Chapter 4 - Shadows and Whispers
The next morning, I began my double life.
To Karina, I acted like a confused, grief-stricken husband drowning in anxiety. But the moment I left the apartment, I was a man executing a calculated war plan.
My first stop was the hospital. Detective Fuentes had arranged for two plainclothes officers to be stationed outside my mother's ICU room under the guise of hospital security. I sat by my mother's bed, holding her frail, cold hand. She was still hooked up to monitors, her breathing shallow, but the toxicology team had begun administering an antidote protocol to flush the synthetic glycosides from her system.
"Hang in there, Mom," I whispered, pressing her hand to my cheek. "I know the truth now. I'm going to finish what Dad started."
Her hand gave a tiny, involuntary twitch, and her eyelids flickered. The doctor walked in a moment later, looking at her charts.
"Her vitals are stabilizing," the doctor noted quietly. "The toxin levels are dropping. If she continues at this rate, she may regain full consciousness within two days."
"Keep her room restricted," I urged. "No visitors except me. If my wife or anyone from the Mendoza family comes near this floor, notify the police officers immediately."
"Understood, Señor Ruiz."
Leaving the hospital, I met with a private investigator named Gabriel Vance, whom Detective Fuentes had recommended. Vance was a former intelligence officer who specialized in corporate espionage and covert surveillance. We met in a quiet booth at a dimly lit cafe in Zona Rosa.
I handed Vance a list of names and addresses: Jorge Mendoza, Karina Mendoza, Mendoza Urban Development's corporate offices, and their private estate in Pedregal.
"I need to know how Karina was getting the poison," I said. "And I need physical proof that connects Jorge Mendoza directly to the attempt on my mother's life."
Vance looked over the files, tapping his pen on the table. "Poisoning cases are tricky, Mateo. They require a chain of custody. If Karina was giving your mother spiked tea or soup, she had to get the chemical from somewhere. People like Jorge Mendoza don't buy digitalis derivatives off the street. They use crooked doctors, private pharmacists, or corrupt lab techs."
"Can you trace her communications?"
"I can clone her phone data if I can get within ten feet of her device for thirty seconds," Vance said. "Or, if you can get me physical access to her computer or personal space, I can install a keylogger and mirror her drives."
"She locked me out of our master bedroom last night," I said. "She's suspicious. But she thinks I'm weak. I can use that."
"Good. Don't play brave," Vance advised. "Play desperate. Desperate people make mistakes, but weak people get overlooked. Let her think she's in absolute control."
That evening, I returned to the apartment carrying a bag of takeout food and a bottle of wine. Karina was in the living room, working on her laptop. When I walked in, she quickly slammed the laptop lid shut—a detail that didn't escape my notice.
"I brought dinner," I said, putting the food on the table with a timid, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about last night, Karina. I was stressed out of my mind. I shouldn't have yelled."
Karina observed me for a long moment, evaluating my body language. Seeing my slumped shoulders and apologetic tone, her confidence returned. The predator relaxed.
"It's alright, Mateo," she said, walking over and wrapping her arms around my neck. "I know how hard this is for you. I just hate seeing you ruin your future out of stubbornness. My father only wants to help us."
"I know," I lied, kissing her cheek while silently revTargeting her touch. "I talked to the doctors today. They said Mom... might not have much time left."
"Oh, sweetie," she cooed, rubbing my back. "I'm so sorry."
"I think... I think I'm ready to sign those papers tomorrow," I continued, forcing tears into my eyes. "I just want this nightmare to be over. I want us to focus on our family."
Karina's eyes sparkled with triumphant relief. "That is the wisest decision you've ever made, Mateo. I'll call my father right now and tell him to bring the final contracts tomorrow night."
"Great," I said. "I'm going to take a long shower. I'm exhausted."
While the shower was running in the guest bathroom, I slipped back out into the hallway in my socks. Karina was standing on the balcony, her back turned to the living room, talking excitedly on her phone.
"Father, it's done," I heard her whisper into the phone, her voice cold and triumphant. "He broken. He's signing tomorrow night.... No, the hospital said she won't last another forty-eight hours anyway. The dosage worked.... Once he signs, we initiate the land transfer to the offshore shell company, and then we process the divorce papers."
My heart hammered against my ribs like a caged animal. The dosage worked. Divorce papers. She hadn't just married me to get the land; she planned to take the property, discard me, and leave my mother to die.
May you like
I slipped back into the bathroom, turned off the shower, and looked at myself in the mirror. My face was pale, but my eyes were burning with a fierce, cold resolve.
They thought I was broken. They thought I was a puppet. Tomorrow night, I was going to flip the board.
