Chapter 12 - The Letter from the Shadows
A heavy, plain white envelope arrived on a rainy Thursday afternoon, bearing no return address. Inside was a single sheet of paper covered in the familiar, aggressive handwriting of Sergio Morales.
“You think winning a court case makes you safe, Mariana? The men in here aren't like Dad; they don't care about your little medical reports or your clean little life. When I get out—and legal loopholes always exist—the first place I’m coming is for you and that spoiled kid. Watch your back every second of every day.”
The paper was torn at the bottom where Sergio had pressed his pen down with furious pressure.
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Mariana didn’t panic. She didn’t feel the cold dread that once paralyzed her. Instead, she slid the letter into a clear plastic folder labeled Federal Appeal Violations and photographed every inch of it with her phone. Within thirty minutes, the digital file was sitting directly in the inbox of the federal prosecutor handling Sergio’s case, accompanied by an immediate request for a permanent extension of her restraining order.
Threats only hold power when you are afraid of the dark. Mariana had spent years turning on every light in the house, and no letter from a prison cell could cast a shadow long enough to reach her.
