Umberto, having recovered a little, prepared to get up. But his ankles hurt so much that he fell down.
-What’s wrong? -Albina asked anxiously as she hurried to pick him up.
Had he accidentally hit something while carrying Umberto and broken his leg?
But such an impact would have worn his skin at best, not so much that he couldn’t get up, right?
Umberto frowned and looked down at his ankle, frowning slightly.
Albina followed his gaze and began to check. She noticed a tear in his sock, the edge of which was darker and wetter.
-Why are you bleeding?
After lifting his socks, Albina saw a deep cut. The cut on his forehead had clotted and stopped bleeding, but why was the wound on his foot still bleeding?
Umberto, seeing her anxiety, said:
-Don’t worry. It’s just a small cut.
-No. We have to get help as soon as possible. What if you get tetanus? The cut on the forehead has to be treated too, I’m worried about the after-effects.
Albina was on the verge of tears, she didn’t want anything to happen to Umberto.
-Don’t cry. I’m not in any pain. Only that I can’t walk for a while -when Umberto saw her tears, he grieved-, your face is dirty and stained from crying so much.
Albina wiped her face hard. She turned her back to him and bent down.
-What are you doing? -Umberto looked at her with astonishment.
Albina shot him a look:
-Get in and I’ll keep carrying you. I don’t know where we are, I’ve been wandering for a long time. See if you know the way and can show me the way out of this forest. We can’t keep delaying. If they find out we’re not dead, they might come looking for us. Your wounds need to be healed. We have to leave early.
Umberto looked at her expression and felt moved and amused. He couldn’t bear to lie down on the thin back in front of him.
He was very tall. Although he didn’t look fat, he was muscular, so he was actually heavy. He was afraid of crushing Albina.
Albina gave him an impatient look and made as if he had a lot of strength.
-Don’t look at me, I’m strong.
Only then did Umberto hesitantly put his arm around her shoulders.
The difference in height between the two of them was so great that when he stood up, it was not as if Albina was carrying him, but as if he was holding her.
Albina gritted her teeth and lifted Umberto up, saying:
-Don’t drag the injured leg. Hold on to me.
A weight on his back made Albina suddenly stagger.
-Are you all right?
-I’m fine! -Albina gritted her teeth and carried him with all her strength, “Now I wish you were skinny, what’s the use of being a muscle man?
Umberto rubbed his nose. He thought to himself that, of course it was to keep in shape.
Looking at Albina’s head, Umberto joked:
-What if I push you and you don’t grow any bigger?
-Do you think I’m still eighteen and can keep growing? -Albina gave him a look and said: -Where are we going?
Umberto said:
-When I left the house, I called Ruben to tell him the time I would be back at the office. He would come looking for us -he pointed to the watches they both wore on their wrists-, Our tracking system is still activated.
Speaking of which, Albina was furious:
-This watch is useless. When I get back, I’m going to replace it with one that can make calls.
Umberto recognized that he really wasn’t thinking straight.
When we get back to the office, I’ll have some security devices re-fitted. Something that will allow us to contact people and notify them that we are in trouble, without being easily detected. Don’t worry, if we run into something like this again in the future, we definitely won’t be as defenseless as we are now.
It took Umberto’s repeated reassurances to calm Albina down.
Looking at her flushed side, Umberto smiled unconsciously. Albina had a temper, but he liked her.
Under Umberto’s guidance, the two finally found a safe place.
It was a rocky cave, surrounded by undergrowth. They wouldn’t have known it was a cave if Umberto hadn’t inadvertently stuck his foot in it.
-Here we wait, until Ruben comes.
Albina lowered him carefully and looked at his chapped lips:
-I’ve just passed a stream. It’s thawing in the warmth. The water is clear. I’ll bring some water and clean the blood near your wound.
-Thank you,” Umberto stroked her head, his voice low and soft, “You’re the best girl in the world.
-You don’t touch my hair. You sound like my father, you know that?
Albina walked up to him and gave him a squeeze on the cheek before leaving the cave satisfied.
***
As the two fled, Jaime and Yolanda had been briefed by their subordinates. They followed them down that high, steep hill.
When one of the subordinates saw them arrive, he joyfully approached them and informed them of what had happened. He pointed to the burning car and said:
-They are both dead. If we didn’t kill them, the fire killed them.
Yolanda grabbed Jaime’s arm with enthusiasm and said:
-Great! The Santangel Group, without its heir, can no longer threaten us.
She had been having a hard time these days. For reasons unknown to her, her father was often absent and she was the only one taking care of the company.
She had to deal with business every day, and she had to keep an eye on the Santangel Group. She was exhausted.
But one of her intractable enemies had died.
It had come so suddenly that she hadn’t believed it for a moment.
She looked at the car that was on fire and felt a little sorry for him.
She had seen Umberto drive this car before, so she was sure it was his. Umberto was an excellent man. It was a shame he had died like this. She had liked Umberto for a long time and still hadn’t gotten him.
Meanwhile, Jaime frowned hard. He looked at the man next to him and asked:
-Did you witness the car roll down the hill and immediately catch fire?
The man froze for a moment and shook his head:
-This hillside was steep and high, and overgrown with trees, so you couldn’t see down from the top. We only saw the car roll down, but we didn’t know if it caught fire immediately.
They couldn’t drive down the slope, they had to walk down. Also, they had to report to Jaime. It took them a long time. When they arrived, the car was burned.
Yolanda sensed Jaime’s meaning and looked at him nervously.
-Jaime, do you think they are not dead?
Jaime’s face was very somber.
-I certainly hope they died in the car. If Umberto hadn’t died and knew we had sent the men after them, it would have caused us a lot of trouble.
That’s why they chose this moment to try to make sure Umberto never came back.
Yolanda couldn’t believe they were still alive. But listening to Jaime, she was also a little scared.
-How could they possibly still be alive if the car had rolled from such a height?
Umberto and Albina had to die. Otherwise, when he came back safe and sound, he would have taken revenge on them.
Jaime immediately said to his subordinates.
-Put out the fire. I want to see their bodies.