Chapter 10 - The Bright Horizon
The black sedan moved smoothly down the long, winding road leading away from the vineyard, heading south toward the coast.
In the back seat, Ramon sat alone.
He pulled the small blue sea stone from his breast pocket, holding it between his thumb and forefinger, letting the smooth surface catch the last golden rays of the setting sun.
Beside him on the leather seat sat a fresh leather binder containing his syndicate's global operations. Victor was in the front passenger seat, turning around with an iPad in hand.
"Boss," Victor said. "The coastal shipping lanes are clear. The federal audit on Vance’s accounts cleared our dock contracts completely. Our legitimate revenue is up thirty percent this quarter."
Ramon didn't look up from the stone. "Good."
"And Boss?" Victor added, his face softening into a rare, genuine expression of respect. "The guys... Diego, Matteo, the whole crew... they want to know if we’re still allocating five percent of the port funds to the child refuge fund in the capital."
"Double it," Ramon commanded quietly. "Make it ten percent. Expand the intake centers across all three northern counties. No child who runs out of the woods should ever find a locked door."
"Consider it done, Boss," Victor smiled, turning back to his work.
Ramon looked out the tinted window.
The dark, suffocating fog that had covered his world for so many years had completely lifted. The sky over the mountains was vast, clear, and glowing with the deep, brilliant colors of twilight.
He closed his hand around the small blue stone, placing it securely back in his pocket over his heart.
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He was still Ramon Ortega. He was still the king of the docks, the shadow in the dark, a man feared by criminals and politicians alike. But as he looked out at the bright horizon, he knew that the cold, pitiless darkness that had driven him for twenty years had finally been broken by a barefoot little girl who had been brave enough to run out of the fog.
And for the first time in his life, as the night fell softly over the mountains, Ramon Ortega was at peace.
