Chapter 4 - THE MISSING HOUR
Mateo Cruz arrived with two federal agents and an independent medical team.
The hospital director tried to block them.
Mateo displayed a court order and walked past him.
Within minutes, Valeria was transferred to a secured delivery suite.
Dr. Mena was removed from her case.
A new obstetrician, Dr. Elena Navarro, examined Valeria and confirmed that she was in labor.
She also ordered blood tests.
The results revealed traces of a sedative that had never been listed in Valeria’s medical chart.
Sebastián felt sick.
“When was she given this?”
Dr. Navarro studied the laboratory report.
“Within the last four hours.”
Valeria looked toward the door.
“The nurse who came in with Rebeca injected something into my IV.”
Mateo wrote down every detail.
“Can you identify her?”
“She wasn’t wearing a name tag.”
Sebastián turned toward Mena.
The doctor was being questioned across the corridor.
Mena refused to answer.
Mateo took the flash drive from Sebastián and connected it to a secured laptop.
The video showed the service corridor at Casa Alcázar.
The date was eight weeks earlier.
Valeria appeared at the end of the hallway carrying a blue accounting ledger.
She was visibly frightened.
Rebeca followed her.
Octavio arrived seconds later with two security guards.
There was no sound.
But the images were clear.
Valeria tried to walk away.
The guards blocked her.
Rebeca pointed toward a nearby room.
When Valeria resisted, the men seized her arms.
She struggled.
Octavio took the ledger.
Then one of the guards dragged Valeria through the doorway.
Mariana appeared moments later.
She looked toward the security camera before following them inside.
The recording ended.
Sebastián stared at the frozen image.
“Where did they take her?”
“The old wine storage room,” Mariana said.
“What happened inside?”
Mariana closed her eyes.
“They demanded that she tell them who else had seen the ledger.”
Valeria’s voice was barely audible.
“They kept me there for almost an hour.”
Sebastián turned toward her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
She met his eyes.
“You came home that night.”
“I remember.”
“You saw me sitting on the bathroom floor.”
Sebastián remembered the scene.
Valeria had been shaking.
Her dress had been torn near the sleeve.
Rebeca told him she had experienced another emotional episode.
He had believed his mother.
Valeria looked away.
“You told me to stop creating drama.”
The words struck harder than any accusation.
Mateo closed the laptop.
“The security system shows forty-seven missing minutes after this recording.”
Mariana removed a tiny memory card from beneath her watchband.
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“Then you should see what happened during the missing hour.”
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