Chapter 9 - Teresa’s Last Secret
The next morning, I took the letter to the notary.
He read it silently.
Then he nodded.
“She planned this.”
“Planned what?”
“The letters.”
“The investigation?”
“Yes.”
“Rafael?”
His expression changed.
“So you found his name.”
“You knew.”
“I knew Teresa was afraid of him.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she asked me not to.”
I slammed my hand on the desk.
“She is dead.”
“I know.”
“Then the instructions don't matter anymore.”
He looked at me.
“They matter more now.”
He opened a locked drawer.
Inside was a sealed legal document.
“Teresa left this with me six months ago.”
“What is it?”
“Instructions.”
“For whom?”
“For you.”
He handed it over.
The document stated that I was to receive nothing from the estate unless I completed one condition.
I had to visit Teresa's old workshop.
Alone.
I went that afternoon.
The workshop was dusty.
Her husband's old tools still hung on the wall.
I searched the room.
Behind a cabinet, I found a metal box.
Inside was an old cassette recorder.
There was one cassette.
A label read:
“Rafael — 2008.”
I found an old player and pressed the button.
A man's voice filled the room.
“You think you can hide behind that house forever?”
Then Teresa's husband's voice.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Rafael laughed.
“You know exactly what I'm talking about.”
The recording ended.
I played it again.
Then again.
There was something underneath the voices.
A faint sound.
A door closing.
A name.
I increased the volume.
“Mariana.”
I froze.
Why had Rafael said Mariana's name?
I called her.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
I drove to her apartment.
Her car was outside.
The door was locked.
I called her phone.
It rang inside.
My stomach dropped.
I contacted the building manager.
He opened the door.
Mariana was not inside.
Her phone was on the table.
Her purse was gone.
Then I saw a note.
It was addressed to me.
I opened it.
“Stop looking.”
That was all.
I called the police.
But before they arrived, Mariana called.
Her voice was shaking.
“I'm okay.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Mariana, what happened?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“My mother knew Rafael.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“Rafael wasn't working alone.”
“Who was with him?”
She started crying.
“I don't know how to tell you.”
“Tell me.”
“Teresa knew.”
“What did she know?”
Mariana's voice dropped.
“She knew my mother had helped him.”
I couldn't move.
“Why?”
“She thought he was going to expose something.”
“What?”
Mariana hesitated.
Then said:
“Your marriage.”
I laughed because the alternative was panic.
“My marriage?”
“Yes.”
“What does Rafael have to do with it?”
“He knew why Teresa chose you.”
I stopped smiling.
“What are you saying?”
Mariana whispered:
“She didn't marry you because she needed a husband.”
“Then why?”
“I don't know.”
The call ended.
A second later, my phone received a message.
It contained a photograph.
Teresa and Rafael were standing together.
The date was six years before I met her.
May you like
On the back was one sentence:
“She chose you because you were already being watched.”
