Chapter 14 - THE VIDEO THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Nobody spoke while the video played.
Mariana’s car entered the curve.
Renata’s red vehicle followed.
It accelerated.
The first impact was light.
The second wasn’t.
Mariana’s car swerved.
The footage shook.
Then the recording ended.
Alejandro sat motionless.
Four years of grief changed shape in less than thirty seconds.
Mariana hadn’t simply lost control.
She had been chased.
Hit.
Terrified.
Detective Sofía paused the video.
“This is strong evidence.”
Alejandro stared at the frozen frame.
“Why did Guillermo have it?”
“We’re asking him.”
“And?”
“He wants immunity.”
Alejandro laughed bitterly.
“For kidnapping my daughter?”
“For cooperating in the homicide investigation.”
Alejandro looked at Sofía.
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“We believe from the beginning.”
Alejandro stood.
“So he helped cover it up.”
“We believe so.”
“What about Teresa?”
“We’re still determining her role.”
“And Renata?”
“Still missing.”
Alejandro walked to the window.
“Guillermo knows where she is.”
“Probably.”
“Then make him tell you.”
Sofía’s voice remained calm.
“We’re working on it.”
Alejandro hated procedures.
He hated negotiations.
He hated that people who destroyed lives still got lawyers and bargaining power.
But he knew anger wouldn’t bring Renata in.
Evidence would.
Guillermo eventually talked.
He admitted Renata had called him after Mariana’s crash.
She was hysterical.
She claimed the collision was an accident.
Guillermo arrived before police.
He removed the dashboard camera from Renata’s car.
He paid for repairs.
He helped sell the vehicle.
He used business connections to steer attention away from Renata.
Teresa helped destroy clothing and phone records.
Alejandro listened to the confession.
Every sentence made him colder.
Guillermo insisted he never knew Renata had damaged Mariana’s brake line.
That part, he claimed, Renata did alone.
Then Sofía asked the question that mattered.
“Where is she?”
Guillermo hesitated.
“Mexico City.”
“Where?”
He gave an address.
Police raided it.
Empty.
But a laptop remained.
On it were recent searches.
Alejandro Rivera.
Lucía Rivera.
Mariana Morales.
And one more name.
Elena Rivera.
Alejandro’s mother.
Alejandro called home.
Elena answered.
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t leave the house.”
“What happened?”
“Renata searched your name.”
Elena went quiet.
“Alejandro.”
“What?”
“There’s something I never told you.”
His stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Mariana gave me a letter.”
“When?”
“A week before she died.”
Alejandro stared at the wall.
“You had a letter from Mariana for four years?”
“She made me promise not to give it to you unless something happened.”
“Something did happen.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you give it to me?”
“Because after she died, I read the first line.”
Elena’s voice broke.
“And I was afraid of what it would do to you.”
Alejandro could barely speak.
“Where is it?”
“In my house.”
They drove there under police escort.
Elena opened an old sewing cabinet.
The envelope was gone.
The window behind the cabinet was open.
Someone had been there.
Then they heard a sound upstairs.
A floorboard.
Alejandro looked toward the staircase.
“Elena, outside.”
He moved upward.
Slowly.
At the top of the stairs stood Renata.
May you like
She held Mariana’s letter in one hand.
And a knife in the other.
