Hale explained that two days before the accident, Santiago had checked into a motel using a false name.
The police had discovered it because a clerk remembered him.
“He paid cash,” Hale said. “He stayed alone.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
“Did you find out who he met?”
Hale slid another photograph toward me.
A woman.
I stared at her.
I knew her.
It was Santiago’s older sister, Teresa.
My mother-in-law.
I felt my stomach turn.
“Why was she meeting him?”
“That was the question I couldn’t answer.”
Hale opened another document.
“She visited him three times during those two days.”
“Three?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after that?”
“On the night before the accident, Santiago left the motel.”
“Where did he go?”
“We don’t know.”
“And the next morning?”
“The accident happened.”
I closed my eyes.
Then I whispered:
“My mother-in-law told me Sebastian was with her that night.”
Hale looked at me.
“Was he?”
“I don’t know.”
Hale leaned back.
“Then you need to find out.”
PART 8 — THE QUESTION I COULDN’T ASK
When I returned home, Sebastian was waiting.
He was sitting in the living room.
His expression was unreadable.
“Where were you?”
“At school.”
“You weren’t.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“I called the school.”
I stared at him.
He stood.
“Mariana, what did you find?”
I said nothing.
He walked closer.
“You’ve been investigating Santiago.”
I stepped backward.
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re looking at me differently.”
He stopped several feet away.
Then he said:
“I knew this day would come.”
I swallowed.
“What day?”
“The day you discovered that the story they told you wasn’t true.”
My voice shook.
“Who is buried under Santiago’s name?”
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them, tears were running down his cheeks.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
“I swear.”
“Then tell me the truth!”
He looked toward the window.
“Santiago wasn’t supposed to die.”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
“He was supposed to disappear.”
My knees nearly gave out.
“Why?”
“Because he was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of our family.”
PART 9 — THE SECRET
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