CHAPTER 2: THE MAN WITH THE GUN KNEW HER NAME
The world seemed to stop.
The rain outside.
The ticking clock in the kitchen.
Even Camila's crying.
Everything disappeared except for the gun pointed at her little girl.
Valeria stepped in front of her daughter without thinking.
"Please… don't hurt her."
The stranger smiled.
It wasn't a kind smile.
It was the smile of a man who had stopped feeling pity a long time ago.
"You must be Valeria."
He said it calmly, as if they had known each other for years.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
"My name is Ricardo Vega."
The name hit her like a bucket of ice water.
The escaped prisoner.
The man Mauricio had just warned her about.
Ricardo slowly walked into the house, closing the broken door behind him.
He looked around the kitchen.
The coffee.
The dishes.
The cereal box on the counter.
A normal family morning.
Then he laughed.
"You really had no idea, did you?"
"No idea about what?"
He lowered the gun slightly.
"Your husband is a liar."
Valeria's phone vibrated in her hand.
Mauricio was calling again.
Ricardo saw the screen.
His expression darkened.
"Answer it."
She hesitated.
"I said answer it."
With trembling fingers, she picked up.
"Mauricio…"
"Are you okay?" he asked desperately.
Before she could answer, Ricardo snatched the phone from her.
"Hello, old friend."
Silence.
Then Mauricio's voice changed.
"Ricardo…"
"Nice to hear your voice."
"What do you want?"
Ricardo laughed.
"You know exactly what I want."
"I don't have it anymore."
"Wrong answer."
Ricardo looked at Camila.
The little girl buried her face against her mother's back.
"I can make your daughter disappear before breakfast."
Valeria nearly collapsed.
"Please!" she cried. "Please, don't involve her!"
Ricardo ignored her.
On the phone, Mauricio sounded terrified.
"Leave them alone. This is between you and me."
"Then tell me where the money is."
"There is no money."
Ricardo's smile vanished.
"You stole ten million pesos from me."
Valeria stared at the phone.
Ten million pesos?
What was he talking about?
She looked around the kitchen as if it had suddenly become a stranger's house.
Who was her husband?
What had he been hiding?
"I swear, Ricardo, I don't have it."
The man sighed.
"I gave you one year to enjoy your little family."
Then he said something that made Valeria's blood freeze.
"I even watched your daughter start school."
Valeria's knees nearly gave out.
He had been watching them.
For a year.
Every birthday.
Every trip.
Every afternoon in the park.
He had been there.
Invisible.
Waiting.
Camila began to cry harder.
"Mommy…"
Ricardo looked at her.
For a brief second, something changed in his eyes.
A shadow of sadness.
Then it disappeared.
"Tell me where the money is, Mauricio."
"I can't."
"You mean you won't."
A long silence followed.
Finally Mauricio spoke.
"Let them go."
"No."
"I'll give myself up."
"No."
"Please."
Ricardo smiled again.
"You don't get to beg."
He ended the call.
The kitchen fell silent.
Then he placed the phone on the table.
"You have ten minutes."
"For what?" Valeria asked.
"For your husband to tell the truth."
"And if he doesn't?"
Ricardo looked at Camila.
"You don't want to know."
Valeria wrapped her arms around her daughter.
She could barely breathe.
Then suddenly—
BEEP.
Another phone notification.
This time it wasn't from Mauricio.
It was an email.
Sender: Unknown.
Subject:
IF YOU WANT TO LIVE, OPEN THIS NOW.
Her hands shook.
Ricardo noticed.
"Open it."
She did.
A video file appeared.
The timestamp showed it had been recorded three days earlier.
The video began.
Mauricio appeared on the screen.
He looked exhausted.
As if he hadn't slept for days.
If anything happens to me… or to my family… it means Ricardo found us.
Valeria covered her mouth.
Mauricio continued.
I lied to you.
About the trips.
About the money.
About almost everything.
Ricardo stared at the screen.
His face slowly hardened.
Five years ago, I didn't steal ten million pesos from him.
I stole something else.
Something he never knew existed.
Valeria frowned.
What did that mean?
Mauricio looked directly into the camera.
And then he said the sentence that changed everything.
Ricardo…
I didn't take your money.
I took your daughter.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ricardo stopped breathing.
Camila looked up.
Valeria's heart nearly exploded.
On the screen, Mauricio continued:
The little girl you think died six years ago…
she didn't die.
She's alive.
And she's been living with me this whole time.
Ricardo's hand began to tremble.
"No…" he whispered.
The video continued.
Her name isn't Camila Salazar.
Her real name is…
Ricardo suddenly smashed the phone against the wall.
The screen shattered.
"No!"
His scream shook the house.
"No! That's impossible!"
He staggered backward.
His face turned white.
Tears appeared in his eyes.
Valeria looked at him in horror.
"What is he talking about?"
Ricardo slowly lifted his head.
He stared at Camila.
The little girl stared back.
Then he whispered words that made the room spin.
"Oh my God…"
A tear rolled down his cheek.
"She has her mother's eyes."
Valeria felt the ground disappear beneath her.
Ricardo looked directly at her.
And in a broken voice, he asked:
"Tell me…"
"Did your husband ever explain why your daughter doesn't have a single baby photo before she turned one year old?"
The world went dark around Valeria.
Because suddenly…
she remembered.
There were no baby photos.
No hospital bracelet.
No birth certificate from the day she gave birth.
Nothing.
And for the first time in six years…
she asked herself a terrifying question.
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Was Camila really her daughter?
TO BE CONTINUED…
