Chapter 6: Elena
I read the sentence twice.
If Javier tells you he loves you tonight, ask him who Elena is.
The paper trembled between my fingers.
I looked at Javier.
He didn't move.
Mercedes's face had gone completely blank.
The officer nearest me noticed the change immediately.
“Mrs. Morales?””
I handed him the note.
He read it.
“Do you know an Elena?””
“No.””
I looked directly at Javier.
“Do you?””
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
“Javier?””
“I can explain.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“It’s not what you think.””
I almost laughed.
That sentence again.
Always the same sentence whenever reality got too ugly for him to say out loud.
The officer held the note between two fingers.
“Where did this come from?””
“I found it on the table.””
The manager approached.
“I didn't put it there.””
“I know.””
“I don't recognize the handwriting.””
I looked at the paper.
It was folded in half.
Cheap white stationery.
Black ink.
No signature.
No explanation.
Just one name.
Elena.
Mercedes suddenly snapped.
“Throw it away.””
Everyone looked at her.
She realized what she'd said.
The officer frowned.
“Why?””
“I said it's probably nonsense.””
“Why would you assume that?””
“Because people enjoy creating trouble.””
I looked at her.
“Do you know Elena?””
“No.””
“Then why are you afraid of the note?””
“I am not afraid.””
“You are shaking.””
Mercedes straightened her shoulders.
“This entire night has been humiliating enough.””
“No,” I said.
“You humiliated me.””
Javier stepped forward.
“Clara, please.””
I turned toward him.
“Who is Elena?””
He looked at the floor.
“It's nobody.””
“Then saying her name shouldn't be difficult.””
“She was someone I knew.””
“Knew?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“A long time ago.””
Mercedes closed her eyes.
The officer asked, “Who is she?””
Javier didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Is she someone you dated?””
“No.””
“An employee?””
“No.””
“An investor?””
He hesitated.
I saw it.
That hesitation.
It wasn't nothing.
“Who is she?””
Javier finally looked at me.
“She helped me with the business.””
“What business?””
“The company.””
“The company you hid from me?””
“Clara—”
“Did Elena help you take my money?””
“No.””
“Did she help you forge my signature?””
“No.””
“Did she help you arrange tomorrow's appointment?””
“No.””
“Then what did she do?””
He looked toward his mother.
Mercedes stared back at him.
Then I understood something.
Javier wasn't afraid of me.
He was afraid of what Elena knew.
The officer spoke.
“Mr. Rivas, I think you should answer.””
Javier rubbed his jaw.
“She was our accountant.””
“Was?””
“Yes.””
“Why isn't she anymore?””
“She left.””
“When?””
“Eight months ago.””
“Why?””
Javier swallowed.
“She knew too much.””
The room fell silent.
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
“Nothing.””
“It means something.””
“She was unhappy with some of our business practices.””
“What business practices?””
He said nothing.
I turned toward the officer.
“I want to report identity theft too.””
He nodded.
“We'll include it.””
Javier suddenly looked terrified.
“Don't.””
I faced him.
“Why?””
“Because once they start digging—”
He stopped.
The officer caught it.
“Once they start digging what?””
Javier looked away.
I waited.
The restaurant's soft music had finally stopped.
All I could hear was the low hum of conversation from the remaining tables and the distant clink of glasses being stacked behind the bar.
The manager returned with another folder.
“There may be more.””
He looked at the officer.
“I'm sorry, but I checked the reservation account again.””
“What did you find?””
“There were messages attached to the booking.””
“What kind?””
“Instructions.””
The manager opened his laptop.
He turned the screen toward us.
One message read:
Have the documents ready.
Another:
She must not know about the transfer beforehand.
Another:
Mother will handle the signature.
My stomach turned.
The officer read each line.
“Who sent these?””
The manager clicked.
The account showed a phone number.
I knew the number.
My eyes widened.
“That’s Javier.””
He immediately said, “I didn't send those.””
The manager looked confused.
“The system identifies your phone.””
“Someone used my phone.””
“Your phone is currently in police custody,” the officer said.
Javier went quiet.
The officer asked, “Who else had access to it?””
He looked toward Mercedes.
“My mother.””
Mercedes snapped, “Absolutely not.””
“You had it tonight,” Javier said.
“Only for a moment.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
She didn't answer.
The officer asked again.
“Why did you have your son's phone?””
Mercedes looked at Javier.
Then away.
“I was calling the restaurant.””
“With his phone?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“My battery was dead.””
It sounded rehearsed.
The officer didn't comment.
Instead, he scrolled farther through the messages.
