Elena shouted:
—Nobody leave the room!
Several people remained motionless.
Others protested.
Tomás was four meters away from her.
Diego was still with Lucía.
Marta looked at the ground.
—You had it in your hand.
—Someone took it from me.
Diego approached.
—Have they hurt you?
-Do not touch me.
He stopped.
Thomas raised his hands.
—This is ridiculous.
Elena pointed it out.
—You wanted the frame.
—I wanted to avoid a scandal.
—You’ve got it.
—No.
—Then help find him.
The palace’s head of security closed the main doors at Elena’s request, although he couldn’t legally detain anyone without further ado. Fernando, who had arrived in the hall after receiving a message from Marta, recommended calling the police if Elena believed she had been robbed.
Thomas became furious.
—Are you going to bring the police to your own family’s wedding?
Elena looked at him.
—You just explained exactly why I should do it.
Diego intervened.
—Elena, let me check the cameras in the living room.
—Are there cameras?
—In entrances and hallways. Not inside the main hall.
Lucia approached.
—I was looking towards you when everything went dark. I saw someone move to your right.
Marta frowned.
—I was to his right.
—Further back.
Elena felt another pang of distrust.
-Who?
Lucia looked towards the tables.
One chair was empty.
Tomás’s.
They all turned around.
Tomás was no longer in the living room.
Diego ran towards the side door.
Elena followed him.
In the hallway they found the waiter who was watching the entrance.
—Has Mr. Salvatierra left?
—Yes. Less than a minute ago.
—With something in your hands?
The young man hesitated.
—He was wearing a rectangular frame under his jacket.
Diego let out a curse.
Elena started running.
He crossed the hall, went down two steps and out into the courtyard.
A black car started up on the other side of the fence.
Thomas was inside.
Diego arrived behind.
—He can’t go far.
Elena looked at him.
-Because?
Diego put his hand in his pocket and took out a small remote control.
—Because his car is still here.
The vehicle that was driving away did not belong to Tomás.
Lucia appeared panting.
He looked at the license plate.
—It belongs to Caesar.
Elena turned towards her.
César Ferrer.
Lucia’s father.
The man whose name appeared over and over again in the Rojo Uno files.
Lucia paled.
—My father swore he wouldn’t come.
Diego looked at her.
—So someone has warned him.
Elena realized that the theft of the frame had not been an improvised reaction.
Someone was expecting him to appear.
And the wedding had been the perfect place to win him back without drawing attention.
Chapter 6 — Diego’s Envelope
The police arrived forty minutes later.
By then, the party was over.
The guests huddled in small circles, confused, uncomfortable, and eager to leave. Waiters cleared glasses as if simply tidying the room could somehow undo the mess.
Elena was still dressed as a bride when she gave her statement.
He explained the blackout, the setting, and Tomás’s escape.
He had not yet described the RED files. Fernando had advised him to separate the immediate theft from the business suspicions until the documentation was delivered correctly.
Diego was sitting on the other side of the lobby.
He didn’t come near.
When the police finished, Elena went towards him.
—I want to see the envelope.
Diego remained still.
—What’s left over?
—The one Tomás gave you a week ago.
Diego looked at Lucia.
She didn’t look away.
—You told him.
-Yeah.
Elena extended her hand.
-Now.
Diego took a deep breath.
—It’s in the safe in my room.
They went up together.
Elena removed her veil as she walked.
In the bridal suite, the white flowers, champagne, and candles seemed like part of a scene set for other people.
Diego opened the safe.
He took out a brown envelope.
Inside there was an option to purchase agreement on Elena’s mother’s plot of land.
Elena’s signature was at the end.
It was fake.
Elena felt her legs give way.
-What is this?
—A copy.
-About what?
—From a document that Tomás prepared.
—With my signature.
-Yeah.
—Why do you have it?
Diego ran a hand through his hair.
—Because Tomás showed it to me a week ago. He said that if you refused to sell after the wedding, he could use it to pressure you.
—Press me?
“I don’t think I could register a sale with a forged signature just like that. I’d need a notary, verifications, more documentation. But I could start a dispute, threaten you with a supposed prior agreement, and make you waste time and money.”
Elena was trembling.
—And did you take the copy?
-Yeah.
-So that?
—To prevent her from using it.
