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attack. In addition to the president’s daughter, we lost a vehicle and three men who were in pursuit of the getaway car. A blockade was put into effect as quickly as all the streets could be sealed, but there has been no trace of the kidnappers other than a telephone call that threatened to kill her if certain conditions were not met,” the chief of staff finished.
    One of the men at the far end of the table raised his hand. “What were the conditions?”
    “Impossible demands. The usual. Freeing prisoners, changing policy…suffice it to say, nothing that we could honor,” the president cut in.
    “How the hell can something like this happen?” the CISEN head barked.
    The security chief answered.
    “She was adamant about going to this club, and apparently someone knew she would be there. The entire place was inspected that day in preparation for her visit, and no threats were found. She had a security team with her that should have been more than enough–”
    “Except it wasn’t, was it?” the president snapped.
    Nobody had anything to say to that. There were no assurances, no glib rejoinders.
    “The press has not been alerted. This is classified at the highest level and will remain so until further notice. The only ones that know the details are sitting in this room, as well as the remainder of her security team, who have been sequestered while they are questioned,” the chief of staff continued.
    “Do we have any idea who is responsible?”
    “Yes. The call made that clear. It’s Don Aranas, the head of the Sinaloa cartel. At least that’s the claim. Whether or not it is actually true is anyone’s guess, but we’re acting under the assumption that the information is accurate.”
    “Why would a cartel chief grab the president’s daughter and make all sorts of crazy demands? That’s not how these crooks operate,” the head of the security detail asked.
    “I have no idea. Up until now, this would have been unimaginable. But the impossible has happened, and we need to pull out all the stops to locate Maria and get her back unharmed. Do I make myself clear?” the president asked.
    Everyone nodded.
    “Fortunately, we’ve identified a likely cartel stronghold in Culiacán we believe is the most likely place for her to be held captive. We are working on an assault plan as we speak and should be able to formalize a strategy shortly. The idea is to go in hard, in the dead of night, and take the compound before anyone knows what hit them.” He paused. “One of the biggest problems is that the counter-surveillance measures are state of the art and therefore will require considerable care to circumvent. But our experts assure us it can be done,” the chief of staff concluded.
    “Gentlemen, I will leave you to this, but I want to make one thing crystal clear. Maria is my flesh and blood, and we cannot fail to get her back safe. There is no more pressing priority, and I am depending upon you all to figure out how to do so. This cannot be allowed to stand, and there is no resource I will not expend, no length to which I will not go, to ensure she’s home in one piece sooner than later. Don’t fail me. This is a slap in the face of the entire nation of Mexico by organized criminal syndicates that believe they are bigger than the government. That cannot stand. I will not allow it to.”
    The president stood, obviously choked with emotion, and the rest of the room leapt to its feet. He moved to the door, followed by the chief of staff. The rest stayed behind to craft a response to a scenario nobody had imagined possible.
    The chief of staff walked by the president’s side as they strolled to his offices.
    The president leaned in to him and spoke quietly. “I want a contingency plan. All the bluster is fine, but I don’t believe that we’re going to be able to take down Aranas that easily. We’ve been hunting him for two decades with no success. Why do you have any faith that now we’ll suddenly be