Chapter 11 - A.B.
I photographed the task-force picture before leaving Santiago's room.
I did not take the original.
Part of me wanted him to keep one piece of evidence because I still did not trust anyone completely.
That included him.
Especially him.
Back in our room, Elena listened while I told her everything.
She did not interrupt until I described Price placing my wedding ring beside Sebastian's body.
Then she sat down hard on the edge of the bed.
"He staged the identification."
"Yes."
"A federal agent staged your husband's death."
"Yes."
"And everyone just kept going to work after that?"
"Apparently."
"I need a new planet."
I almost laughed.
It came out as a sob.
Elena hugged me.
For a minute, I let myself fall apart.
Then Camila stirred in the next bed.
I pulled away and wiped my face.
"We need to move."
"Again?"
"Santiago found this hotel."
"Because he knows you."
"If he can, someone else can."
Elena nodded.
We packed before sunrise.
I sent Detective Monroe a message asking to meet alone.
No Bell.
She replied with one word.
Why?
I sent the photograph.
Her next reply came thirty seconds later.
Do not contact Bell.
That was all I needed.
We met Monroe at a coffee shop near St. Edward's University.
She arrived in plain clothes and sat with her back to the wall.
"Where did you get the photo?"
"Santiago."
"You found him."
"Yes."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Where is he?"
"Safe for now."
"Mariana."
"You told me not to interfere."
"And you ignored me."
"Correct."
She rubbed her forehead.
"I need his location."
"Not until I know whether Bell can access your reports."
"He can access some."
"Then no."
Monroe looked at the photograph again.
"The man beside Bell is identified in old task-force records as Tomas Cruz."
"So Cruz was law enforcement?"
"A confidential source."
"For Bell?"
"Looks that way."
"And Santiago says Cruz rammed their car."
Monroe's face tightened.
"That changes things."
"Did Bell know we found the drives before Teresa called me?"
"Yes."
"How many people knew?"
"Me, Bell, two technicians, my lieutenant."
"Vale contacted Teresa almost immediately."
"I know what you're suggesting."
"Do you?"
"Bell could be the leak."
She said it quietly.
Hearing a detective say it made the fear more solid.
"Can you investigate him?"
"Not by myself."
"Who do you trust?"
Monroe gave a tired smile.
"Fewer people every hour."
"Welcome to my week."
She copied the photograph onto an encrypted drive.
"I have a contact with the Texas Rangers."
"Can Bell reach them?"
"Not all of them."
"What about Price?"
"Still missing."
"I saw him two nights ago."
"And he vanished before anyone arrived."
"Teresa knows how to contact him."
"Teresa is also missing."
I told her about the call and the initials A.B.
Monroe's expression became grim.
"Did she say where the original key is?"
"No."
"Do you think she actually has it?"
"I think she knows something."
"That's not the same thing."
"Nothing is ever the same thing in this family."
Monroe leaned closer.
"If Bell is compromised, we cannot tip him off."
"Agreed."
"Which means you cannot confront him."
"I hadn't planned to."
She stared at me.
"That sounded almost believable."
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
COME TO THE OLD DEALERSHIP AT 3 PM.
COME ALONE.
I showed Monroe.
"Absolutely not," she said.
"You sound like Elena."
"Elena sounds smart."
A second message appeared.
IF YOU WANT TERESA ALIVE.
A photograph loaded beneath it.
Teresa sat in a metal chair with her hands bound.
Her lip was bleeding.
A newspaper lay across her knees.
Today's date was visible.
Monroe stood.
"Do not respond."
A third message came.
BRING THE SECOND WITNESS.
Monroe swore.
"They want the drive."
"We don't have the original anymore."
"Police evidence has it."
"Can you get it?"
"I'm not handing evidence to kidnappers."
"Can you make a copy?"
She looked at me.
"Maybe."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Now you use it."
She ignored that.
"We can use the meeting."
"A sting."
"Controlled surveillance."
"That means a sting."
"It means you are not going alone."
I looked at the photograph of Teresa.
I was still furious with her.
Part of me wanted her arrested.
Part of me wanted never to see her again.
None of me wanted her tied to a chair because men had exploited her fear for years.
"I'll go."
"You will follow instructions."
"Within reason."
"No."
Monroe's eyes hardened.
"Exactly."
I agreed because I knew she would stop me otherwise.
At noon, she introduced me to Ranger Caleb Shaw.
He was broad-shouldered, quiet, and unimpressed by the entire circus.
He listened to the case summary without interrupting.
Then he asked one question.
"Who benefits if Mariana dies?"
The room went still.
Monroe said, "Vale eliminates a witness connection."
Shaw shook his head.
"She isn't a witness to the old crimes."
"She found the drives."
"So did police."
He looked at me.
"Who benefits personally?"
I thought about insurance.
Property.
Marriage.
Then I remembered the wedding certificate.
"If Sebastian dies, who inherits?"
Monroe stared at me.
"Legally?"
"The man I married is using Sebastian's identity."
Shaw said, "Which means any policy or account in Sebastian's name may now list Mariana as spouse."
My stomach twisted.
"There was life insurance after the crash."
"On Santiago?"
"Yes."
"Who received it?"
"Me and Camila."
"How much?"
"Four hundred thousand."
Monroe wrote it down.
"And Sebastian's finances?"
"I don't know."
I had never asked.
We had kept accounts mostly separate because the marriage was new.
Shaw said, "Find out."
Monroe made a call.
Twenty minutes later, her face changed.
"Sebastian Morales has a two-million-dollar accidental death policy."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"Purchased six months ago."
"By who?"
"Through a financial adviser."
"Beneficiary?"
She looked at me.
"You."
The room became silent.
"I didn't know."
"I believe you," Monroe said.
Shaw asked, "Who sold the policy?"
She checked.
"Vale & Mercer Financial."
My blood went cold.
"Vale."
"A company with the name, yes."
"Related to Charles?"
"We're checking."
Shaw leaned back.
"This may not only be about old evidence."
I understood before he finished.
"If Santiago dies as Sebastian, I collect two million."
"And suspicion lands on you."
Monroe's voice was quiet.
"New wife."
"New policy."
"Missing husband."
I felt sick.
Someone was not merely trying to silence us.
They were building a story in which I had a reason to kill the man I had just married.
My phone buzzed again.
One final message.
3 PM.
NO POLICE.
OR YOUR MOTHER DIES AND YOUR HUSBAND IS NEXT.
I looked at Monroe.
"They know Santiago is alive."
Shaw said, "Then the old cover is finished."
And for the first time, I realized the threat was no longer about preserving a secret.
May you like
It was about deciding who would survive after the secret became public.
