Chapter 11 - The Repair Shop
The repair shop stood behind a row of auto-parts stores on the edge of Albuquerque. Detective Reyes went there with an investigator and a warrant for records. Mateo stayed away until the detective invited him to review documents related to his business.
The owner, Frank Duran, had kept paper invoices because he didn't trust computer backups. He found Ricardo's name on a job opened the morning after Mariana's crash: a red Ford with passenger-side damage, a broken rear light, and a bumper cover replaced for cash.
"He told me he'd hit a deer," Frank said. "I didn't ask questions. People bring in damaged cars every day."
Mateo returned to his office and reopened the company records. He found the fake supplier again, then payments totaling more than twenty thousand dollars over a year. Some were small enough to disappear inside busy months. Others were listed as materials for jobs that had never existed.
Mariana had marked several entries in red pen. Beside one she had written: "Ask Mateo before approving. No delivery receipt."
That evening, Vanessa called from an unfamiliar number.
"I didn't know he would hit her car," she said.
"You knew he followed her. You knew she had the invoices. You told him to delete the messages."
"I was scared. Ricardo was my only family."
"And Sofia was a child in your care."
Silence filled the line.
Then Vanessa said, "If you let this go, Sofia can have a normal life."
Mateo looked toward the living room, where his daughter was drawing at the coffee table. "She deserved one before any of this happened."
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He ended the call.
Ten minutes later, Detective Reyes sent a message: the original witness from the crash had been located. She was willing to speak again.
