Chapter 6 - THE PAYMENT TO ELENA’S FIRM
I did not accuse Elena.
Not immediately.
I had learned something in the previous forty-eight hours.
Questions were more useful when the person answering them did not know how much you already knew.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“Did your firm ever represent Eduardo?”
Silence.
Not long.
But long enough.
“Why are you asking?”
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Daniel was ten feet away.
I lowered my voice.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“For what?”
“A corporate compliance consultation.”
“How much did he pay?”
Another pause.
“Approximately seventy-five thousand dollars.”
The number matched Silvana’s message exactly.
My stomach turned.
“You never told me.”
“It was confidential.”
“He is my husband.”
“He was a client of another partner.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you still took my case?”
“I cleared the conflict before doing anything.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the consultation had nothing to do with your marriage.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do now.”
I stood near the window.
“What did he ask your firm to do?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Find out.”
“I already am.”
The answer came quickly enough to slow my anger.
“You already are?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since yesterday.”
I said nothing.
Elena continued.
“When you sent the power of attorney, I searched our conflict database.”
“And found Eduardo.”
“Yes.”
“What was the file called?”
A pause.
“Cross-border family asset continuity.”
I almost laughed.
“Family asset continuity.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds exactly like what he’s doing.”
“That’s why I started digging.”
I walked into the bedroom and closed the door.
“Who handled it?”
“Partner named Roberto Salcedo.”
“Do you trust him?”
“I trusted him yesterday.”
My throat tightened.
“And today?”
“Today he isn’t answering his phone.”
That landed hard.
“Where is he?”
“We don’t know.”
“Is he connected to Silvana?”
“I’m checking.”
“Connected to Villareal?”
“Checking.”
“What did your firm prepare?”
“I’m trying to access the file.”
“Trying?”
“Parts are restricted.”
“You’re a partner.”
“So is Roberto.”
I stared at the blank wall.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“If your firm helped my husband build this—”
“We will burn our own reputation to the ground before I let anyone use attorney work product to steal your child.”
Her voice was different now.
Cold.
Personal.
“And if Roberto crossed a line, I will be the first person who puts the evidence in front of the authorities.”
I believed her.
Maybe because I needed to.
Maybe because twenty years of friendship still meant something.
But trust no longer came easily.
Not after Eduardo.
Not after documents signed while I was medicated.
Not after discovering my son’s money in Spain.
“I need the file.”
“So do I.”
“And Silvana?”
“Do not communicate with her.”
“She sent a picture of Eduardo with another woman.”
“Manipulation.”
“Maybe.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It could.”
“How?”
“If Eduardo was seeing someone besides Silvana, she may have a reason to turn on him.”
Elena sighed.
“People don’t become safe because they feel betrayed.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
“But angry people make mistakes.”
Elena became quiet.
Then said, “That is true.”
I looked at Silvana’s messages again.
“Should I answer?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because right now she wants something.”
“What?”
“We find out before giving her access to you.”
Twenty minutes later, Andrés arrived.
He carried food Daniel would actually eat.
Chicken tacos.
Fruit.
A chocolate milk he pretended not to notice I disapproved of.
Daniel liked him immediately.
That worried me less than it probably should have.
After Daniel went into the bedroom with a movie, Andrés placed a laptop on the table.
“We have movement.”
“What kind?”
“Eduardo contacted three people after leaving the school.”
He opened a timeline.
“First call was to the bank.”
“We know that.”
“Second was Dr. Villareal.”
My jaw tightened.
“Third was Roberto Salcedo.”
“Elena’s partner.”
“Yes.”
I stared.
“So Silvana wasn’t lying.”
“Not about the connection.”
“What happened after the calls?”
“Roberto left his office.”
“Where did he go?”
“Hotel Carranza.”
Silvana’s hotel.
My stomach dropped.
“To meet Silvana?”
“We don’t know.”
“You really enjoy that sentence.”
“No one enjoys this case.”
He turned the laptop.
A photograph showed Roberto entering the hotel lobby.
Time stamp:
12:08 p.m.
Another showed Eduardo arriving seventeen minutes later.
Then Silvana.
All three in the same place.
“That’s not a coincidence.”
“No.”
“How long were they there?”
“Eduardo left after thirty-eight minutes.”
“Roberto?”
“Fifty-two.”
“Silvana?”
“She’s still registered.”
I rubbed my temples.
“What are they doing?”
