Chapter 12 - The Threat Against Mateo
Rosa’s hands began to shake.
“No.”
Naomi read the message. “We call the police now.”
Rosa was already dialing Mateo.
He answered on the fourth ring. “Ma?”
“Where are you?”
“Parking garage. Why?”
“Get inside somewhere crowded. Right now.”
“Ma, what happened?”
“Do it.”
They heard footsteps through the phone.
Then Mateo said, “There’s a guy following me.”
The line crackled.
Rosa’s face went white. “Mateo?”
A car horn blared through the speaker.
Then the call dropped.
Celeste grabbed her keys. “Where does he work?”
They reached the garage eight minutes later with police already on scene. Mateo stood beside a concrete pillar, furious but unharmed. A security guard had detained a man after seeing him tamper with Mateo’s truck.
In the man’s pocket was a business card for Cole Protective Services.
Brent’s company.
Celeste stared at it. “This is enough.”
“For what?” Mateo snapped. “Enough for another statement? Another lawyer?”
He looked at his mother. “You need to leave this alone.”
Rosa flinched.
“Mateo—”
“No. Dad spent years on this and it broke him. Now they’re coming after us again.”
“He didn’t waste those years.”
“He died stressed, scared, and broke.”
Rosa’s eyes filled, but her voice stayed firm. “And if I walk away now, then everything he was afraid of becomes normal.”
Mateo looked away.
Celeste said softly, “My family did this to yours.”
Mateo turned on her. “Then fix it.”
The words hit harder than a slap.
That evening, Celeste went to her father’s mansion alone.
Arthur was waiting in the library with a glass of whiskey.
“You’ve embarrassed me enough,” he said.
Celeste placed the brake report on his desk.
“Did you kill Mom?”
Arthur did not look at the paper.
He looked at his daughter.
Then he said, “Your mother made a choice.”
Celeste’s breath caught.
“What choice?”
May you like
Arthur leaned back.
“To betray her family.”
