Chapter 10 - The Phone's Hidden History
Detective Reyes met Mateo at the station with a timeline, not a confession. The messages had been authenticated and compared with phone records. On the evening Mariana died, Ricardo texted Vanessa: "She has the invoices. She's going to tell Mateo." Vanessa replied: "Make her listen. Don't let her take them to him."
At 9:16 p.m., Ricardo wrote, "I followed her. The road is slick." Later he sent: "I hit her car. I panicked. I left."
"Did he mean to hit her?" Mateo asked.
Vanessa's reply appeared below Ricardo's confession: "Delete this conversation. If Mateo finds out, he'll never let us near Sofia."
Mateo felt sick. "She helped him hide it."
Reyes explained that the prosecutor was reviewing possible charges related to the collision, leaving the scene, and the financial fraud. They also found a voicemail Mariana had left Ricardo earlier that evening.
Her voice came through thin but unmistakable: "Ricardo, I know about the false invoices. I have copies. I'm going to Mateo tonight. Tell him yourself before I do. If you follow me, I'm calling the police."
"She was trying to protect us," he whispered.
At home, Sofia was trying to mend Bunny Rose's loose seam with blue thread. "Papi, if Mommy knew Uncle Rick was bad, why didn't she come back?"
Mateo sat beside her. "Your mother didn't know what would happen on that road. She was trying to do the right thing. The people who made bad choices are responsible for those choices. Not her. Not you."
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Sofia rested her head against his arm. For the first time since the dinner, she looked as if she might believe him.
The next morning, the detective called again. The repair shop that had replaced Ricardo's bumper was still open.
