Chapter 4: Raid

The truck pulled up in front of a soccer stadium?

At that moment, the doors opened, and a chaotic crowd began pouring out.

There wasn’t a soccer game going on there—it was a rock concert, and judging by the almost entirely black attire of all the young people pushing and shoving one another as they exited, it was a hard rock show.

Their hairstyles were strange, but he realized most of them were teenagers.

His colleagues began asking for ID from the young people passing by.

Suddenly, everything spiraled out of control; there were chants directed at them, and some people couldn’t stand that kind of provocation. There was a lot of running around, and the soldiers seemed to be competing to see who could round up the most people.

He lost sight of Germán; neither of them was in the mood for that.

Our psychologist wasn’t going to arrest anyone, especially not for not having ID, because it was well known that at concerts like this, people carried as few belongings as possible—after all, amid all the jumping, dancing, and jostling, everything got lost.

He walked a few meters away to get away from the center of the

The stampede continued; people were falling as they ran, and Alejandro watched in horror as some of his comrades beat the completely unarmed teenagers. “This

isn’t the mission to meet that so-called woman.”

he thought, unable to do anything to save the “victims” of such an abuse of military authority.

Although that was a common sight everywhere, even in his own world.

Had he already accepted that he was in another dimension?

That was when a young girl—no older than 17 or 18—running without looking, perhaps scared out of her wits, ran right into him.

Alejandro instinctively caught her in his arms to keep her from falling.—

Sir, I didn’t do anything! Let me go, please!

The young psychologist caught a whiff of the girl’s hair; it was a mixture of scents—it smelled of coconut and vanilla, cigarette smoke, and marih**a—perhaps she’d picked it up at the concert.

However, he couldn’t help but ask, even as he held her.—

Do you do drugs?

His tone was serious, but he didn’t want to accuse her.—

I… no… I don’t.

Alejandro shook his head, realizing she was lying.—

You’re too young to be doing drugs.—I don’t

do drugs!

she insisted, pouting and with tears welling in her eyes.

Her eyes were quite red.—Linda

, marijuana ends up being an addiction that gets you nowhere.—I didn’t

do anything!

—I didn’t accuse you of anything!

he said, losing his patience—which was very unusual for him, since as a psychologist he’d learned to control himself in order to manage his patients’ emotions.

Just then, two of the uniformed officers who had been with him on the truck walked past them.

Alejandro’s intention was to let her go, because he, too, knew she hadn’t done absolutely anything—at most, she must have taken a couple of puffs from one of those “cigarettes”—and if he arrested her, it would cause this teenager a lot of trouble. “I have

to search you,

” he said as his two colleagues walked past him.

“Sir…”

The girl was still holding back her tears. “Against

the wall!

” he ordered in a loud, firm voice, noticing that most of his colleagues were saying the same thing.

He began to pat her down, carefully so as not to harass her, but as he felt the slenderness of her body, Alejandro felt a strong jolt and rested his hands on the girl’s small waist.

An uncontrollable desire to kiss her took hold of him.

His hands moved up the side of the girl’s body until they came to rest on her breasts.

“I don’t recognize myself—this woman is driving me crazy, and she’s practically a child… It’s been a long time since I’ve had sex, and on top of that, there’s all this…”

“It’s just an excuse…”

Alejandro kept thinking.

The truth was that he saw himself losing control, unable to bring himself to pull his hands away from the teenager who, at first, had looked at him in terror but now seemed to be daring him to kiss her.

Alejandro was trying to make sense of what was happening to him.

He didn’t think that could be a sign…

Unable to muster any willpower, his hands followed their own path, and he found himself squeezing the girl’s breast with an unfamiliar eagerness.

Continuing in his confusion, he seized the stranger’s lips and, with hunger, explored every nook and cranny of her delicious mouth.

It took him a few minutes to stop kissing her.

He was aroused as he’d never been in his life.

He pulled away from the young woman because he realized he wasn’t there to have fun, not to spend a moment that was anything more than pleasant with her.

She wasn’t a conquest, not even a friend. “I’m sorry

,

” he murmured, looking into her eyes—that’s when he realized how captivating her gaze was, how the color of her eyes seemed like paradise to him. “Sorry

?” she

murmured. “I’m really asking you

.” “Yeah

, sure.”

she replied sarcastically. “What’s

your name?

