Chương 5
The money moved through accounts connected to people inside the company.
Not directly to Don Chema.
Not even close.
Mariana stared at the documents.
“We need proof of where it went after that.”
Sofia nodded.
“I know.”
“Can we get it?”
“I do not know.”
Nobody liked that answer.
But unlike before, none of them pretended certainty.
That was the difference between fighting and pretending.
They had learned the hard way that hope without honesty could destroy people.
A message arrived on Mariana’s phone.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then she saw the first line.
I need to talk to you about your father.
She showed her sisters.
Elena immediately frowned.
“Who is it?”
Mariana looked at the number.
No name.
No profile picture.
Nothing.
“Unknown.”
Sofia lowered her voice.
“Could be Robles.”
“Could be anyone.”
Mariana stared at the message.
A few months earlier, she might have answered immediately.
Now she waited.
Fear and caution had replaced urgency.
That was another thing her father had taught her without realizing it.
Patience.
The ability to pause before making a decision that could not be undone.
She typed one sentence.
Who are you?
The reply came less than a minute later.
The person who should have spoken sooner.
None of them moved.
Mariana looked at the screen again.
Then she placed the phone face down.
For the first time since the case began, the next step was not obvious.
And that frightened them more than any accusation ever had.
The message stayed on the screen for nearly a minute before anyone spoke.
Mariana had expected fear.
She had expected anger.
She had even expected some kind of demand.
What she had not expected was uncertainty.
The three sisters sat around the library table while people nearby turned pages, typed on laptops, and lived ordinary afternoons without knowing that one anonymous message had changed the weight of the room.
“Answer it,” Sofia whispered.
Mariana looked at her.
“No.”
Sofia frowned.
“You just said you wanted answers.”
“I do.”
“Then why not ask?”
“Because whoever sent this wants us to react.”
Elena leaned back in her chair.
“And you think waiting is better?”
“I think we need to know what we are walking into.”
Sofia looked at the phone.
“You sound like Dad.”
The comment was not meant to hurt.
That was why it did.
Mariana looked down at the screen.
For years, she had spent so much energy trying not to become her father that she had missed the ways she already carried him.
The patience.
The caution.
The habit of studying a room before speaking.
The instinct to protect people even when they were angry at her.
She hated that some of the things she had resented were also the things that helped her survive.
“Fine,” Elena said quietly.
Both sisters looked at her.
“We wait ten minutes.”
Sofia smiled slightly.
“That is your compromise?”
“Yes.”
“That is exactly something Dad would say.”
Elena pointed at her.
“Do not make this a family personality analysis.”
For a brief moment, they laughed.
It was awkward.
It was small.
But it was real.
Then the ten minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
No second message.
No call.
No explanation.
Mariana finally picked up the phone.
“I am responding.”
She typed slowly.
If you want to talk, tell me who you are.
The reply came almost immediately.
My name is Luis Ortega.
The sisters stopped moving.
Luis.
The name they had just discovered in the records.
Mariana felt the air change.
Not because they knew what he would say.
Because they knew he had chosen to say it.
Luis was not a random person appearing with information.
He was someone connected to the center of the accusation.
She typed back.
Why contact us?
The answer took longer this time.
Because your father is not the only person who was used.
Mariana read it twice.
Elena looked at her face.
“What did he say?”
She turned the phone around.
Sofia frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Nobody answered.
Because the truth was that they did not know.
And uncertainty was becoming the one thing they could not escape.
They agreed to meet Luis the following morning in a public place.
Not his office.
Not his home.
A coffee shop near the courthouse.
A place with cameras, people, and enough noise that nobody could easily intimidate anyone else.
Mariana chose the location.
Her father would have been proud.
That thought bothered her.
Because she was starting to understand that being like him was not the problem.
The problem was that he had never allowed himself to admit when he was afraid.
The next morning, Luis arrived ten minutes early.
That surprised Mariana.
People who had something to hide often arrived late.
At least that was what movies taught people.
Real life was different.
Sometimes guilty people arrived early because they were nervous.
Sometimes innocent people arrived late because they were human.
Luis looked exactly like someone who had spent months carrying a secret.
He was in his late fifties.
His hair had turned mostly gray.
His shirt was neatly pressed, but his hands kept adjusting the sleeves.
When Mariana and her sisters approached, he stood.
“You are Don Chema’s daughters.”
Mariana nodded.
“You are Luis Ortega.”
He looked toward the window.
“I suppose I deserve the suspicion.”
Sofia sat down.
“You came to us anonymously.”
“Yes.”
“That usually creates suspicion.”
Luis nodded.
“I know.”
They sat.
Nobody ordered immediately.
The waitress came by twice before they realized they had not looked at the menu.
Finally, Luis ordered coffee.
Black.
Mariana noticed.
Another small detail.
Another person trying to stay controlled.
“Tell us why you contacted us,” she said.
Luis looked at the table.
“I should have done it months ago.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
He looked up.
“It is the reason I am ashamed.”
Mariana waited.
Luis took a breath.
“I worked with Robles for fourteen years.”
“Accounting department,” Elena said.
May you like
He looked surprised.
“You already know.”
