Chapter 8 - Ricardo picked up the shoe.It was Diego's.
His hands trembled.
“Where did he go?”
Inspector Herrera shouted for her team.
The warehouse was surrounded.
But there was no exit the man could have used.
Except one.
A hidden elevator.
The shaft descended beneath the warehouse into darkness.
The team went down.
They found no one.
Only a tunnel.
It led to an abandoned laboratory.
Inside were monitors.
Medical equipment.
Photographs.
And a wall covered with children's drawings.
One drawing stopped Ricardo cold.
A stick figure labeled DADDY.
Beside it was another figure.
The same man.
The caption read:
REAL DADDY.
Ricardo touched the paper.
Diego had drawn it.
Inspector Herrera looked around.
“This place was active recently.”
There were fresh footprints.
Fresh food.
Fresh medication.
Someone had been living there.
Then Mateo found a locked room.
Inside was a chair.
Across from it, a camera.
A monitor displayed a live feed.
Diego was sitting somewhere.
Alive.
Scared.
But unharmed.
Ricardo approached the screen.
“Diego!”
The boy looked up.
“Daddy?”
“I'm here.”
“Please don't come.”
“Why?”
“He said you have to find the truth first.”
“Who?”
Diego looked toward someone outside the camera.
Then whispered:
“Your mother.”
Ricardo froze.
“My mother is dead.”
Diego shook his head.
“No.”
“Diego, listen to me. Grandma died twelve years ago.”
The boy began crying.
“She told me that was another lie.”
The screen went black.
Inspector Herrera immediately ordered the signal traced.
“It’s coming from inside the building.”
They followed the cables.
Behind a steel panel was another room.
Empty.
Except for an old television.
On the screen was a prerecorded video.
Ricardo's mother appeared.
Older than Ricardo remembered.
But alive.
“If you're watching this,” she said, “then they failed to keep you away from the truth.”
Ricardo couldn't breathe.
“I know what happened to my son.”
His mother's voice trembled.
“I know because I helped make the mistake that started all of this.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“Ricardo, you were never supposed to survive the accident.”
The video ended.
Ricardo stood motionless.
Inspector Herrera said nothing.
Another file opened automatically.
A list of names.
Dozens of them.
Doctors.
Lawyers.
Bankers.
Politicians.
Executives.
At the top was Gabriel Santoro.
Second was Valeria Galván.
Third was:
RICARDO GALVÁN.
Next to his name:
SUBJECT B.
Ricardo stared.
“No.”
Then another document appeared.
SUBJECT A: DECEASED.
SUBJECT B: ACTIVE.
He stepped backward.
His entire life had been built on a lie.
But there was another file.
BIOLOGICAL CHILD TRANSFER.
Mother: Camila Ortega.
Father: Ricardo Galván.
Status: SECRET.
A final note:
CHILD REACTS TO SUBJECT B.
Ricardo's blood ran cold.
“React to me?”
Inspector Herrera leaned closer.
“Why would they monitor how Diego reacts to you?”
The answer appeared in the next video.
A younger Valeria sat beside a sleeping infant.
Behind the camera was the duplicate.
Subject B.
He looked at baby Diego.
Then he said:
“He recognizes me.”
Valeria whispered:
“Because he has his father's blood.”
Subject B replied:
“Then we need to know which father he remembers.”
The screen went dark.
Ricardo stared at it.
He finally understood.
Diego wasn't simply a victim.
He was evidence.
Evidence that could distinguish between the real Ricardo and the manufactured identity.
The entire conspiracy depended on one question.
Who was Diego biologically and emotionally attached to?
And then a phone rang.
It was inside the laboratory.
Inspector Herrera answered.
A man's voice said:
“Bring Ricardo to the mansion.”
“Who are you?”
The voice laughed.
“That's the wrong question.”
“What is the right one?”
The voice paused.
“Ask who is already waiting for you.”
The line cut.
Ricardo looked at the security monitor.
One camera showed the mansion.
In the living room stood Diego.
May you like
Beside him stood Valeria.
And behind them was the man who looked exactly like Ricardo.
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