Chapter 4 - THE SECOND DEAD SON
Adrian’s younger brother, Thomas, had died twelve years earlier.
His car had gone over a cliff near Marbella.
Police ruled it an accident.
Adrian had been driving behind him that night.
The guilt had never left.
“What evidence?”
Isabella whispered.
“A video.”
“There is no video.”
“My mother showed me.”
Victoria stepped toward the door.
Adrian blocked her.
“You’re not leaving.”
She smiled.
“You cannot hold me here.”
“I can until the police arrive.”
Victoria’s smile widened.
“You really think the police are going to save you?”
Adrian felt cold.
Isabella pulled an old flash drive from her bridal clutch.
“I copied it.”
Victoria lunged.
Adrian caught her wrist.
“Don’t.”
Isabella stared at her mother.
“I should have done this years ago.”
She inserted the drive into the old computer.
A video opened.
Night.
Rain.
Thomas’s car.
Adrian’s vehicle behind him.
Then Adrian’s car appeared to strike Thomas’s rear bumper.
Thomas went over the cliff.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“That never happened.”
Victoria smiled.
“The camera disagrees.”
“The video is edited.”
“Prove it.”
Adrian remembered that night.
Thomas had been drunk.
He had accelerated around a dangerous bend.
Adrian had tried to catch him.
But he had never touched Thomas’s car.
Rosa moved closer to the screen.
“Look at the timestamp.”
Adrian did.
It jumped forward eleven seconds immediately before the impact.
Isabella whispered.
“I noticed that too.”
Adrian turned toward Victoria.
“You fabricated it.”
Victoria shrugged.
“I protected my daughter.”
“You blackmailed her.”
“I kept this family alive.”
A crash sounded from the hallway.
Then Elena screamed.
“Mateo!”
Adrian ran.
The corridor was empty.
The front doors stood open.
Elena was outside.
“Someone took him!”
Adrian sprinted into the courtyard.
Guests scattered.
A black SUV tore through the estate gates.
Rosa whispered one name.
“Victor.”
Adrian ran toward his car.
Isabella followed.
“No.”
“He’s my son.”
“You locked him in a room thirty minutes ago.”
“To keep Victor from seeing him!”
Adrian stopped.
“What?”
Isabella grabbed his arm.
“That’s why I locked the door.”
She was sobbing now.
“I saw Victor watching Mateo.”
“I recognized the bracelet.”
“I knew immediately.”
“So you locked your son away?”
“I panicked!”
“You could have told someone.”
“My mother was ten feet away!”
Another engine roared.
Elena jumped into Adrian’s passenger seat.
“I know where Victor will take him.”
“Where?”
May you like
Her face went white.
“The reservoir.”
