Chapter 35 The Owner's Right

• (POV: Mateo)
• The battered safe house disappeared quickly in the rearview mirror of the black SUV. It looked small and pathetic against the bleak backdrop of the pre-dawn docks, just another forgotten building in a forgotten corner of the city. Inside, I knew, Isabela remained where I’d left her – crumpled, undoubtedly weeping, hopefully learning the harsh reality of her situation. A sense of grim finality settled over me, cold and satisfying as the first clean breath of morning air filtering through the car's vents.
• Her escape attempt had been entirely predictable. Expected, even. That flicker of defiance I’d noted, the naive dreams fueled by hidden brochures and whispers with her cousin… of course she would try. It was in her nature, like a wild bird testing the bars of its cage. And like any sensible keeper, I had ensured the cage was secure, the flight doomed before it even began.