CHAPTER 3 — The Man at the Gate
Daniel grabbed the pry bar and aimed it into the hidden compartment.
Behind the mattress, a narrow wooden panel slid sideways.
A tunnel stretched beneath the house.
It was barely wide enough for a grown man to crawl through, but Daniel could see fresh scrape marks along the dirt.
Someone had used it recently.
“Is there another way out?” Daniel asked.
Patricia nodded toward the kitchen.
“The pantry. There’s a maintenance door behind the shelves.”
Daniel lifted Leo into his arms.
“Show me.”
Mariana carried Inés as Patricia led them through the kitchen. She shoved canned food from a shelving unit and pulled a hidden lever.
Nothing happened.
She pulled again.
“It’s locked from the other side.”
Headlights swept across the front windows.
A black SUV had stopped outside the closed gate.
Patricia stared through the blinds.
“He’s here.”
A tall man stepped from the vehicle.
Esteban Montalvo was in his early forties, broad-shouldered and dressed in a gray work jacket. He looked less like a criminal than a successful contractor arriving to inspect a renovation.
He walked toward the gate without hurry.
Then he looked directly at the living room window.
He knew they were watching.
Esteban raised his phone.
The television turned on by itself.
Security footage appeared on the screen, showing Daniel standing beside the open floor.
Esteban’s voice came through the speakers.
“Patricia, you were given one responsibility.”
Patricia moved away from the television.
Esteban continued.
“Put the boy back.”
Daniel held Leo tighter.
“You’ll have to come inside and take him.”
Esteban smiled through the security camera.
“That was always the plan.”
The front gate opened.
Two more men stepped from the SUV.
Then sirens sounded somewhere beyond the neighborhood.
Mariana had managed to call emergency services before the signal disappeared.
Esteban’s smile vanished.
He turned toward the approaching sirens and spoke rapidly to the men beside him. One returned to the vehicle.
The other ran toward the side of the house.
Patricia pointed toward the hallway.
“The laundry room window. It opens into the neighbor’s yard.”
Daniel kicked the window outward.
He handed Leo through to Mariana, then lifted Inés after him. Patricia started to follow, but Daniel blocked her.
“You stay.”
“Daniel, please.”
“You kept my son beneath your floor.”
“I can explain.”
“Explain it to the police.”
A crash came from the pantry.
Someone had entered through the maintenance passage.
Daniel climbed through the window and pulled Patricia after him at the last second.
They reached the neighbor’s yard just as police vehicles surrounded the house.
Paramedics rushed Leo toward an ambulance.
Officers forced Patricia to her knees and placed her in handcuffs.
Daniel climbed into the ambulance beside his son.
As the doors began to close, Leo opened his eyes.
His fingers tightened weakly around Daniel’s sleeve.
“Daddy…”
“I’m here.”
Leo glanced toward Patricia.
“Aunt Patty didn’t take me.”
Daniel froze.
Leo’s voice fell to a whisper.
May you like
“The lady in white did.”
Then the ambulance doors closed.
