CHAPTER 5 — The Nursery Upstairs
Police searched every room of Patricia’s house.
Behind a locked door upstairs, they discovered a bedroom decorated for a young boy.
The walls were painted blue.
Toy cars lined the shelves.
A school uniform hung inside the closet.
Photographs of Leo covered the dresser, but Daniel and Mariana had never seen any of them before.
Some showed Leo sleeping.
Others showed him eating at a small table.
One showed him standing beside Patricia in a garden.
On the back, Patricia had written:
Our first day as a family.
Detective Valdés placed the photographs in evidence bags.
Patricia sat handcuffed in the dining room.
Daniel entered alone.
He placed the garden photograph in front of her.
“You told me you hadn’t seen him.”
Patricia lowered her eyes.
“I was afraid.”
“You built him a bedroom.”
“Esteban built it.”
“You posed for this picture.”
Her voice broke.
“I never meant for him to be hurt.”
Daniel struck the table with both hands.
“You helped steal ten months of his life.”
Patricia began crying.
She admitted she had been jealous of Daniel for years.
Their father had left Daniel control of the family construction company. Patricia inherited money and property, but she believed Daniel had received the only thing that mattered—the family’s respect.
Then Camila approached her.
Camila suggested that Leo disappear for one weekend.
Patricia could frighten Daniel, force him to understand loss, and then return the child unharmed.
“I agreed to one night,” Patricia whispered.
Daniel stared at her.
“You agreed to kidnap my son.”
“Yes.”
“What happened after that night?”
“Esteban changed the plan.”
He demanded money.
Then ownership shares.
When Patricia threatened to expose him, Esteban showed her recordings of her arranging the abduction.
He promised that if she contacted police, Leo would disappear permanently.
“So you kept helping him?”
Patricia wiped her face.
“I tried to protect Leo.”
“You chained him beneath your floor.”
“The chain was Esteban’s. I brought Leo food. I sat beside him. I told him I was sorry.”
Daniel stood.
“You’re not sorry. You’re caught.”
As he turned to leave, Patricia spoke again.
“Daniel, the room beneath my house wasn’t where they kept him for ten months.”
Daniel stopped.
“Where was he?”
“I don’t know all the locations.”
“All?”
Patricia looked toward the ceiling, as though afraid someone might still be listening.
“There were three rooms.”
May you like
She leaned forward.
“And Leo wasn’t the first child Esteban put inside one.”
