Chapter 4 - THE CAR AT THE BACK GATE
Alejandro stared at the photograph.
For one second, his mind refused to process it.
Then instinct took over.
“Lock every gate.”
Mateo ran toward security.
Alejandro called the number.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
His mother grabbed his arm.
“What happened?”
Alejandro showed her the photograph.
Elena went pale.
“Oh my God.”
“Mom, stay here.”
“Alejandro—”
“Stay here.”
He ran toward the parking area.
The hacienda had three vehicle exits.
The main entrance.
A service road.
And a narrow back gate used by vendors.
Alejandro remembered seeing a delivery van there earlier.
“Mateo!”
His brother caught up.
“Main gate is closed.”
“The back gate.”
They ran.
Two security guards were already moving.
Alejandro’s phone buzzed again.
DO NOT FOLLOW.
He kept running.
The back gate came into view.
Open.
A dark SUV was pulling onto the dirt road beyond it.
Alejandro sprinted.
“STOP!”
The SUV accelerated.
Mateo grabbed the keys from a parked golf cart.
“Get in!”
Alejandro jumped beside him.
Mateo slammed the accelerator.
The cart shot down the service road.
The SUV was faster.
Much faster.
Alejandro pulled out his phone.
He called Lucía.
Her smartwatch.
It rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then connected.
He heard breathing.
“Lucía?”
“Daddy?”
Alejandro nearly collapsed with relief.
“Baby, listen to me.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“Paola’s brother has me.”
Alejandro looked at Mateo.
“Paola’s brother?”
Mateo’s face hardened.
Alejandro kept his voice calm.
“Can you see where you are?”
“Trees.”
“Anything else?”
“A red truck.”
The line crackled.
A man shouted.
“Give me that!”
Lucía screamed.
The call ended.
Alejandro called again.
No answer.
Mateo pushed the golf cart harder.
The SUV disappeared around a bend.
Then they saw the red truck.
An old pickup was parked beside a maintenance shed.
The SUV had stopped.
Alejandro jumped from the cart before it fully stopped.
A man was pulling Lucía toward another vehicle.
“LET HER GO!”
The man turned.
Lucía bit his hand.
He screamed.
She ran.
Alejandro sprinted toward her.
“Daddy!”
He caught her.
Lucía crashed into his chest.
Alejandro wrapped both arms around her.
The man ran toward the pickup.
Mateo tackled him.
They hit the dirt hard.
Security arrived seconds later.
Alejandro barely noticed.
He was checking Lucía’s face.
Her arms.
Her hands.
“Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“He grabbed me.”
Alejandro hugged her again.
“I’m sorry.”
Lucía buried her face in his neck.
“I knew you’d come.”
Those words nearly destroyed him.
Police arrived twenty minutes later.
The man’s name was Diego Salas.
He was Paola’s older brother.
But when officers questioned him, the story changed again.
Diego claimed Paola had called him.
She had told him to take Lucía away from the hacienda.
Paola denied it.
Then Diego showed police the message.
It had come from Paola’s phone.
Except Paola had been sitting outside with security at the exact time it was sent.
Someone else had used her phone.
Someone who had access to the black handbag.
Renata.
Alejandro looked toward the garden.
She was gone.
So were Teresa and Guillermo.
One of the guards approached.
“Mr. Rivera?”
“What?”
“We checked the security footage.”
“And?”
“Mrs. Salazar left through the kitchen exit.”
“Renata?”
“Yes.”
“With her parents.”
Alejandro stared toward the empty road.
She had run.
Then the guard added something else.
“There’s something you need to see.”
They went to the security office.
The corridor camera footage appeared on the screen.
11:42 a.m.
Lucía walked into view carrying the silver frame.
Renata followed.
Paola was behind her.
There was no audio.
But the body language said enough.
Renata grabbed the frame.
Lucía tried to take it back.
Renata threw it.
The frame struck the wall.
Glass shattered.
Lucía cried.
Renata grabbed her wrist.
She pulled her toward the restroom.
Lucía resisted.
Paola opened the door.
Renata pushed Lucía inside.
Then Renata closed the door.
Paola slid the latch into place.
Alejandro stared at the screen.
No misunderstanding.
No tantrum.
No confusion.
His daughter had told the truth.
Every word.
Mateo stood beside him.
“We have her.”
Alejandro shook his head.
“No.”
Mateo looked at him.
“What?”
“We have this.”
Alejandro pointed at the screen.
“But I want to know why.”
“Because she’s cruel.”
“No.”
Alejandro looked at the broken frame in his hand.
“She was desperate to stop Lucía from giving me this.”
Mateo frowned.
“A photograph?”
Alejandro removed the damaged picture.
Something was taped behind it.
A folded piece of paper.
He opened it.
It wasn’t a note.
It was a bank receipt.
Alejandro stared at the account number.
He recognized it.
It belonged to Mariana.
May you like
His dead wife.
And according to the receipt, someone had withdrawn money from Mariana’s account three days ago.
