Chapter 9 - THE PENDANT IN THE RED CAR
Alejandro stood behind the glass at the forensic garage.
The red car looked ordinary.
That made it worse.
Detective Sofía held the pendant inside an evidence bag.
“You’re certain?”
Alejandro nodded.
“I bought it.”
“When?”
“Our first anniversary.”
“Could Renata have owned something similar?”
“No.”
He pointed toward the back.
“There’s an engraving.”
Sofía turned it.
A + M.
Always.
Alejandro closed his eyes.
Mariana had worn it constantly.
“How did it get into Renata’s car?”
“That’s what we need to determine.”
Alejandro looked at the red vehicle.
“Mariana was in this car.”
“Possibly.”
“Before she died.”
“Possibly.”
Alejandro hated that word.
Possibly.
He wanted certainty.
He wanted someone to tell him exactly what had happened four years earlier.
Instead, every answer opened another door.
Sofía continued.
“We also recovered old fibers and biological material.”
“Can you test them?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Not long.”
Alejandro nodded.
Then Sofía handed him a copy of another document.
“What is this?”
“An insurance record.”
The red car had been repaired two days after Mariana’s death.
Front bumper damage.
Alejandro looked up.
“Was her car hit?”
“The original investigators found damage on the rear quarter panel.”
His mouth went dry.
“You’re saying Renata might have followed her.”
“I’m saying we’re investigating.”
Alejandro turned away.
His phone rang.
Lucía.
He answered immediately.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
No response.
“Lucía?”
A man spoke.
“Mr. Rivera?”
Alejandro froze.
“Who is this?”
“This is Officer Méndez.”
Alejandro’s heart dropped.
“What happened?”
“Your daughter is safe.”
Those words never make a parent calm.
“What happened?”
“Someone tried to pick her up from your mother’s house.”
Alejandro ran for the door.
“Who?”
“A woman claiming to be a child welfare investigator.”
“What?”
“She had documents.”
“Where is she?”
“She fled.”
Alejandro drove home.
His mother met him at the door.
Lucía ran into his arms.
“Daddy!”
He lifted her.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“She said you sent her.”
Alejandro held her tighter.
Elena looked furious.
“The woman had identification.”
“Fake?”
“Apparently.”
Mateo arrived minutes later.
He showed Alejandro security footage from the street.
The woman wore sunglasses and a cap.
Her face wasn’t clear.
But the vehicle was.
A white sedan registered to a company owned by Guillermo Salazar.
Alejandro called Guillermo.
This time, the older man answered.
“You’re crossing a line.”
Guillermo sighed.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“A woman in your company’s car tried to take Lucía.”
“Then perhaps one of my employees made a mistake.”
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
Guillermo’s voice became colder.
“I think you should have handled my daughter with dignity.”
Alejandro stared at the wall.
“Your daughter drugged mine.”
“Allegedly.”
“She locked her in a restroom.”
“A family misunderstanding.”
“She forged my signature.”
“You cannot prove Renata did that.”
Alejandro almost smiled.
“You sound nervous.”
“I’m protecting my family.”
“So am I.”
Guillermo paused.
Then he said something Alejandro would remember forever.
“You should ask yourself how much one little girl is worth losing.”
Alejandro’s expression changed.
“Everything.”
Silence.
Then Alejandro continued.
“She is worth everything.”
He hung up.
That afternoon, he made a decision.
He withdrew Lucía from school temporarily.
He hired private security.
He moved Elena into his home.
He changed every lock.
Every password.
Every access code.
And that night, after Lucía fell asleep, Alejandro opened Mariana’s recovered phone again.
There was one audio file they had missed.
Its date was the night before Mariana died.
Alejandro pressed play.
Mariana was crying.
“Renata came to the house tonight.”
May you like
Alejandro stopped breathing.
“She said if I didn’t leave Alejandro, she would make sure Lucía grew up without a mother.”
