Chapter 4 - The Woman Before Me
“Who is she?”
Anton stopped speaking.
I held up the photograph.
His face drained of color.
Rebecca quietly stepped away.
Marcus did not.
Anton stared at the image.
“Where did you get that?”
“Answer me.”
His eyes lifted to mine.
“Her name was Sofia.”
“You were engaged.”
“Yes.”
“You never told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Anton rubbed both hands over his face.
“Because it was ten years ago.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“She disappeared.”
My throat tightened.
“So the message is true.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Eleven days before the wedding.”
The text had said three days.
I showed him.
Anton shook his head.
“That part is wrong.”
“What happened?”
“We argued.”
“About what?”
“My mother.”
Of course.
According to Anton, Sofia Alvarez had been twenty-six.
Beautiful.
Ambitious.
From a wealthy family in Houston.
Carmela adored her publicly.
Privately, however, the relationship deteriorated.
Sofia began accusing Carmela of interfering with financial decisions.
Then Sofia told Anton she wanted him to remove his mother from several family boards after the wedding.
Anton refused.
They fought.
Sofia disappeared shortly afterward.
“What did the police say?”
“They investigated.”
“And?”
“She bought a ticket to Argentina.”
“Did she board the plane?”
Anton looked down.
“No.”
My stomach tightened.
“Was she ever found?”
“No.”
Ten years.
No body.
No confirmation.
Nothing.
I thought about the false ticket prepared for me.
The fake goodbye letter.
The suitcase.
A woman disappearing before marrying Anton.
Now someone had prepared evidence suggesting I had voluntarily left immediately after marrying him.
The similarity was impossible to ignore.
“Did your mother have anything to do with Sofia’s disappearance?”
Anton’s expression hardened.
“I asked myself that tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Until tonight, I believed Sofia left.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Without ever contacting you?”
“She left a letter.”
I went still.
“What did it say?”
Anton looked toward the suitcase.
Almost the same thing.
She was sorry.
She could not marry him.
She had fallen in love with someone else.
Do not look for her.
My skin prickled.
“Was the handwriting hers?”
“I thought so.”
Marcus cursed quietly.
Rebecca returned to us.
“We should contact whoever investigated Sofia’s disappearance.”
Anton nodded.
Then the door opened.
Hotel security entered with two police detectives.
For the next hour, we explained everything.
The champagne.
The bottle.
The glass swap.
Carmela.
The false passport.
The forged documents.
Sofia.
Detective Julian Price listened without interrupting.
Then he asked one question.
“Where is the bottle?”
Anton pointed toward the table.
Everyone turned.
The bottle was gone.
Silence.
“It was there.”
Price looked at us.
“Who entered this room?”
Rebecca.
Marcus.
Hotel security.
Two employees.
Us.
Anton checked the table.
Nothing.
The evidence had disappeared while we were discussing Sofia.
Detective Price immediately ordered the room locked.
Then his partner entered carrying an evidence bag.
“We found something in the hallway.”
Inside was the tiny bottle.
I exhaled.
“Thank God.”
The detective shook his head.
“There’s a problem.”
“What?”
“The bottle is empty.”
“It wasn’t.”
Anton looked furious.
“There was liquid inside.”
“Someone emptied it.”
Price examined the cap.
“We’ll test residue.”
Another officer entered.
He whispered something to Price.
The detective’s expression changed.
He turned toward Anton.
“Mr. Valdez, we found your mother.”
“Where?”
“Parking garage.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s conscious.”
Relief flashed across Anton’s face.
Then Price continued.
“But she says Clara drugged her.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She claims you put something in her drink because you wanted access to the family fortune.”
I actually laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because the lie was so perfect.
Carmela had transformed herself from suspect into victim within an hour.
Price raised one hand.
“I’m not accusing anyone.”
Then he looked at me.
“But she also says the fake passport and suitcase belong to you.”
My smile disappeared.
“She claims you planned to disappear after marrying Anton.”
Anton stepped forward.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Price continued.
“She says Clara became frightened when Carmela discovered the plan, switched the glasses, and tried to make her look responsible.”
It was insane.
It was also frighteningly clever.
Then Price said something worse.
“Your mother gave us a security video.”
Anton frowned.
“Video of what?”
“Clara purchasing the bottle yesterday.”
Every person in the room turned toward me.
I felt the floor disappear beneath my feet.
Because yesterday afternoon, I had been shopping downtown.
May you like
And I suddenly remembered exactly where I had gone.
A pharmacy.
