Chapter 1 - THE GIRL WHO CAME OUT OF THE FOG
On a cold morning swallowed by thick forest fog, feared crime boss Ramon Ortega and three of his most trusted men were stopped on an isolated road by a barefoot little girl running toward their convoy.
The child was exhausted, covered in mud, bleeding from both feet, and wearing a torn dusty-rose dress. Rope burns circled her wrists.
She begged Ramon to save her mother.
Someone, she said, had left the woman hanging from a tree deep inside the forest.
Ramon Ortega had survived ambushes, gang wars, betrayals, and assassination attempts. His name was spoken carefully in places where powerful men rarely feared anyone.
But the terror in the girl's eyes was real.
When she became too weak to walk, Ramon carried her himself while his men—Victor, Diego, and Matteo—followed with weapons drawn.
The girl guided them through a narrow trail into a strange circular clearing.
At its center stood an enormous ancient oak.
And suspended from one of its branches was a woman.
She was still moving.
Barely.
May you like
Ramon had entered the forest expecting to save a stranger.
He had no idea the clearing belonged to a nightmare his own family had buried years earlier.
