Chapter 12 - The Marina
We did not obey Victor’s instructions.
Not completely.
Anton and I went.
So did federal agents.
Victor simply did not know it.
A tracking team followed from several miles away.
Detective Price placed a microphone inside Anton’s jacket.
Rebecca remained behind coordinating the trust claim.
The deadline continued ticking.
Thirty-six hours remained.
The abandoned marina sat at the edge of black water beneath a moonless sky.
Several warehouses had been empty since Hurricane Ike.
Victor chose the largest one.
Carmela sat inside on a metal chair.
Her hands were not tied.
That surprised me.
Marisol stood nearby.
Also free.
Victor leaned against an old desk.
Silver hair.
Expensive suit.
Completely calm.
“You came.”
Anton moved toward his mother.
Victor raised one hand.
“Not yet.”
Carmela looked furious rather than frightened.
Typical.
Victor gestured toward me.
“Clara Reyes.”
“Where is Schedule C?”
“Straight to business.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Definitely Rafael’s daughter.”
He produced a leather folder.
Inside was a document.
Schedule C.
The protected descendant was listed as:
CLARA LUCIA REYES.
My birth date.
My mother’s name.
Rafael’s notarized acknowledgment.
DNA verification completed in 1996.
Everything.
“Why keep this?”
I asked.
“Insurance.”
“Against whom?”
“Everyone.”
Victor admitted more than I expected.
He had stolen money from Valdez International.
Lucia discovered him.
Alejandro intended to expose him.
Victor sabotaged Alejandro’s boat.
He said it casually.
Anton lunged.
I grabbed his arm.
Victor laughed.
“Your father should have minded his own business.”
Anton trembled with rage.
“What about Lucia?”
Victor looked at Marisol.
Her face hardened.
“She survived longer than expected.”
Marisol stepped toward him.
“You told me she abandoned me.”
“She abandoned nobody.”
“Where is she?”
Victor smiled.
“That is the interesting question.”
Carmela stared at him.
“You told me Lucia was dead.”
“I assumed.”
My chest tightened.
“Is my mother alive?”
Victor shrugged.
“I never saw a body.”
He claimed two men transported Lucia after kidnapping her.
Their car crashed during a storm.
One man died.
The other disappeared.
Lucia’s body was never recovered.
Victor assumed she escaped or died elsewhere.
For twenty-three years, he had searched quietly.
No confirmed trace.
Then something changed six months ago.
A dormant offshore account Lucia created suddenly became active.
Someone withdrew four hundred dollars.
Victor believed Lucia was alive.
So he contacted Marisol.
He watched me.
He monitored Carmela.
The wedding gave him the opportunity to force everyone into the open.
I stared at him.
“You created this entire operation because you think Lucia is alive?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I created it because Lucia has the only copy of evidence that can put me away forever.”
I almost laughed.
“You just confessed.”
“To what?”
Anton tapped his jacket.
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Then every light inside the warehouse went out.
Carmela screamed.
A gunshot echoed.
Glass shattered.
Anton pulled me down.
Another gunshot.
Then federal agents stormed the building.
“FBI!”
“Hands where we can see them!”
Emergency lights flashed.
I saw Marisol crawling behind a crate.
Carmela lay beside her chair.
Anton ran toward her.
Victor was gone.
A side door stood open.
Agents rushed through it.
I reached Carmela.
Blood stained her shoulder.
She was conscious.
“Anton…”
“You’re okay.”
She shook her head.
“Listen.”
She grabbed my wrist.
“Victor lied.”
“About what?”
“Lucia.”
My heart raced.
“What about her?”
Carmela struggled to speak.
“I saw her.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“Where?”
Carmela looked toward the dark water outside the warehouse.
“Houston.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because she told me not to.”
I stared at her.
My biological mother had been alive six months earlier.
She knew where I was.
May you like
She knew I was marrying Anton.
And she had chosen to remain hidden.
