Chapter 15 - LAURA’S ABDUCTION
Mateo called Laura immediately.
Her phone rang unanswered.
Again.
Nothing.
Hospital security footage showed her leaving to retrieve clothes for Emiliano and Jimena.
A black SUV followed her from the parking garage.
Twenty minutes later, police found her car abandoned.
The driver’s door was open.
Her purse remained on the seat.
Mateo felt the old nightmare returning.
First Emiliano.
Then Jimena.
Now Laura.
Sebastián was dismantling his family one person at a time.
A video arrived on Mateo’s phone.
Laura sat tied to a chair inside a dim room.
Her face was bruised.
But her eyes were clear.
Sebastián stepped into frame.
“Bring the negatives.”
Mateo stared at the screen.
“Midnight.”
Sebastián smiled.
“Come to the house where your father died.”
The video ended.
Mateo frowned.
His father had died on a highway.
Salgado understood first.
“He means somewhere else.”
Elena did too.
“There was a cabin.”
Mateo turned toward her.
“What cabin?”
“Your father used it for meetings with Daniel Ortega.”
“Where?”
“In the mountains outside Bernal.”
Police mapped the location.
The property had once belonged to a shell company controlled by the Varela family.
Mateo looked at Salgado.
“He’s taking us to where this started.”
“No.”
Salgado checked the old ownership documents.
“He’s taking you somewhere he controls.”
Rebeca requested another call.
Mateo almost refused.
Then she said the words that forced him to listen.
“I can get Laura out.”
Mateo gripped the phone.
“How?”
“There’s a second entrance beneath the cabin.”
“How do you know?”
“Sebastián took me there.”
Mateo remained silent.
Rebeca continued.
“He kept records underground.”
“What kind?”
“Videos.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
Her voice broke.
“Your father.”
Mateo stopped breathing.
“You saw a video of Dad?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night before he died.”
Mateo looked at Salgado.
“What was on it?”
Rebeca whispered.
“Your uncle Ernesto confessing that he arranged the crash.”
The room went silent.
The corruption ledger could destroy reputations.
The video could prove murder.
Suddenly Sebastián’s desperation made sense.
Mateo looked at the darkening sky outside.
May you like
By midnight, someone’s secrets were going to die.
He intended to make sure they were Sebastián’s.
