CHAPTER 4 – THE BABY IN THE AMBULANCE WASN'T MATEO… AND THE KIDNAPPER WAS STILL INSIDE THE HOUSE
For a moment, no one moved.
No one even breathed.
Julián stared at the paramedic as if he had spoken another language.
"What do you mean… that's not my son?"
The paramedic swallowed hard.
"When we placed the baby in the ambulance, one of the nurses noticed something strange."
"What strange?"
"The birthmark."
Valeria's face turned pale.
Mateo had been born with a tiny crescent-shaped birthmark behind his left ear.
The paramedic shook his head.
"The baby in the ambulance doesn't have it."
Silence.
Then Valeria screamed.
"WHERE IS MY SON?!"
Panic exploded inside the house.
The police immediately rushed outside.
Julián's military instincts took over.
"Nobody leaves this house!" he shouted.
An officer blocked the front door.
Another ran toward the backyard.
Patricia burst into tears.
"This is insane!"
But Julián wasn't listening.
His eyes scanned the room.
The broken glass.
The overturned chair.
The open front door.
Then he noticed something.
One person was missing.
His mother.
"Carmen?"
No answer.
He turned toward the hallway.
The bedroom door was open.
The window curtains moved slightly.
A cold chill ran down his spine.
Without saying a word, he ran.
"Julián!" Valeria cried.
He ignored her.
He rushed into the bedroom.
Empty.
The closet doors were open.
Drawers had been pulled out.
The metal box was gone.
And on the bed…
lay Carmen's wedding ring.
His heart dropped.
She had run.
Then one of the officers shouted from outside.
"There's a car leaving through the back road!"
Julián reached the window just in time to see an old gray sedan speeding away.
Behind the wheel…
was his mother.
And in the back seat—
a small blue blanket.
Mateo's blanket.
Everything inside him went cold.
"She took him."
Valeria let out a horrifying scream.
"No!"
Julián didn't think.
He moved.
Years of military training took control.
He ran through the front door, jumped into the nearest police vehicle, and slammed the door shut.
"Drive!"
The officer looked stunned.
"Sir—"
"DRIVE!"
The tires screeched.
The chase began.
Five minutes later.
The gray sedan was still ahead.
Rain had started to fall.
The roads outside Puebla were nearly empty.
"Faster!" Julián shouted.
The police siren echoed through the night.
The sedan suddenly turned onto an abandoned country road.
"What is she doing?" the officer asked.
Julián already knew.
She wasn't running.
She was desperate.
Desperate people make terrible decisions.
The sedan finally stopped near an old farmhouse.
Carmen jumped out.
She was holding Mateo.
The baby wasn't crying.
He looked terribly weak.
Julián's heart nearly stopped.
He stepped out of the police car.
"Mom."
She backed away.
"Don't come closer."
Rain poured over them.
"You need to give him back."
"No."
Her voice shook.
"I can't lose everything."
"You've already lost everything."
She began crying.
"They'll take me to prison."
"Then let the baby go."
She held Mateo tighter.
"I only wanted a better life."
Julián stared at her.
All his life, he had feared disappointing this woman.
All his life, he had tried to earn her love.
Now he barely recognized her.
"You let my son get sick."
Tears rolled down her face.
"You hurt my wife."
She looked away.
"You stole from your family."
She began shaking.
"And now you've kidnapped a baby."
For the first time, she looked old.
Very old.
"I never meant for this to happen."
"Then why did you do it?"
Silence.
The rain fell harder.
Then she whispered:
"Because I was afraid."
Julián frowned.
"Afraid of what?"
She looked up.
And what she said next changed everything.
"Afraid of the truth."
A long silence followed.
"What truth?"
Her lips trembled.
"The truth about Mateo."
The world seemed to stop.
"What about him?"
She looked at the baby.
Then back at him.
Finally she said:
"He's in danger."
Julián's eyes narrowed.
"From who?"
She didn't answer.
"Mom."
Her voice broke.
"There are people looking for him."
The officer stepped forward.
"What people?"
She slowly shook her head.
"I thought I could protect him."
"By kidnapping him?"
"I thought if I disappeared with him, they would stop searching."
Julián felt his pulse racing.
"What are you talking about?"
Carmen closed her eyes.
Then she said the impossible.
"Mateo wasn't switched by accident."
Silence.
"I switched him."
No one moved.
"What?"
She looked directly at him.
"Someone came to the house tonight."
The rain seemed louder.
"A man."
"What man?"
"He wanted the baby."
Every hair on Julián's neck stood up.
"He said he had been looking for Mateo since the day he was born."
Valeria's words suddenly echoed in his mind.
They took my phone.
They wouldn't let me leave.
What if…
they weren't the only ones?
"What did he want?" Julián asked.
Carmen looked terrified.
"He said the child belonged to his family."
The officer frowned.
"What family?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not!"
She burst into tears.
"He showed me photographs… documents… and then he said something that terrified me."
"What?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"He said… if I didn't give him the baby tonight… everyone in this family would die."
The rain stopped feeling cold.
Because suddenly…
this wasn't just a family tragedy anymore.
Someone had been watching them.
Someone had been waiting.
And someone believed Mateo belonged to them.
Then headlights appeared in the darkness.
A black SUV slowly pulled onto the road.
Another followed.
Then another.
The police officer reached for his weapon.
The doors of the first SUV opened.
A tall man in a black suit stepped out.
Gray hair.
Calm eyes.
He looked directly at Julián.
Then at the baby.
And smiled.
"Thank God," the stranger said softly.
"We finally found him."
Julián took a step forward.
"Who are you?"
The man's smile disappeared.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a photograph.
Then he handed it to him.
Julián looked down.
His blood turned to ice.
The picture showed Valeria.
Holding a newborn baby.
Standing beside a man neither of them had ever seen before.
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On the back of the photograph were six handwritten words:
This child was never yours, Julián.
