Chapter 8 - The Son Who Never Died
Mariana stared at the dead phone.
“Six years ago?”
No one answered.
Her fingers tightened around the edge of the seat.
“I was never pregnant six years ago.”
Lucía began to cry.
“Yes, you were.”
Mariana turned toward her.
“No.”
“You just don't remember.”
Julián looked between them.
“What happened six years ago?”
Lucía wiped her face.
“Mariana was twenty-eight. She had just moved back to Puebla after living away for almost two years. She wasn't married. She wasn't sick. She wasn't unstable.”
“Then why don't I remember?”
“Because someone made sure you wouldn't.”
The investigator started the SUV again.
“We need to move.”
Julián didn't look away from Lucía.
“You have five minutes. Tell us everything.”
Lucía nodded.
“Six years ago, Mariana disappeared for eleven days.”
Mariana's eyes widened.
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
“My mother said I went to Oaxaca.”
“She lied.”
Mariana searched her memory.
There was a blank space.
Not completely blank.
There were fragments.
A white ceiling.
A cold room.
Someone telling her to sleep.
A man's hand holding hers.
A newborn crying.
She had always believed those memories came from a nightmare.
Now she wasn't sure.
Lucía continued.
“Your father had found out you were pregnant.”
Mariana's breathing stopped.
“He wanted the baby.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed the child belonged to a family agreement.”
Julián frowned.
“What agreement?”
Lucía looked at him.
“The same agreement that connected your mother, Rocío, and my father.”
She reached into her coat and pulled out a folded page.
“It wasn't about money.”
Julián took it.
The document contained several names and dates.
At the bottom was a handwritten sentence.
The first male heir will unite the two houses.
Mariana stared at it.
“What houses?”
Lucía pointed to two surnames.
Herrera.
Lozano.
Julián went silent.
“My family?”
Lucía nodded.
“Your father and Mariana's father had business connections long before you met.”
Julián's expression darkened.
“My father died before I joined the military.”
“That's what everyone told you.”
Mariana looked at him.
“You never knew?”
“No.”
He turned the page.
There was a signature.
His father's.
Below it was Rocío's.
Then Mariana's father's.
Three signatures.
Six years before Mariana and Julián married.
Julián stared at his mother's signature.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
Lucía looked down.
“I found out later.”
Mariana touched her belly.
“What happened to my baby?”
Lucía hesitated.
“You gave birth.”
Mariana closed her eyes.
The memory returned.
A hospital room.
A nurse.
A tiny cry.
Then silence.
She opened her eyes.
“I remember something.”
Julián leaned closer.
“What?”
“A bracelet.”
“What kind?”
“White.”
She pressed her fingers against her forehead.
“There was a number.”
“R-17?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
The investigator looked at her through the rearview mirror.
“Then your memory is coming back.”
Mariana stared at him.
“What happened after I gave birth?”
“You were told the baby died.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Lucía whispered,
“He didn't.”
Mariana's eyes filled with tears.
“My son is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
Julián's voice became hard.
“Rocío does.”
Lucía nodded.
“She always knew.”
Mariana suddenly remembered something else.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Near her hospital bed.
Don't fight it. Your baby is gone.
She had thought it was a nurse.
But now she recognized the voice.
Rocío.
Mariana covered her mouth.
“She was there.”
Julián looked at her.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“She was there when I gave birth.”
Lucía nodded.
“She signed the transfer papers.”
Mariana's entire body trembled.
Julián's face hardened.
“She stole our son.”
“She took him before you even knew his name.”
The SUV fell silent.
Then Mariana whispered,
“What was his name?”
Lucía looked at her.
“You had chosen one.”
Mariana stared.
“I don't remember.”
“You called him Gabriel.”
The name struck her like a physical blow.
Gabriel.
She remembered whispering it.
Holding something tiny against her chest.
Promising him she would never let anyone take him.
Then darkness.
Mariana began to cry.
“I held him.”
Julián reached for her.
She grabbed his hand.
“I held our son.”
“I believe you.”
“I remember his face.”
“You don't have to explain.”
“He had your eyes.”
Julián's own eyes filled.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then the investigator interrupted.
“We're approaching the safe house.”
Mariana looked outside.
They were leaving the city.
Dark fields stretched beyond the road.
Julián noticed something.
“We're not being followed.”
“That doesn't mean we're safe.”
The investigator slowed.
“There's something else you need to know.”
“What?”
“Rocío didn't raise Gabriel.”
Mariana looked at him.
“Who did?”
He didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
“The child was transferred twice.”
“Where?”
“First to a private facility.”
“Then?”
“Then to a family.”
Mariana's heart pounded.
“What family?”
The investigator glanced at Lucía.
Lucía looked away.
Mariana noticed.
“You know.”
Lucía swallowed.
“I know where he was sent.”
“Where?”
Lucía whispered,
“To the Lozano estate.”
Julián's face went pale.
“My family?”
“Yes.”
Mariana's voice broke.
“Rocío kept him there?”
“No.”
Lucía shook her head.
“She gave him to someone else.”
“Who?”
Before Lucía could answer, the SUV's headlights went out.
The engine died.
Julián immediately reached for his weapon.
“What happened?”
The investigator stared at the dashboard.
“Someone disabled the vehicle.”
A light appeared in the distance.
Then another.
Then another.
Three vehicles surrounded them.
Julián looked at Mariana.
“Stay down.”
The windows shattered.
Glass flew across the back seat.
Mariana screamed.
The investigator accelerated suddenly.
The SUV crashed through a barrier and tore onto a dirt road.
Bullets struck the rear doors.
Julián covered Mariana with his body.
Lucía ducked beside them.
The investigator drove faster.
“Hold on!”
They turned sharply.
Mariana cried out as another contraction hit.
Julián looked at her.
“Mariana.”
“I can't—”
Her face twisted in pain.
“It's too soon.”
The investigator glanced back.
“How far apart?”
“Two minutes.”
He cursed under his breath.
“We need a hospital.”
“No hospitals,” Julián said.
“Then she needs a doctor.”
Mariana gripped his sleeve.
“Don't let them take me.”
“They won't.”
“I mean it.”
“I won't.”
The SUV entered a forest.
After several minutes, they stopped outside a small abandoned farmhouse.
The investigator jumped out.
“Inside.”
They hurried through the front door.
The farmhouse looked empty.
But there was electricity.
A medical bed stood in one room.
A cabinet contained sterile supplies.
Mariana stared.
“You prepared this?”
“Yes.”
“For me?”
“For anyone they might try to disappear.”
Julián helped Mariana onto the bed.
The investigator called someone.
“We need a doctor.”
A voice answered.
“I'm already here.”
Everyone turned.
An older woman stepped out of the hallway.
Mariana recognized her immediately.
She was the woman from the photograph outside the clinic.
The doctor who had stood beside Rocío.
Mariana's blood ran cold.
“You.”
The woman slowly raised her hands.
“My name is Dr. Elena Vargas.”
Julián stepped forward.
“You worked with Rocío.”
“I did.”
Mariana's eyes filled with anger.
“You took my baby.”
Elena's expression collapsed.
“No.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You signed the medical report.”
“Yes.”
“Then you took him.”
Elena shook her head.
“I saved him.”
Mariana stared.
“From what?”
Elena looked toward the door.
“From your father.”
Julián lowered his weapon.
“What does that mean?”
Elena walked to the cabinet.
She removed an old file.
“I delivered your son six years ago.”
Mariana began crying.
“Gabriel.”
Elena nodded.
“Gabriel.”
“Where is he?”
Elena hesitated.
“He was supposed to remain hidden.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
Mariana tried to sit up.
“You owe me.”
Elena looked at her.
“I know.”
“Then tell me.”
The doctor opened the file.
Inside was a photograph of a little boy.
Six years old.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A small scar above his left eyebrow.
Mariana's breath disappeared.
She touched the photograph.
“That's him.”
Julián stood beside her.
His hand trembled.
“That's our son.”
Elena nodded.
“He's alive.”
Mariana pressed the photograph against her chest.
“Where is he?”
Elena looked at the clock.
Then toward the window.
“I was going to tell you.”
A car engine suddenly roared outside.
Elena froze.
Julián moved toward the window.
Headlights appeared through the trees.
One vehicle.
Then two.
Elena's face went white.
“They found us.”
The farmhouse lights suddenly flickered.
Mariana clutched the photograph.
Elena whispered,
“They weren't following the car.”
Julián turned.
“Then how did they find us?”
Elena looked directly at Mariana's belly.
“Because someone inside this house told them where you were.”
Silence.
Everyone turned toward the hallway.
A child's voice came from behind the locked bedroom door.
“Mom?”
Mariana stopped breathing.
The voice came again.
“Mom, are you there?”
Elena dropped the file.
Julián stared at the door.
Mariana slowly reached for the handle.
May you like
The lock clicked from the other side.
And a little boy whispered her name...
