Chapter 8 - THE MARRIAGE SHE PLANNED
Karina agreed to meet in the hospital courtyard.
Fuentes knew where I would be. I had told Karina clearly that I would preserve anything she sent me and share it with the investigation.
She arrived without makeup.
For a second, she looked like the woman who used to fall asleep on my shoulder during movies.
Then she said, “You’ve made my father desperate.”
“Did you poison my mother?”
Her face crumpled.
“I never wanted her in a hospital.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
She sat on the bench.
I stayed standing.
“He said she was hiding something that belonged to our family.”
“The land?”
“Records.”
“About stolen money.”
She looked away.
“How long have you known about me?”
A bus passed beyond the courtyard wall. Somewhere upstairs, a phone rang.
Karina rubbed her hands together.
“Before we met.”
The words landed quietly.
They destroyed everything anyway.
“Our first date?”
She didn’t answer.
“The bookstore?”
“My father knew you went there.”
I remembered her standing beside a shelf, asking whether the book in my hand was any good.
I had told that story at our wedding.
People had laughed when I said I nearly walked past the best thing that ever happened to me.
“My God.”
“I didn’t expect to love you.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“You watched my mother get sick.”
Her eyes filled.
“He said the drops would make her tired. Confused enough to agree to help.”
I stepped back.
She reached for me.
I moved out of reach.
“You knew she was getting worse.”
“I told him to stop.”
“Did you call a doctor?”
“No.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
“Then don’t tell me what you asked him to do. Tell me what you did.”
She began crying.
For the first time, I let her.
After a while, she pulled out her phone.
“There’s a message. From before your mother was admitted.”
She opened it and handed me the screen.
Jorge had written:
Once she signs, we finish this. Until then, follow the schedule.
Below it was Karina’s reply.
He’s starting to notice. I need more time.
I looked at her.
“You weren’t trying to save my mother.”
“I was trying to keep everything from falling apart.”
“Everything for who?”
She had no answer.
Fuentes entered the courtyard.
Karina saw her and stood.
May you like
Then she whispered, “You brought her?”
“No,” I said. “You finally told the truth where she could hear it.”
