PART 4
"The Woman in the Video"
"No..."
The word escaped Daniel's lips before he even realized he had spoken.
The detective held his gaze.
"I'm sorry."
Daniel shook his head over and over.
"That's impossible."
Mariana looked from the detective to Patricia, then back again.
"There has to be a mistake."
Patricia had gone completely still.
She didn't deny it.
She didn't ask to see the video.
She simply lowered her eyes.
Daniel noticed.
"Patricia..."
His voice cracked.
"Look at me."
Slowly, she did.
For the first time since they'd arrived, Daniel didn't recognize the woman standing in front of him.
She looked exhausted.
Broken.
Like she'd been carrying something too heavy for far too long.
The detective cleared his throat.
"The footage was recovered from an old security system behind a pharmacy about three blocks from your home in Guadalajara."
He pulled out a tablet.
"The quality isn't great."
The screen flickered to life.
A timestamp appeared in the corner.
Sunday.
4:37 p.m.
Daniel felt his pulse racing.
The camera showed the sidewalk outside the neighborhood.
People walked by.
A delivery truck rolled past.
Then...
A little boy wearing a blue hoodie came into view.
Leo.
Mariana let out a cry and covered her mouth.
"Oh, my God..."
Leo wasn't running.
He wasn't crying.
He was holding someone's hand.
Daniel leaned closer.
The woman beside him wore sunglasses and a baseball cap.
Her face was partly hidden.
But when she turned toward the camera...
Everyone saw her.
Patricia.
Daniel stumbled backward.
"No..."
His sister began crying.
"It isn't what you think."
Daniel looked at her with disbelief.
"Then tell me what I'm supposed to think."
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The detective paused the video.
"There's something else."
He zoomed in.
Leo was smiling.
He looked relaxed.
Comfortable.
He wasn't being dragged away.
He wasn't afraid.
He looked like he trusted the woman beside him.
Daniel's mind spun.
"If she kidnapped him..."
"...why wasn't he scared?"
The detective nodded slowly.
"That's exactly the question we're asking."
Patricia finally spoke.
"I never hurt him."
Daniel's head snapped toward her.
"You expect us to believe that after everything we've found?"
"I swear."
"You lied for ten months!"
"I lied because no one would've believed the truth."
Silence settled over the room.
The forensic team continued photographing the hidden compartment, but nobody paid attention anymore.
Every eye was on Patricia.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Start talking."
She wiped her face with trembling hands.
"The day Leo disappeared..."
"...I picked him up."
Mariana gasped.
"You what?"
"He called me."
Daniel frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Patricia nodded toward the tablet.
"He wasn't lost."
"He called me from a neighbor's phone."
Daniel stared at her.
"He told me he was scared."
"Scared of what?"
Patricia closed her eyes.
"He said someone had been watching the house for days."
Nobody spoke.
"He begged me to come before that man came back."
Daniel's heartbeat quickened.
"What man?"
"I don't know."
"Then why didn't you call the police?"
"I did."
The detectives exchanged confused looks.
"I called the local station."
"No one came."
Daniel felt the room spinning.
"So where did you take him?"
Patricia's tears returned.
"Somewhere I thought he'd be safe."
Daniel grabbed her shoulders.
"Where is my son?"
Patricia looked straight into his eyes.
"I took him to someone I trusted."
"Who?"
Before she could answer, one of the forensic technicians shouted from the living room.
"Detective!"
Everyone turned.
The technician was kneeling beside the opening beneath the floor.
"I found something."
The detective hurried over.
He carefully reached into the hidden cavity one last time.
This time...
He pulled out a small, cracked cell phone wrapped in plastic.
The screen was dead.
The technician connected a portable battery.
After several long seconds...
The phone vibrated.
Then the screen lit up.
There was only one unread voice message.
Sent...
Three days earlier.
The detective looked at Daniel.
"You should hear this."
He pressed Play.
Static filled the room.
Then a weak, trembling voice came through the speaker.
It was older than Daniel remembered.
But there was no mistaking it.
"Dad..."
Mariana collapsed into tears.
Daniel couldn't move.
The voice continued.
"If you're hearing this..."
"...don't trust Aunt Patricia."
The message cut off.
Every person in the room slowly turned to look at Patricia.
She was already crying.
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But this time...
She looked just as shocked as everyone else.
