I can make this place close. I can make you lose your license. I can make you never work with children again. I just need a call. What Gonzalo didn’t know was that Carmela had activated the security recording system as soon as she saw him arrive. Every word, every threat was recorded. Go away, Mr. Fuentes. I’m not going to give you that girl and if you threaten me again, I’ll use everything I have to destroy it.” Gonzalo smiled coldly. I’ll come back and when I do I won’t be so kind.
Three hours later, Gonzalo returned. This time he didn’t knock on the door. His men broke it down. Carmela was ready. She had called the police after the first visit, but they still hadn’t arrived. When she heard the door knock, she took Salome by the hand and led her to the security room she had prepared for emergencies. Stay here, little one, no matter what, don’t leave until I come for you. Salome nodded with her eyes full of terror. Carmela went out to confront Gonzalo.
The two men held her down while he searched each room looking for the girl. Where is he?, Gonzalo shouted. Where did you hide it? Far from you, where you will never find it. Gonzalo approached Carmela and grabbed her by the neck. I’m going to ask you just one more time. Where is Salome? Go to hell. At that moment, police sirens filled the air. Someone had seen the men break down the door and called 911. The agents entered with weapons drawn.
To the ground, everyone to the ground. Gonzalo let go of Carmela trying to regain his composure as a respectable man. Official, this is a misunderstanding. I only came to look for my niece. We have a recording of his previous visit, the officer said. Threats, attempted theft of minor trespass. You have the right to remain silent. As Gonzalo was handcuffed, Carmela smiled. The security footage had captured everything. Both visits, the threats, the violence. Gonzalo Fuentes had just destroyed his own freedom. The news of Gonzalo’s arrest reached the ears of Judge Aurelio Sánchez in less than an hour.
Its network of informants was efficient. “He’s an idiot,” he muttered as he dialed a number on his private phone. “I told him to be discreet. I told him to be patient.” The voice on the other end answered calmly. “What do we do now? Gonzalo is going to speak. As soon as they pressure him, he will negotiate. He’s a coward. It always was. It can incriminate you. He knows too much. We have to activate plan B. Aurelio walked to his safe and opened it. Inside were dozens of storage devices, videos, recordings, documents he had collected over decades, his life insurance, evidence of corruption of politicians, businessmen, judges.
If he fell, many would fall with him. “I’m going to make some calls,” Gonzalo said. He is not going to spend a night in prison, but there is another problem. The worst lawyer, the gardener Martín Reyes. We intercepted a call last night. He is alive and in contact with Dolores Medina. Where is it? St. Jerome, at his mother’s house. The lawyer is going there today. Do you want us to intercept them? Aurelio thought about it for a moment. No, let it come, let them meet and when we have everyone together, we will solve all the problems at once.
It was a clean, efficient plan. But Aurelio had underestimated his enemies and that would cost him everything. Dolores arrived in San Jerónimo at noon. The journey had been long and his body protested with pains that he preferred to ignore. Her doctor had warned her that stress could kill her, but dying seeking justice was preferable to living without having found it. Consuelo Reyes’ house was the same as before, but this time the old woman was waiting for her at the door with a nervous expression.
“My son is inside,” she whispered. “But he is not the only one. There’s someone else who wants to see it.” Dolores entered. In the small room, sitting on an old chair was Martín Reyes. He was a man in his 40s, thin, with a unkempt beard and eyes that had seen too much. “Mrs. Medina,” he said, standing up. “Thank you for coming. Martín has a lot to explain, starting with how it is possible that Sara Fuentes is alive. Martin looked at the door of the back room. I don’t have to explain it.
She can do it better than me. The door opened. A woman appeared in the doorway. She was thin, emaciated, with short hair and white locks that she didn’t have before. But her eyes were unmistakable, the same eyes that Dolores had seen in the photographs in the file. Sara Fuentes was alive. “Mrs. Medina,” Sara said hoarsely. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for 5 years. 5 years in hiding, watching my husband rot in prison for something he didn’t do. 5 years separated from my daughter to protect her.
I can’t wait any longer. Dolores slumped into a chair. Her legs didn’t support her. Why? Why so long? Why didn’t he speak sooner? Because I didn’t have enough evidence. But now I have them and there are less than 24 hours left to save Ramiro. Sara sat down in front of Dolores and began to speak. His voice trembled. But his words were firm. The night Gonzalo attacked me, I had confronted my husband. I told him that his brother had forged his parents’ will.
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