Chapter 13 - Breaking the Accomplice
Maria did not possess the cold, sociopathic resilience of Valeria Montenegro. The moment the detectives placed the heavy metal handcuffs on her wrists and showed her the security footage, the older housekeeper completely broke down.
Alejandro insisted on observing the interrogation from behind the two-way glass, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Victor Vance.
"I didn't want to do it!" Maria wept, burying her face in her hands. "She forced me! She threatened my son!"
The lead detective leaned forward, his tone sharp. "Who threatened you, Maria? We need a name on the record."
"Valeria!" Maria gasped. "She called me yesterday. She knew my son had been arrested for a narcotics charge three years ago. She said her father’s lawyers could make his parole disappear, that they could send him back to prison for twenty years if I didn't plant the pills under Lucía's bed."
"Did she pay you?" the detective pressed.
"She wired fifty thousand dollars to an offshore account in my sister's name," Maria confessed. "She said it was an advance. And she said... she said if I didn't get rid of the nanny, she would have her Russian friends handle my son personally."
Victor Vance wrote furiously in his notebook. He tapped the glass, signaling Alejandro. "This is it," Victor whispered. "Extortion, evidence tampering, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit murder. Even a bought judge can't ignore a direct wire transfer connected to a confession."
Alejandro watched the broken housekeeper cry. He felt a brief pang of pity for her, manipulated by a monster, but it was quickly overshadowed by his fierce need to protect his child.
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"Get the warrant," Alejandro told the detectives as he walked out of the observation room. "And this time, bring a tactical team. The Montenegros are not going to surrender quietly."
Valeria’s elaborate web of lies was finally collapsing inward, dragging her down into the dark.
