Chapter 5 - VANESSA’S REAL FEAR
Daniel read the message twice.
Then grabbed Elena’s phone.
“We have to go.”
Kim stepped between him and the door.
“No.”
“They have Vanessa.”
“I can read.”
“They’ll kill her.”
Kim’s voice stayed flat.
“And if you walk into whatever this is alone, they might kill you too.”
Daniel slammed his palm against the table.
“She’s my wife!”
Elena snapped:
“She stole my son!”
Daniel turned.
“I know!”
His voice broke.
The room went silent.
He looked toward Mateo.
Then lowered his voice.
“I know.”
Elena stared at him.
Daniel dragged both hands through his hair.
“I know what she did.”
His breathing became uneven.
“But three years of my life don’t disappear in ten minutes.”
Elena looked away.
She understood that more than she wanted to.
Kim took control.
“We don’t hand over evidence.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You think they care about evidence?”
“They clearly do.”
“They care enough to kill for it.”
Kim nodded.
“Exactly.”
She looked at Elena.
“Who else knows about this?”
“No one.”
“Family?”
“I have an older sister in Texas.”
“Does she know Mateo is alive?”
Elena shook her head.
“I haven’t called anyone yet.”
“Keep it that way for now.”
Daniel paced.
Mateo watched him.
Finally the little boy said:
“Dad?”
Daniel stopped.
Everyone did.
Elena slowly looked at Mateo.
Mateo pointed toward Daniel.
“Are you mad?”
Daniel’s face collapsed.
He crouched.
“No, buddy.”
“Mom says yelling is bad when you’re mad.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“She’s right.”
Mateo walked over.
Daniel hesitated before opening his arms.
Mateo hugged him.
Elena’s chest tightened painfully.
Four stolen years.
Daniel had been there for birthdays.
Fevers.
Nightmares.
First words Elena had missed.
But to Mateo, Daniel was still Dad.
Vanessa had created that too.
Kim watched carefully.
Then Mateo whispered:
“Is Nessa bad?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Elena waited.
He answered quietly.
“I don’t know.”
Mateo frowned.
“She told me Mommy went to heaven.”
Elena felt the air leave her lungs.
Daniel looked at him.
“What?”
Mateo pulled away.
“Nessa said my first mommy died.”
His small face became confused.
“But Mommy didn’t die.”
“No.”
Elena knelt beside him.
“I didn’t.”
Mateo touched her cheek.
“Where were you?”
Elena’s throat closed.
She could not tell a five-year-old she had spent years searching every city, every shelter, every foster database she could access.
She just said:
“Trying to find you.”
Mateo thought about that.
“Did you look every day?”
Elena nodded.
“Every day.”
He hugged her.
Daniel turned away.
Kim’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Everyone watched.
Kim ended the call.
“Vanessa’s car was found.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where?”
“Near Pier 17.”
“Was she inside?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Kim looked at Elena.
“There was blood in the back seat.”
Daniel went pale.
Kim continued.
“And there was one other thing.”
“What?”
“A child’s hospital bracelet.”
Elena’s heart stopped.
Kim took a photograph from her phone.
The bracelet was dirty.
Old.
Printed across it was:
MATEO REYES.
Date of birth.
Hospital ID.
Elena whispered:
“That was on him when he disappeared.”
Kim nodded.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“Why would Vanessa keep that?”
Elena already knew.
“Because she wasn’t the one who took him.”
Everyone looked at her.
“She received him.”
Daniel’s face emptied.
May you like
Elena looked toward Matthew’s frozen image on the laptop.
“And whoever actually stole Mateo is still out there.”