Then he stopped.
“What is this?””
Javier's face changed.
The officer read silently.
I watched his expression darken.
“What?”” I asked.
He hesitated.
Then handed me the phone.
I read the message.
It was from an unknown number.
Elena says she kept copies.
My pulse surged.
“Copies of what?””
Another message arrived while I was still holding the phone.
Same number.
If Clara discovers everything, Javier goes down too.
I looked at Javier.
His face had gone gray.
“Everything.””
The word echoed inside me.
“What everything?””
He said nothing.
“Javier.””
Nothing.
“Tell me.””
He closed his eyes.
The officer took the phone back.
“Mr. Rivas, you need to start being honest.””
Javier finally whispered,
“There was another account.””
I stared at him.
“What account?””
“A business account.””
“Under whose name?””
“Clara's.””
My heart stopped.
“You opened a business account in my name?””
He didn't answer.
The officer repeated,
“Under whose legal authority?””
Javier looked at the floor.
“Mine.””
I felt physically sick.
“What was in it?””
“Money.””
“How much?””
Silence.
“How much?””
He looked at me.
“About €130,000.””
My knees nearly buckled.
The officer caught my elbow.
“Sit down.””
I did.
I couldn't process the number.
“Where did that money come from?””
Javier whispered,
“Investors.””
I stared at him.
“You told people they were investing with me?””
“No.””
“You used my name.””
“I needed a clean identity.””
My eyes filled with tears.
“You used me as a front.””
He looked broken.
“I didn't mean for it to go this far.””
“How far?””
He shook his head.
“How far, Javier?””
“I borrowed from the account.””
“How much?””
“All of it.””
I covered my mouth.
The officer wrote something down.
“What happened to the investors' money?””
Javier stared at the wall.
“I lost it.””
“How?””
“Bad investments.””
I closed my eyes.
Everything clicked into place.
The luxury dinners.
The sudden expensive purchases.
The constant emergencies.
The pressure to transfer money.
The secret company.
The apartment.
He hadn't been trying to keep our lifestyle.
He had been trying to keep a collapsing financial structure from falling apart.
And I had been the structure.
The clean name.
The untouched credit.
The stable income.
The wife who trusted him.
I looked at him.
“Why me?””
His voice broke.
“Because everyone trusted you.””
That was the cruelest answer of all.
Not because I was weak.
Because I was credible.
The officer stood.
“We'll need access to the business account records.””
Javier nodded faintly.
“I'll cooperate.””
Mercedes suddenly said,
“No.””
He turned toward her.
“What?””
“You promised.””
“Promised what?””
She stepped closer.
“You said none of this would come out.””
I stared at her.
“None of what?””
Mercedes looked at me.
Her eyes filled with panic.
“The woman who knows.””
“Elena.””
She nodded.
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
Javier whispered, “Mom.””
“No,” Mercedes said.
“It's already ruined.””
She turned toward me.
“Elena worked for the company. She discovered the accounts weren't balanced.””
“Why?””
“Because Javier had been moving money.””
“Into what?””
She swallowed.
“Personal accounts.””
I looked at Javier.
“Whose?””
He didn't answer.
“Whose?””
Mercedes said it.
“Mine.””
The room went silent.
I looked at her in disbelief.
“You moved money into Mercedes's accounts?””
“I was trying to protect it.””
“Protect what?””
“Our family.””
“You kept stolen money in your mother's account?””
“It wasn't stolen.””
The officer interrupted.
“That's for investigators to determine.””
Mercedes looked at me.
“You think your husband did all of this alone?””
I stared at her.
“What are you saying?””
She looked toward Javier.
His eyes begged her to stop.
She didn't.
“He didn't.””
Javier's face went white.
“Mom, shut up.””
“You lied to her.””
“Stop.””
“You promised me you would make sure she signed.””
I stepped back.
“Signed what?””
Mercedes looked at me.
“The final transfer.””
“What final transfer?””
“The apartment wasn't the only asset.””
My heart pounded.
“What else?””
Mercedes opened her mouth.
And before she could answer, someone at the restaurant entrance shouted.
“Police! Don't move!””
Everyone turned.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Dark coat.
Wet hair.
Breathing hard.
She looked straight past the officers.
Straight past Mercedes.
Straight at Javier.
Then her eyes landed on me.
“Clara Morales?””
I nodded slowly.
The woman took one step inside.
“My name is Elena.””
Javier whispered,
“No.””
Elena reached into her coat.
May you like
“I have proof of what he did.””
And she placed a thick envelope on the table.
