Chapter 7 - Box 317
Mara refused to meet at the hospital.
She wanted a church.
Public.
Cameras.
No Montenegro property.
We found her in the last pew.
She looked younger than I expected.
Thirty, maybe.
Dark circles beneath both eyes.
Hands shaking.
Bell sat beside her.
I stayed standing.
“What does wrong man mean?”
She rubbed her thumb against a bandage.
“Adrian told me Rafael’s anxiety medication had changed.”
“Same lie used on everyone.”
“Yes.”
“He gave you the pills?”
“Sealed bottle.”
“And?”
“I gave the dose.”
“To Rafael?”
She looked at me.
“No.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then who?”
“His cousin Mateo.”
I frowned.
Bell knew the name.
“Mateo Montenegro died in rehab two months before Rafael.”
Mara nodded.
“Rafael switched room numbers.”
“Why?”
“He suspected Adrian was tampering.”
“So Mateo received Rafael’s dose.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He stopped breathing.”
Bell’s jaw tightened.
“Cause of death?”
“Respiratory failure.”
I stared.
“Adrian killed the wrong man.”
Mara started crying.
“I gave it.”
“You did not know.”
“I still gave it.”
Bell asked, “Then Rafael knew.”
“He knew Adrian had sent something dangerous.”
“Why not go to police?”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“Montenegro money had police chiefs at Christmas dinners.”
I looked at Bell.
He did not argue.
Mara continued.
“Rafael wanted proof.”
“So he kept pretending?”
“Yes.”
“He still took medicine from Adrian?”
“Not really. We switched most of it.”
“Most?”
Her face changed.
“One night I was not there.”
My pulse jumped.
“When?”
“Night before his collapse.”
“Who was?”
“Adrian.”
Silence.
Mara reached into her coat.
Storage key.
“914.”
“We have it.”
“Go now.”
“Why?”
“Rafael made a dead-man file.”
Bell stood.
“What is in it?”
“Everything.”
A shadow moved across the stained-glass window.
Mara saw it.
Her eyes widened.
“Down.”
The gunshot shattered red glass.
Bell dragged me behind the pew.
Mara fell sideways.
Blood spread through her sleeve.
Not chest.
Shoulder.
Alive.
Security rushed the door.
The shooter ran.
Mara grabbed my wrist.
Her grip was shockingly strong.
“Warehouse.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Go.”
She shoved a tiny brass key into my palm.
“Rafael said only you open the cabinet.”
“What cabinet?”
“914.”
Her face tightened with pain.
“He said Adrian killed him.”
Another shot hit the church door.
Mara gasped.
Then whispered:
“And Adrian is not the one who erased Isabel.”
May you like
CUT.
