Chapter 13 - Three Days to Court
The original page came from an agreement Alejandro had signed six months earlier, accepting the role of trustee after his child’s birth.
Tessa compared the two signatures.
“They’re identical,” she said. “Same gaps in the ink. Same angle. Someone copied it onto the petition.”
Marisol had also obtained the office printer logs. The petition had been printed under Esther’s account at 11:42 p.m. the night after Valeria fell.
Tessa filed the evidence before Monday’s hearing.
At the rental house, Alejandro made a list of families named in Lucia’s records. Tessa was asking the court to freeze the child’s trust until each claim could be reviewed.
Valeria found him at the kitchen table.
“My mother was trying to get them paid,” she said.
“She was.”
“For years, I thought her last day was just an ordinary day that ended badly.”
Alejandro turned toward her. “Rosa said Lucia kept copies because she wanted someone to finish what she started.”
“I want to do that.”
“We will.”
Valeria sat beside him. Sometimes her legs still ached. She woke from dreams of the back staircase. Alejandro no longer assumed he knew what she needed; he asked, and when she wanted quiet, he gave her quiet.
That evening, the detective called. A new review of Lucia’s car had found old paint evidence consistent with the Aranda vehicle Gabriel drove. It supported his account, though it did not yet prove exactly how the crash happened.
After dinner, a car pulled up outside.
Alejandro looked through the front window. Esther stepped out alone. She held a sealed envelope.
Valeria came into the hallway.
“Don’t let her in.”
“I won’t.”
May you like
Esther rang the bell, then lifted the envelope where they could see it.
Across the front, in Lucia’s handwriting, was Valeria’s name.
