as he kept marching forward. "Hold yourself together, Alice. We wouldn't want you fainting or getting sick because it might take a while to get the doctor here."
We fell into silence for a bit.
"Can't you walk any faster?" he asked impatiently.
"I'm walking. It's not like I could walk any faster seeing you've fully blocked my way," I snapped, my voice hushed but sharp. "Maybe if you didn't drag me like a felon—"
"You can stop behaving like one."
"You have a gun hidden in your child's room, and I'm the problem? Unbelievable," I remarked and chuckled drily. He kept moving forward.
"That gun is the reason my children are still alive," he replied flatly.
"Did you mean to say it's the reason they're in danger in the first place?" I thought aloud.
That did it. He stopped and swiftly turned to face me, gripping my shoulders—not painfully this time, but firmly enough to stop me right in my tracks.
"Be careful, Alice," he warned quietly, and my eyes flared. He didn't shout, nor was there any anger in his voice. There was something far more dangerous: control.
"Men like the ones in my house right now? They don't knock. They definitely don't warn, and they take mostly without permission," his voice dropped even lower. A chill slid down my spine, and my throat went dry, but I wasn't going to allow him to scare me.
"Then maybe you shouldn't live a life that invites them," I shot back, despite the slight tremble in my voice. I thought I'd pulled a string, but he gave a small, dangerous smirk. Maybe not.
"It's too late for that," he said simply.
His eyes were void of emotions. Slowly, he let me go and kept walking ahead of me. The silence was too loud and obvious before he said,
"Keep walking."
I remembered I heard one of the intruders' voices say they were looking for a 'she.'
"Who could they be looking for?" I asked. He didn't reply; he just kept walking in silence.
He opened the other end of the tunnel into an enclosed room. Carlitos and Serena were once again huddled together. I walked close to them and hugged Serena from behind. The hug was meant more for me than for her.
The room was windowless, wide, and yet small. It managed to be airy, though. Mr. Montoya paced the floor, gun still in hand. No exterior noise was heard except for the whirling of the standing fan in the room.
Random memories flashed before my eyes—memories with Cynthia and Leonardo, my parents, and my friends. And then my Tía Elena. I shook my head to chase away those memories.
"Want to hear a story?" I asked Serena.
"Yes, please," she replied quietly, and I started telling her one of the stories my dad used to read to me—one that I'd learned by heart.
Mr. Montoya's phone rang, and I stopped my storytelling. Carlitos, Serena, and I looked up at him expectantly. He picked it up and started firing questions, listened to the reply, and fired more questions. Even though the room was small, I could hardly hear what was being said over the phone.
"That was the head of my security," he announced immediately after he ended the phone call.
My heart stopped.
"What?" I whispered.
"They're here for you, Alice."