Chapter 5 - THE DEAD WOMAN’S ACCOUNT
Alejandro read the receipt three times.
It didn’t change.
The account had belonged to Mariana.
After her death, Alejandro had believed it was closed.
Apparently it wasn’t.
Mateo looked over his shoulder.
“How much?”
Alejandro showed him.
Mateo’s eyes widened.
“Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?”
Alejandro nodded.
“Three days ago.”
“Who had access?”
“I did.”
“Anyone else?”
Alejandro thought.
Mariana’s mother had died years earlier.
Her father lived in Spain.
The account had been created before their marriage.
Then Alejandro remembered something.
“Renata helped me organize old financial documents last year.”
Mateo stared at him.
“You gave her access?”
“Not intentionally.”
Alejandro felt sick.
“She scanned everything for the estate lawyer.”
Mateo looked toward the security monitor.
“You think she found the account?”
“I think Lucía found this receipt.”
They went to Lucía.
She was sitting with Elena in a private room.
Alejandro knelt.
“Sweetheart, where did you get the paper behind Mommy’s picture?”
Lucía looked at the frame.
“In Renata’s room.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Why were you in there?”
Lucía hesitated.
“She asked me to bring her earrings.”
“And you saw the receipt?”
“It was on the table.”
“Why did you take it?”
Lucía looked embarrassed.
“Because it had Mommy’s name.”
Alejandro’s chest tightened.
“You recognized her name?”
Lucía nodded.
“I thought it was part of my surprise.”
“What surprise?”
Lucía looked at Elena.
Then back at Alejandro.
“I found Mommy’s old phone.”
Alejandro froze.
“Where?”
“In the blue box from Grandma’s house.”
Alejandro remembered the box.
After Mariana died, he had packed away several of her personal belongings.
He hadn’t opened it in years.
“The phone still works?”
“I charged it.”
“What did you see?”
Lucía reached into the pocket of her dress.
Nothing.
Her face changed.
“My phone.”
“What?”
“Mommy’s phone is gone.”
Alejandro’s stomach dropped.
“Did you bring it here?”
Lucía nodded.
“I put it in my little bag.”
“Where is the bag?”
“In Renata’s room.”
Mateo was already heading for the door.
Alejandro followed.
The bridal suite was chaos.
Flowers.
Makeup.
Champagne.
Discarded clothing.
They found Lucía’s small pink bag beneath a chair.
Empty.
No phone.
Alejandro searched the room.
Nothing.
Mateo checked drawers.
Then he found a trash can.
Inside was a phone case.
Old.
Blue.
Alejandro recognized it.
Mariana’s.
“The phone was here.”
Mateo looked toward the hallway.
“Renata took it.”
Alejandro called the police officer handling the incident.
“We need to locate Renata.”
“We’re already trying.”
“She may have stolen property containing evidence.”
“What kind of evidence?”
“I don’t know yet.”
That was the problem.
He didn’t know what Mariana’s phone contained.
But Renata did.
Enough to lock an eight-year-old child in a room.
Enough to run from her own wedding.
Enough to steal the phone.
Alejandro returned to Lucía.
“What did you see on Mommy’s phone?”
Lucía thought.
“Pictures.”
“What pictures?”
“You and Mommy.”
“Anything else?”
“Messages.”
Alejandro leaned closer.
“What messages?”
“One had Renata’s name.”
The room went silent.
Alejandro felt cold.
“Renata knew your mother?”
Lucía shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
Alejandro looked at Elena.
His mother seemed equally confused.
“Mariana died four years ago.”
Elena nodded.
“You didn’t meet Renata until two years ago.”
“At least that’s what she told me.”
Lucía suddenly spoke.
“There was a picture.”
Alejandro looked down.
“What picture?”
“Renata and Mommy.”
His heart stopped.
“Together?”
Lucía nodded.
“They were younger.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“What were they doing?”
“Standing by a car.”
Alejandro’s mouth went dry.
“What kind of car?”
Lucía thought.
“A red one.”
Alejandro stood.
Four years earlier, Mariana had died when her car lost control on a mountain road outside Cuernavaca.
Her vehicle had gone through a barrier.
The investigation ruled it an accident.
Brake failure.
Alejandro remembered the police photographs.
He remembered something else.
A witness had reported seeing a red vehicle near the road shortly before the crash.
It had never been identified.
Alejandro looked at Mateo.
His brother understood immediately.
“No.”
Alejandro whispered.
“Find Renata.”
Mateo pulled out his phone.
Alejandro looked at the broken photograph.
His wedding had ended.
His daughter had been targeted.
His dead wife’s bank account had been accessed.
And now he had one terrifying question.
May you like
Had Renata entered his life two years ago by accident?
Or had she been there long before Alejandro ever knew her name?
