Chapter 7 - THE NURSE IN HANDCUFFS
Elena stopped the officers.
Luca ran toward them.
Don Esteban followed, breathing heavily.
“Where did you find the phone?” Sofía asked.
“Under the stairs.”
Luca handed it to Elena.
The screen was cracked.
A video application remained open.
The footage showed the hallway outside Nicolás’s office.
Don Esteban placed Sofía’s medical bag beside the door.
He walked away.
Ten seconds later, Beatriz Salcedo entered the frame.
Leonor’s private secretary looked both directions.
Then she slipped the vial into Sofía’s bag.
Leonor stared at the screen.
“Beatriz would never act without instructions.”
Nicolás looked at her.
“Whose instructions?”
Leonor did not answer.
Elena removed Sofía’s handcuffs.
“You are no longer under arrest.”
Sofía rubbed her wrists.
“Beatriz still has access to the house.”
“She left twenty minutes ago,” one guard said.
“Then Adrián knows we found the evidence.”
Nicolás ordered every camera outside the estate checked.
Beatriz’s car had exited through the north gate before the lockdown.
The gate officer claimed Leonor had approved it.
Leonor denied making the call.
Elena examined the phone records.
The authorization had come from Leonor’s private line.
“That phone never left my room,” Leonor said.
Sofía looked at the servants.
“Who can imitate your voice?”
No one answered.
Leonor turned toward Don Esteban.
“Ask your grandson.”
Luca shrank behind him.
Nicolás stepped forward.
“You will not use that child as a shield.”
“I am not the one using children.”
The words silenced the room.
Nicolás looked as though she had struck him.
Sofía returned to the medical wing.
Mateo stopped crying when she leaned over the bassinet.
Nicolás watched.
“He should be comforted by his parents.”
“He will be.”
“When?”
“When this house stops teaching him that every touch brings pain.”
Valeria stood beside Sofía.
“Can I try again?”
Sofía nodded.
This time, she placed Mateo in Valeria’s arms without removing her own hands.
Mateo whimpered.
Valeria held still.
“You are safe,” she whispered.
“I am sorry I did not understand.”
His crying softened.
Sofía slowly moved her hands away.
Mateo remained against his mother.
Valeria pressed her lips to his forehead.
Nicolás turned toward the window.
Sofía saw his eyes shining in the reflection.
“You did not stop Elena from arresting me,” she said.
“I did not know whether the evidence was real.”
“You knew I saved your son.”
“People can save someone they intend to use later.”
“That is how you understand loyalty?”
“That is how I survived it.”
Sofía looked at him.
“And how many innocent people did you punish while surviving?”
He did not answer.
Elena entered.
“Beatriz’s financial records connect her to a hotel near the airport.”
“Send officers,” Nicolás said.
“I already did.”
Elena showed them another document.
The two-million-peso transfer into Sofía’s account had originated from the Velasco Children’s Foundation.
Leonor chaired that foundation.
“I did not authorize it,” she said.
Elena studied her.
“Your signature token did.”
Adrián was not merely framing Sofía.
He was building a case that Leonor had ordered the attack.
Sofía looked at Nicolás.
“He wants you to destroy your mother before she can explain what she knows.”
Leonor gave a bitter laugh.
“You believe I deserve protection?”
“No.”
Sofía’s voice remained cold.
“I believe the truth deserves protection.”
A message arrived on Elena’s phone.
Beatriz had been found in the airport hotel.
She was alive but unconscious.
A handwritten note lay beside her.
It contained Sofía’s name and an address.
Elena ordered a police vehicle.
“I am taking Sofía into protective custody.”
Nicolás’s face hardened.
“She stays here.”
“You do not control a federal witness.”
“I control whether she leaves my gates alive.”
Sofía picked up her medical bag.
“I am going.”
“You were nearly framed for attempted murder.”
“That is why I am going.”
Nicolás stepped into her path.
“You think courage means walking into every trap?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Courage means refusing to let fear choose your direction.”
The police van left the estate under armed escort.
Rain struck the roof.
Elena sat across from Sofía.
“Do you trust Nicolás?”
“No.”
“Does he trust you?”
“Not yet.”
The convoy entered a tunnel beneath the city.
The lights inside the van flickered.
Elena looked toward the driver.
“Why are we slowing down?”
The radio went silent.
A black truck blocked the tunnel exit.
The escort vehicle behind them suddenly turned away.
Elena drew her weapon.
The driver locked the doors.
May you like
Then he looked at Sofía through the rearview mirror.
“Adrián says the poor nurse has caused enough trouble.”