“Possibly repairing the plan.”
“Repairing?”
“You blocked the bank transfer.”
“The school refused to release Daniel.”
“And they know you revoked the power of attorney.”
He leaned forward.
“They have to assume you have legal counsel.”
“Which means?”
“Original plan is dead.”
“Good.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“Why no?”
“Because predictable criminals are easier.”
“And now?”
“Now they improvise.”
My phone rang.
Eduardo.
I stared at it.
Andrés nodded toward the phone.
“Answer.”
I looked at him.
“You told me not to before.”
“Now we know enough.”
I pressed record on the second device.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
Eduardo’s breathing was heavy.
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Don’t play games.”
“I thought I was unstable.”
Silence.
Then he laughed once.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
“Where is Daniel?”
“Safe.”
“He is my son.”
“And mine.”
“You removed him from school.”
“I picked him up.”
“You had no right.”
I nearly smiled at the insanity of that sentence.
“I had no right to pick up my own child?”
“You filed something against me.”
“I protected him.”
“From what?”
I looked at Andrés.
He was writing on a notepad.
Keep him talking.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know what you think you discovered.”
“You tried to take Daniel to a forensic psychiatrist.”
“It was a routine evaluation.”
“For parental alienation?”
Silence.
I heard movement.
A door closing.
Eduardo’s voice became quieter.
“Laura, listen to me.”
“No.”
“You are making this bigger than it is.”
“You transferred Daniel’s money.”
Long silence.
That one hurt him.
“You’re confused.”
I laughed.
There it was.
The script.
“You moved eight hundred twelve thousand dollars.”
“Laura—”
“Some of it bought Silvana an apartment in Madrid.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
“The transfer was for asset protection.”
“Whose assets?”
“Ours.”
“Daniel’s money.”
“We are his parents.”
“You transferred it using authority you tricked me into signing after surgery.”
His voice hardened.
“You signed voluntarily.”
“I was under anesthesia.”
“You were alert.”
“How convenient.”
“You were alert enough to drink tea.”
The words made my skin crawl.
He remembered.
Of course he remembered.
He needed to remember.
“What was Wednesday at nine?”
He stopped breathing for half a second.
“What?”
“Dr. Villareal.”
“You’re paranoid.”
“What was he supposed to do to Daniel?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why is Silvana listed as future legal guardian?”
Silence.
Complete silence.
I looked at Andrés.
His eyebrows lifted.
Then Eduardo whispered.
“Who gave you that?”
The question told me everything.
He did not deny it.
“Goodbye, Eduardo.”
“Laura.”
I hung up.
My hand shook.
Andrés reached for the recording device.
“That was useful.”
“I feel sick.”
“I know.”
My phone rang again.
This time I ignored it.
A message appeared.
YOU ARE DESTROYING THIS FAMILY.
Then another.
DANIEL WILL HATE YOU WHEN HE UNDERSTANDS WHAT YOU’VE DONE.
I turned the screen face down.
Five minutes later, Elena called.
Her voice was urgent.
“I got into Roberto’s file.”
I stood.
“What’s in it?”
“Laura…”
“What?”
“The original engagement was not for generic corporate compliance.”
My stomach dropped.
“What was it?”
“Eduardo asked Roberto to research jurisdictions where a parent with sole temporary decision-making authority could relocate a minor quickly while a competency dispute was pending.”
My knees weakened.
“And Roberto did it?”
“Yes.”
“Spain?”
“Yes.”
My vision narrowed.
“Anything else?”
“There’s a memo dated six months ago.”
“About what?”
Elena hesitated.
“About how long a foreign custody dispute might take you to reverse.”
I stopped breathing.
Six months.
This had not begun with my surgery three weeks ago.
This had not begun with the business trip.
Eduardo had been planning to take Daniel for at least half a year.
Then Elena said something worse.
“The memo wasn’t requested by Eduardo alone.”
I gripped the table.
“Who else?”
“Silvana.”
My chest tightened.
“Roberto listed them as joint clients.”
I looked toward Daniel’s bedroom.
“What exactly were they planning?”
Elena took a breath.
Then read a line from the file.
“Phase Three: establish permanent household abroad following successful maternal incapacity determination.”
I couldn’t speak.
But Elena wasn’t finished.
“There’s a Phase Four.”
“What is Phase Four?”
May you like
Her answer made every other betrayal feel small.
“Terminate Laura’s access to the company.”
