Chapter 5 - THE SISTER RISEN FROM THE DEADDiego dropped to his knees, pulling a heavy-duty flashlight from his belt and shining it down the vertical shaft.
About ten feet below, huddled in a corner of an old cistern used as a subterranean prison, was a woman. Her hair was long, matted, and streaked with gray. Her clothes hung off her skeletal frame like rags on a scarecrow.
It was Lucía—Mariana’s older sister, whom the family had mourned as a runaway for nearly a year.
“Hold on!” Diego shouted.
He grabbed a sturdy aluminum ladder stored nearby, lowered it down the well, and scrambled down himself.
When he reached the bottom, Lucía shrank back into the shadows, shielding her eyes from the sudden light.
“Don’t touch me… please, Teresa, I didn’t tell anyone…” she sobbed.
“Lucía, look at me. It’s Diego. Mariana’s husband.”
She blinked, her sunken eyes focusing on his face. Recognition flickered, followed by an immediate wave of pure panic.
“You have to run,” she gasped, grabbing his arm with surprising strength. “Teresa… she isn’t just stealing houses. She’s cleaning out the whole family tree. My father’s stroke last year—it wasn't natural, Diego. She gave him blood thinners until his heart gave out so she could take his pension!”
Diego’s breath hitched. The horror expanded, growing tentacles that reached back years, staining every family gathering, every smile, every cup of coffee his mother had ever poured.
“She’s a monster,” Diego said grimly, helping her up the ladder. “And her reign is over. I have the recordings. The police have the deeds.”
“No,” Lucía wept as they emerged into the cool evening air. “You don’t understand how deep this goes. Teresa has people in the local land registry office. She has judges in her pocket. If she gets bail, we are all dead men walking.”
Diego led her out of the garage, settling her into the truck next to a waking, confused Mateo.
“She isn’t getting bail,” Diego promised, his voice dropping an octave. “Because we are going to charge her with kidnapping, attempted murder, and elder abuse across three different districts.”
Just then, his phone buzzed. It was an alert from the state prosecutor’s office.
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Teresa Ramírez had been denied bail due to flight risk and the discovery of multiple forged property titles.
A grim smile touched the corners of Diego's mouth. But the victory felt incomplete. The roots of this corruption ran too deep for just one old woman and a cousin to manage. Someone was funding them. Someone was legalizing the theft.
