Chapter 16 - The Back Room
Mateo pushed past his father.
Dana shouted behind him.
Agents moved from both sides of the building.
Inside, the clubhouse had gone dark.
Chairs were overturned. A table lay on its side. Elena’s purse sat on the floor with the wire transmitter ripped out.
“Elena!” Mateo yelled.
A door slammed in the back.
He ran.
The hallway smelled of oil, beer, and old cigarette smoke.
At the end, Pike was forcing Elena toward a loading bay.
Judge Vale followed with a pistol in her hand.
Mateo stopped.
Vale aimed at him.
“Not another step.”
Elena’s breathing was fast, but her face remained steady.
Pike held her by the arm.
Mateo raised both hands.
“You already confessed.”
Vale laughed. “To what? A frightened old woman wearing an illegal wire?”
“State-authorized.”
Her smile slipped.
Outside, agents shouted.
Pike pulled Elena harder. “Move.”
She stumbled.
Then something changed in her expression.
Mateo saw it.
A decision.
“Elena, no.”
She drove the heel of her shoe down on Pike’s foot.
He yelled and loosened his grip.
Elena twisted away.
Vale swung the gun toward her.
Mateo rushed forward.
A shot cracked.
The bullet hit a metal shelf.
Glass bottles exploded.
Mateo slammed into Vale.
The gun skidded beneath a workbench.
Pike tried to run through the loading door.
Two state agents tackled him outside.
Vale clawed at Mateo’s face.
Then Elena grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed both of them.
White powder filled the room.
Vale coughed and lost her balance.
Mateo pinned her until agents reached them.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Elena sat on an overturned crate.
Her hands shook violently.
Mateo knelt in front of her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Me neither.”
She laughed once through her tears.
Outside, paramedics worked on Luis.
Wade remained in custody.
Pike and Vale were arrested.
It should have felt finished.
Then Dana walked in holding a folder taken from Vale’s car.
“You need to see this.”
Inside was a signed purchase agreement for Elena’s parcel.
Buyer: REDSTONE DEVELOPMENT LLC.
Closing date: three days earlier.
May you like
Elena stared at the forged signature.
“They already sold my land.”
