Albina felt very nervous again and gripped the hem of Umberto’s shirt tightly.
She could feel Umberto’s hand holding her tighter.
Luckily, Yolanda didn’t scream anymore afterwards, but took a torch herself and lit it inside.
The light illuminated the whole cavern which made Albina feel more tense.
She hoped that Yolanda would not enter. But Yolanda’s footsteps were getting closer and closer.
Would she and Umberto really not be able to escape this time?
Umberto’s eyes were somber as he was holding a sharp branch he had just found outside.
He thought that if Yolanda found them, he would seize the moment when she screamed and subdue her.
Yolanda took a few more steps inside and was about to discover them when Jaime’s voice came from the cave entrance suddenly.
-What are you doing here? We are about to leave.
His voice had an annoyance in it from searching for so long. Now he was very anxious.
-I saw a cave here, someone can hide here, I want to go in,” Yolanda explained.
-No need, you can see to the end at a glance, there’s nothing there, it’s just an abandoned cave. Umberto is not stupid, how could he hide in such an obvious place?
Umberto and Albina were speechless again….
When Yolanda thought about it, she also felt she was right.
-I didn’t think much about it and went in -Yolanda said embarrassed- Aren’t we going to keep looking?
-Let’s look for another place.
Jaime and Yolanda’s voices were getting farther and farther away.
Only then Umberto and Albina felt relieved.
-Thank God, I thought they were going straight in,” Albina almost couldn’t hold on before.
-Let’s wait a while longer before leaving -Umberto hugged Albina and said with a smile.
He was worried that Jaime would suddenly come back. If they were discovered at that moment, all his previous efforts would be useless.
Albina nodded attentively.
Seeing this attentive appearance of hers, Umberto smoothed her hair and whispered:
-Albina, we have experienced these all together, if we manage to survive, will you marry me?
-What? -Albina was stunned at his sudden words.
Umberto hastened to say:
-If you think marriage is too hasty, we can get engaged first.
-Are you asking for her hand, here?
Umberto looked at the surroundings and then at the two of them huddled in the stone crevice, slapping their foreheads:
-It’s my fault, how could I propose to you in a place like this?
He should have made Albina a very beautiful and romantic proposal.
Previously, she had followed him for three years without anyone knowing. This time he would let everyone know that Albina was his wife.
Albina looked at his carefully thoughtful appearance and smiled. She really felt very happy to be thoughtful.
Her feeling for Umberto was very firm now. When the car went down the slope today, Umberto’s first reaction was to hug her tightly regardless of his own life.
Just like his father back then.
Albina could guarantee that he must love her as much as her father did. If she married such a man, she could be happy for the rest of her life.
***
The Santangel Family people had arrived at the place where they were. One part of them went down, the other part stayed there to face other unforeseen situations. Sergio’s men searched around and found Jaime’s car in a hidden place nearby.
When Sergio saw the license plate number, he told his men:
-Write down the license plate number and find out tomorrow whose car it was.
The people who went down there found the first signs that the car had rolled over and eventually found the car charred to a skeleton at the bottom of the hillside.
Sergio was physically unable to descend the slope, and only Daniel and Olivia followed him down.
After seeing the burned car, Olivia immediately fainted. Fortunately, Daniel was there and rushed to grab her body and gave her a massage to wake her up.
As soon as Olivia woke up, a high-pitched scream came from her throat:
-Umberto, my son.
She pointed to the car, her fingers still trembling:
-The car is destroyed, it’s burned, and….
The car is destroyed, it has burned, and… -Madam, don’t worry, Mr. Santangel is fine -Ruben hastened to reassure her-. We were able to locate Mr. Santangel’s location because the clock was still running.
When Olivia heard this, she wiped her tears in embarrassment and nodded:
-That’s right, Umberto must be okay, they’re all alive. Let’s go find them.
-Yes, hurry up, -Daniel also hurried to say.
It must have been quite some time. There was no telling how long Umberto and Albina had been around.
This place was so deserted that they wouldn’t even be able to find water.
Soon the men found Jaime’s tracks. Albina managed to get rid of her own traces, but Jaime and the others were so fearless and determined that the traces stayed here obviously.
Ruben took a look at the traces of the march of so many people, he felt very worried.
Mr. Santangel’s attack this time was premeditated. He feared that these traces were the ones left by the thugs.
Thinking about this, he raised his voice and said:
-Follow the traces. The people who attacked Mr. Santangel are still here.
At these words, Olivia made an astonished face and grabbed Daniel’s hand as she said nervously:
-How come there are still others here, won’t we be in danger?
-Why are you afraid? There are so many people protecting us. Umberto and Albina were without any protection inside the forest,” Daniel answered her.
Olivia saw that he was a little angry and said in a low voice:
-I was just worried about our situation.
Daniel followed Ruben as they searched, shouting Umberto’s name.
There were many of them and they were easily spotted in the forest.
Jaime and Yolanda were searching when they saw one of their men running in a hurry and said anxiously:
-The people of Familia Santangel have come. There are many more than ours.
Jaime and Yolanda looked at each other and their faces changed.
-What should we do, shall we continue?
Yolanda’s voice was trembling. She didn’t think the Santangel Family people would come so fast.
Jaime thought for a moment, then said with an ugly face:
-No more searching, we’re leaving.
They definitely couldn’t beat them, so there was no point in staying.
The men received the order and hurried to tell them to close the group. Fearing that going back the way they had come would attract attention and they purposely went up the other direction.
After finding the Santangel family’s cars, Jaime was relieved:
-It looks like they haven’t found this place.
-Let’s go this way,” Jaime ordered.