Chapter 16 - The Line They Crossed
Ricardo brought the photograph to the police before driving anywhere else. Mia stayed with Elena in a location Celeste did not know. An officer advised him not to respond to the threat and to preserve every message.
When Ricardo finally called his wife, she answered with a bright, exhausted sigh. "Are you ready to be reasonable?"
"Someone photographed our daughter at school."
Silence. Then, "That wasn't me."
"Then help me find out who it was. Tell the investigators everything about Vale and Brendan."
"You think they'll care what happens to me? You made me look like a monster."
"You made Dad eat beside a dog bowl."
"He was trying to destroy our future!" Celeste shouted. "He could have signed one piece of paper. We would have paid the money back. Nobody needed to get hurt."
"You hurt him. For weeks."
She began crying. Ricardo would once have hurried to fix whatever made her cry. This time he listened without mistaking her tears for an apology.
"You could have asked for help," he said.
"You never noticed anything that wasn't your business."
"You're right. I should have noticed my father. I should have noticed us. That doesn't make what you did his fault."
Celeste hung up. Minutes later, a detective called: Vale's driver had been identified, and officers wanted to question him about the photograph and the fire. Nobody promised an arrest. Ricardo had learned not to confuse hope with proof.
At the hospital, Arturo asked where Mia was. Ricardo explained, leaving out the details of the threat.
"Don't hide it from me," Arturo said. "I've had enough people deciding what I can bear."
Ricardo told him. Arturo drew a slow breath. "Then we tell the truth tomorrow, even if our voices shake."
May you like
His hand was trembling as he reached for his glasses.
So was Ricardo's. Then Leah called: Celeste had submitted a new sworn statement accusing Ricardo of forcing Arturo to lie.
