It showed Pilar leaving a bus station.
A sentence appeared underneath.
People who talk too much always end up regretting it.
Javier read the message twice.
“It’s a threat.”
Don Ernesto acquiesça.
“And maybe that’s why we can’t reach her.”
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
Three shots.
Farms.
Spaced out.
All three froze.
Javier walked towards the entrance.
He looked through the peephole.
Then stepped back.
Outside stood Ricardo Valdés.
He was wearing a gray suit.
A leather briefcase under his arm.
And a quiet smile.
As if he had simply come for a coffee.
“Ernesto,” he said from behind the door, “I know you’re here.”
Javier looked at his father.
Ricardo knocked again.
“We need to talk about what happened this afternoon.”
Lucía devint livide.
Because Javier had just understood something even more disturbing.
No one had phoned Ricardo to tell him about the events.
Yet he was there.
And he knew perfectly well that something had happened.
CHAPTER 5. THE MAN WHO ARRIVED TOO SOON
“Don’t open.”
Don Ernesto pronounced these words so firmly that Javier immediately withdrew his hand from the handle.
Ricardo knocked again.
“Ernesto, please. Let’s not complicate things. »
Javier looked at his father.
“What does he want?”
“Probably finish what they started.”
She looked tremble.
Javier approached her.
“Did you call him?”
“No.”
“Did you write to him?”
“Not either.”
Don Ernesto pointed to the phone she had just handed them.
“Maybe he didn’t need to.”
The surveillance camera also recorded sound.
Even though some records had been deleted, the system continued to send notifications to authorized users.
And someone had recently logged in from an unknown device.
Javier opened the app.
He examined the list of sessions.
He discovered an active connection.
A phone he did not recognize.
This device had consulted the camera less than ten minutes before.
“Someone else is connected.”
Lucía regards him.
“Arturo had access to the system.”
Javier felt a mixture of anger and amazement.
“Did you give him access to our camera?”
She looked down.
“He asked me to set it up to check for some technical issues.”
Behind the door, Ricardo spoke again.
“Javier, my boy, I know you’re here.”
His voice remained amiable.
Almost affectionate.
“Open. We can settle this calmly. »
Don Ernesto made a sign to his son to step aside.
Then he approached the door.
“Ricardo, va-t’en.”
A brief silence followed.
“Ernesto, you’re upset.”
“I told you to leave.”
“I think you need help.”
The old man clenched his jaw.
“Stop using my age to discredit me.”
The answer came with an unexpected coldness.
“Then stop behaving like a man who doesn’t understand his own affairs anymore.”
Javier raised his head.
This sentence was far too revealing.
Don Ernesto le regarda.
Both had heard the same thing.
Ricardo was repeating exactly the argument that appeared in the documents.
Javier pulled out his phone and began recording the conversation.
“Ricardo,” he interjected, “why did you come?”
“Because I was informed of a serious incident.”
“Who told you?”
Silence.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“For me, it is.”
“Javier, I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss this through a door.”
“Then tell us how you know something happened.”
Ricardo took several seconds to answer.
“Arturo called me. He was worried. »
Lucía ferma les yeux.
Don Ernesto folded his arms.
“And what exactly did he tell you?”
“That the family situation had become unbearable.”
Javier felt a deep disgust.
This man had known his mother.
He had sat in the front row at her funeral.
He had promised to take care of them.
And now there he was, trying to use a fake assault to get Don Ernesto away from his own home.
“Ricardo, I’m going to ask you something,” Javier said.
“Of course.”
“Never go near my father again.”
The kind voice disappeared.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I know perfectly well what I am saying.”
“Your family is in serious financial trouble. I try to avoid consequences that none of you want to face. »
“You created these consequences.”
The next answer took longer than usual.
“Be careful with your accusations.”
“And you, be careful not to come back into our lives.”
Ricardo remained silent.
Then he spoke with an ominous calmness.
“Ask your father what happened to Elena’s account.”
Don Ernesto was raided.
Javier frowned.
“What account?”
“The one your mother opened shortly before she died.”
The old man took a step towards the door.
“Ricardo, that’s enough.”
But the lawyer continued.
“Ask him what happened to that money, Javier.”
Javier looked at his father.
“What is he talking about?”
Don Ernesto did not answer.
Ricardo chuckled.
“I see that he still hasn’t told you anything.”
Footsteps moved away.
Then a car engine was heard.
