Chapter 9 - THE EMPTY BASSINET
Nicolás reached the mansion before the police.
The medical wing doors were open.
Valeria lay unconscious beside the bassinet.
Don Esteban was slumped near the hallway.
Luca’s blue backpack remained on the floor.
Sofía checked Valeria first.
“She is breathing.”
Dr. Marín examined Don Esteban.
“Both were sedated.”
Nicolás searched every room.
“Mateo!”
His voice echoed through the mansion.
No child answered.
Leonor stood at the foot of the main staircase.
Her face was white.
“Where were the guards?”
“Drugged,” Elena replied.
Nicolás turned toward his mother.
“Where is my son?”
“I do not know.”
“You knew the old passages.”
“I knew one entrance.”
“Show me.”
Leonor led them to a carved wall behind the chapel.
A hidden latch opened a narrow stone passage.
Fresh wheel marks crossed the dust.
Sofía touched them.
“A laundry cart.”
Nicolás ran ahead.
The passage ended near the north garage.
A plain white delivery van had disappeared.
Elena checked traffic cameras.
The van’s plates belonged to a pediatric supply company.
Sofía returned to Luca’s backpack.
The recording Beatriz mentioned was hidden inside the lining.
It contained voices.
Leonor.
Beatriz.
Dr. Montalvo.
Adrián.
Leonor’s voice was cold.
Two days of irritation.
That is all.
Adrián answered calmly.
Enough to prove Valeria cannot care for him.
Then Dr. Montalvo spoke.
And if Nicolás refuses the trust amendment?
A long pause followed.
Adrián’s answer was barely above a whisper.
Then the child’s condition becomes permanent.
Leonor’s recorded voice rose.
No.
You promised no permanent harm.
Adrián laughed.
You lost the right to set limits when you sprayed the first blanket.
The recording ended.
Nicolás looked at his mother.
“You heard him threaten Mateo.”
“I tried to stop.”
“You stayed silent.”
“He controlled the trust records.”
“You chose your reputation over my son.”
Leonor’s shoulders collapsed.
“Yes.”
The word surprised everyone.
She did not defend herself.
She did not blame the servants.
She did not speak of family honor.
“I wanted Valeria gone,” she said.
“I believed Mateo belonged in this house.”
Valeria had regained consciousness.
She stood in the doorway supported by Dr. Marín.
“My son belongs with people who do not hurt him.”
Leonor looked at her.
“I know.”
“No.”
Valeria’s voice shook.
“You know you were caught.”
Sofía examined the cotton sheet left in the bassinet.
A small medical sensor was missing.
Before the kidnapping, she had attached it to Mateo’s ankle.
The device transmitted temperature and heart rate.
“Can we track the sensor?” Elena asked.
Dr. Marín opened the monitoring application.
A weak signal appeared on the city map.
It moved east.
Nicolás recognized the location.
“There is an abandoned textile plant near that highway.”
“Who owns it?” Elena asked.
“A Velasco subsidiary.”
The signal stopped.
Mateo’s heart rate appeared on the screen.
It was fast.
Too fast.
They drove toward the factory.
Valeria insisted on coming.
Nicolás refused.
“He is my son.”
“You were just sedated.”
“And you think I will sit inside that mansion with your mother?”
Sofía looked at Nicolás.
“She comes.”
He did not argue again.
The abandoned plant stood behind rusted gates.
No lights showed inside.
The air smelled of wet concrete and old chemicals.
Elena’s team entered through the front.
Nicolás led Sofía and Valeria toward a side passage.
They found the white delivery van empty.
Inside the factory, speakers played a recording of Mateo crying.
Valeria nearly ran toward the sound.
Sofía caught her.
“That is not live.”
“How do you know?”
“The breaths repeat.”
Nicolás found a small crib beneath a hanging light.
It was empty.
A phone rested on the mattress.
The screen turned on.
Adrián appeared.
He smiled.
“You brought the nurse.”
“Where is Mateo?” Nicolás demanded.
“Close.”
A second camera feed appeared.
Mateo lay inside a glass-walled office wrapped in plain cotton.
His chest rose and fell quickly.
Another feed appeared beside it.
Luca sat locked inside a maintenance cage.
He had hidden in the delivery van and been discovered.
Adrián leaned toward the camera.
“One child knows too much.”
“The other owns too much.”
May you like
His smile widened.
“You have ten minutes to decide which one leaves alive.”
