Chapter 7 - MY SISTER’S LIE
Elena wanted to fly to Texas immediately.
Detective Kim refused.
So Elena tried to leave without permission.
Kim caught her at the elevator.
“Move.”
“No.”
“My sister helped steal my child.”
“And if you walk into a trap, Mateo loses you again.”
That stopped Elena.
Kim lowered her voice.
“We’re sending officers.”
Elena’s hands shook.
“I need to look her in the face.”
“You may get that chance.”
“No.”
Elena glared at her.
“I need it now.”
Daniel stepped out of the hallway.
“Elena.”
“Don’t.”
“I found something else.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course you did.”
Daniel showed her a transfer record.
Two million dollars.
Paid to Marisol Vega.
Three weeks after Mateo disappeared.
Elena stared.
“No.”
Daniel said nothing.
Elena grabbed the paper.
“Where did this come from?”
“Vanessa’s files.”
“What account?”
“A company called Horizon Family Services.”
Kim’s expression changed.
“That name is on Matthew’s list.”
Elena whispered:
“She sold him?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Elena looked at him.
“Say it.”
“We don’t know.”
“SAY IT.”
Mateo woke in the next room and began crying.
Elena stopped instantly.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I’ll get him.”
“No.”
Elena wiped her face.
“I will.”
She entered the room.
Mateo sat on a couch holding a blanket.
“You were yelling.”
“I’m sorry.”
He looked worried.
“Are you leaving?”
The question cut deeper than anything else.
Elena sat beside him.
“No.”
“Promise?”
She hesitated.
Not because she planned to leave.
Because promises had become terrifying.
Mateo noticed.
“Mommy?”
She took his hand.
“I promise I’ll fight like crazy to stay with you.”
He accepted that.
Children sometimes understood honesty better than comfort.
He leaned against her.
“Dad says I can have cereal for dinner.”
Elena looked at Daniel in the doorway.
Daniel shrugged.
“It’s been a strange day.”
Mateo whispered:
“Chocolate cereal.”
Elena almost laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
Mateo gasped.
Daniel smiled despite everything.
For ten seconds, they looked like some impossible broken family.
Then Kim entered.
Her face killed the moment.
“Elena.”
“What?”
“Texas police reached your sister’s house.”
Elena stood.
“And?”
“Empty.”
Her stomach dropped.
Kim continued.
“There are signs she left quickly.”
“Where did she go?”
“We don’t know.”
“Dr. Pierce?”
“No sign.”
Elena turned away.
Kim held up another phone.
“We recovered traffic footage near the house.”
“And?”
“Marisol left yesterday morning.”
“Yesterday?”
Kim nodded.
“Before you found Mateo.”
Elena froze.
“So she already knew.”
“Apparently.”
“Where was she going?”
Kim’s expression tightened.
“The airport.”
Elena stared.
“What flight?”
Kim didn’t answer immediately.
“Chicago.”
Daniel whispered:
“She’s here.”
Then Mateo said something from the couch.
“Aunt Mari?”
Elena turned.
Mateo smiled.
“She came to my house.”
Everyone froze.
“When?”
Mateo shrugged.
“Yesterday.”
Daniel’s face went pale.
“She was at our house?”
Mateo nodded.
“She gave Nessa a red bag.”
Elena crouched.
“What was in the bag?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Aunt Mari say?”
Mateo thought.
“She said we had to go somewhere.”
“Where?”
Mateo frowned.
“Home.”
Elena’s heart hammered.
“You were already home.”
Mateo shook his head.
“No.”
“What did she say exactly?”
He looked at Elena.
“She told Nessa, ‘His real home is waiting.’”
Daniel whispered:
“What the hell does that mean?”
Then the front desk officer burst into the room.
“Detective.”
Kim turned.
“We have a security breach.”
“What kind?”
“Someone accessed the evidence locker remotely.”
Kim’s face changed.
“The flash drive?”
The officer nodded.
“Copied.”
Elena looked toward the windows.
Outside, across the street, a woman stood under a black umbrella.
Marisol.
May you like
Watching them.
Elena bolted for the door.