” She thought about it for a moment before saying her name; at first she considered giving a fake name, but she dismissed that idea because if they found out her true identity, her problems would be even bigger. “Rebeca

,

” she whispered.

As she did, their breaths mingled once more, and Alejandro kissed her again, savoring the sweetness of those delicious lips.

“Baby…”

he moaned, his hands unable to tear themselves away from Rebeca’s body.

The difference was that this time, she did return his kiss.

Alejandro’s blood was boiling as it coursed through his veins.

He didn’t know how long he’d been kissing her; he pulled away when someone tapped him on the shoulder.—We’re done

,

one of his colleagues told him.—Are you taking her

?

he asked, referring to what he was going to do with Rebeca.

He looked at her but answered his colleague without hesitation.—

No, no, let her go.

The other soldier took a few steps forward, and Alejandro took the opportunity to ask him his last name.

Without answering, she ran off.

Our psychologist matched his pace with the other soldier’s. “I

like your style—that little brat’s a beauty.”

For a moment, he felt embarrassed by his attitude, but he hid it. “Thanks

, yeah, she was pretty.”

He said with a certain indifference.

They got into the truck and, considering that task—which Alejandro found meaningless—completed, they left the scene.

Later, he found out that they’d managed to track down two drug dealers—quite important ones, at that.

Perhaps that had been the mission, but since he hadn’t been in the know, he’d tried to stay out of it—until he ran into that stunning woman.

He didn’t want to abuse his power either, but he didn’t regret having tasted those honey-sweet lips.

A few days passed, and Alejandro kept thinking about Rebeca, but without dwelling on the fact that their attraction had been an unstoppable force; he moved forward with his new life,

adapting to his new responsibilities and spending most of his time with Germán.

As for Rebeca, she slipped into her home very quietly.

She carefully opened the front door, and when she saw no one, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The situation was different when she opened her bedroom door. “I was waiting for you

,

” her sister Alicia told her. She was startled for a moment, but deep down she knew that the only person she could count on was, in fact, Alicia. “I’m not

going to turn you in, but you know the consequences if they find out.” “I just

went to a rock concert.”

“Save your rebellious streak for more critical moments.”

The teenager thought all her moments were precarious.

She’d always felt that, except for Alicia, the rest of her family hated her, and she never knew why…

Until, by chance, she found out the reason behind all that hatred and contempt.

She accidentally overheard a conversation that cleared up all her doubts.

Flashback—“Can

you believe it? She broke up with that boyfriend she had—the one good thing she’s ever done in her life.”

She heard her mother’s voice and knew she was referring to her.—

It’s true; at least we would’ve gotten something out of it if they’d gotten married.

Aldana replied. Rebeca wasn’t surprised by either of their words.—I

swear I’ve gone over the situation a thousand times, and I feel like someone betrayed us.

Rebeca began to pay attention, because she didn’t know what her mother was talking about. “It was

easy at the time,” she said, taking Alicia’s hand. “Did we

get the wrong girl?

The wrong girl? What was her mother talking about?

Oliver disappeared, we didn’t get paid for our services, and we’re stuck with this burden—Rebeca.”

A terrifying chill ran down Rebeca’s spine.

Had she been kidnapped?

Were they not her family?

Was that why there was so much hatred?

“Do you think they killed Oliver because we took the wrong girl?

” That word caught Rebeca’s attention, but she was sure they were using it as a synonym for kidnapping.—I don’t

know what to think, but we were taking a huge risk at that moment, because we didn’t know if we’d be able to come back; we didn’t get paid, and we were stuck with this problem.

They were treating her like a nail.

She understood all the contempt and the lack of love. “And

on top of that, she’s wasting her chance to climb the social ladder.”

“That’s the influence of that stupid Alicia, who believes in dignity and the foolishness of love—as if love and dignity existed without money!

” At this point, she had expected those words from her “older sister.”

Rebeca thought that somewhere she had a real family, who must have mourned her all her life; anguish, resentment, and above all, a very deep pain took hold of her soul.

End of Flashback.