Chapter 6 - the boy who heard everything
Iker was hiding beneath the nursery table.
Rosa found him there after lunch, still wearing the blue sweater his mother had chosen that morning. He refused to come out until Camila entered the room alone.
She sat on the carpet several feet away.
“You’re not in trouble.”
He watched her from behind a chair leg.
“Mom says people only say that before they ask questions.”
“I’m not going to ask anything.”
Iker looked doubtful.
Camila took the red truck from a shelf and rolled it gently across the carpet. The damaged wheel made a soft clicking sound.
“My mother used to play with this.”
“Grandfather told me it was his.”
“Maybe he wanted you to think it was yours so no one would look inside.”
Iker crawled out slowly.
“Is Sofia going to take it?”
“She doesn’t need to. We already found what was hidden inside.”
“Then I can keep it?”
“Do you want to?”
He nodded.
Camila pushed the truck toward him.
Iker caught it.
For the first time since her arrival, he smiled.
Then he whispered, “Mom was crying last night.”
Camila kept her expression neutral.
“Was she?”
“She was talking to someone in the bathroom.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I heard your name.”
Camila waited.
Iker looked toward the nursery door.
“The person told her she had to make you angry.”
“Did you hear who it was?”
“No. Mom had her headphones on.”
“What else did they say?”
“They said Sofia had to be holding the truck when the cup broke.”
Camila felt a wave of cold anger.
“Did your mother agree?”
“She said she wouldn’t hurt a baby.”
“What did the person say?”
Iker’s eyes filled with tears.
“They said they knew where my father was.”
Mariela’s husband, Rafael, had disappeared 8 months earlier.
The official story was that he had abandoned his family after losing money through a failed investment. Mariela had called him selfish and forbidden Iker from speaking about him.
Camila had never considered that Rafael might not have left voluntarily.
She reached for Iker’s hand.
“Did the person threaten him?”
“I don’t know. Mom said, ‘Please let me speak to him.’ Then she started crying.”
The door opened.
Mariela stood in the hallway.
Her face became hard when she saw Iker sitting beside Camila.
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing,” Camila said.
“I asked my son.”
Iker held the truck against his chest.
“I told her about Dad.”
Mariela rushed forward.
Camila stood between them.
“Don’t frighten him.”
“You have been inside this house for one day, and you already think you can tell me how to raise my child?”
“No. I’m telling you not to punish him because he heard you being threatened.”
Mariela froze.
Iker began to cry.
“Is Dad in danger?”
Mariela closed her eyes.
When she opened them, the anger was gone.
She knelt and held out her arms.
Iker hesitated before moving toward her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, embracing him. “None of this is your fault.”
Camila waited until Rosa led Iker to the garden room.
Then she locked the nursery door.
“Tell me what they want you to do.”
Mariela remained near the window.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“They want Sofia holding the truck when the cup breaks.”
Mariela’s face revealed the truth.
“Who are they?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Because of Rafael?”
Mariela looked toward her sharply.
“The police said he left the country,” Camila continued. “But someone proved to you that they have him.”
“A recording arrived 3 weeks ago.”
“What was on it?”
“Rafael was sitting in a dark room. He said I had to follow every instruction or Iker would never see him again.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“The message showed Iker leaving school. They knew his route, his teacher, and the name of the guard at the gate.”
Camila’s anger shifted.
Mariela had treated her cruelly for years, but no parent deserved to be controlled through fear for a child.
“What is supposed to happen tomorrow?”
Mariela looked down.
“I place the truck beside the fountain. Sofia reaches for it. I drop the cup near her, then accuse her of taking Iker’s things. Teresa becomes angry. You leave before 4:15.”
“And if I don’t?”
“The person said they would create another reason.”
“What reason?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who gives the instructions?”
“A voice through an encrypted application.”
“Male or female?”
“It changes.”
“Then how do you know they can reach Rafael?”
“Because this arrived this morning.”
Mariela took a photograph from her pocket.
May you like
It showed Rafael holding that day’s newspaper.
Behind him was a wall marked with the Valdés family crest.
