Chapter 5 - Midnight in North Dallas
The rain had turned into a steady, freezing downpour by the time Alejandro’s black SUV pulled into the driveway of the North Dallas estate.
Inside, the house was warm and brightly lit. Valerie sat on the plush living room sofa, wearing a silk robe, sipping a glass of red wine while scrolling leisurely through her phone. When the front door unlocked and heavy footsteps echoed in the foyer, her face instantly transformed into a mask of tender, exhausted concern.
She set her wine glass down and hurried toward the hallway.
“Alejandro, darling!” Valerie cried out, rushing forward with her arms outstretched, her eyes glistening with manufactured tears. “Oh, thank God you’re home! How is Sophie? Is she okay? I’ve been beside myself with worry all night—”
She stopped dead in her tracks.
Alejandro didn't hug her. He didn't look at her with exhaustion or grief.
He stood in the center of the entryway, drenched in rain, his dark coat hanging open, staring at her with eyes so dead and cold they made Valerie step back involuntarily.
Behind him, the heavy front door swung open wider.
Detective Vance of the Dallas Police Department stepped inside, flanked by two uniformed officers, holding a signed search and arrest warrant. At the same moment, Eleanor walked in from the side door, carrying the metal lockbox and the leather diary.
Valerie’s face lost every drop of color. Her perfect, polished smile shattered instantly.
“A-Alejandro... what is this?” Valerie stammered, her voice pitching upward in sudden panic. “Who are these people? Why are police in our house?”
Alejandro walked toward her slowly. Every step he took felt like a thunderclap in the silent house.
“You asked about Sophie,” Alejandro said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. “She’s alive, Valerie. The doctors pumped the poison out of her system in time. She’s breathing on her own.”
Valerie’s breath caught. She stumbled backward against the console table, her hands trembling. “P-poison? What are you talking about? You’re insane! You’re grieving your sister and you’re imagining things—”
“Am I?”
Alejandro reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the iPad, tossing it onto the glass coffee table. The screen automatically woke up, looping the audio of Valerie’s voice threatening Sophie in the dark nursery.
“...As long as you’re sick, he stays stressed... If you tell your daddy about the milk, next time I won't just give you candies...”
The chilling recording echoed off the high ceiling of the foyer.
Valerie stared at the tablet as if it were a venomous snake. Her breath hitched. She tried to force a laugh, but it came out as a pathetic, strangled gasp.
“That’s... that’s AI,” Valerie shrieked, her voice turning shrill and frantic. “ qualcuno hacked my tablet! It’s a deepfake! Alejandro, you know me! I loved that little girl!”
“You loved my money,” Alejandro said, his voice dropping an octave as he stopped inches away from her. He pulled Valerie’s leather diary from his jacket pocket and dropped it onto the floor at her feet, right beside the smashed lockbox containing the sedative bottles and the Cayman Islands bank statements.
Detective Vance stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt.
“Valerie Rivers,” Detective Vance announced formally, his voice cutting through the air like a knife. “You are under arrest for attempted premeditated murder, child endangerment, financial fraud, and identity theft. You have the right to remain silent—”
“No! No, you can't do this!” Valerie screamed, lunging forward as the first officer grabbed her wrists and clicked the cold steel cuffs into place. She twisted violently, glaring at Alejandro with pure, unadulterated venom. “You stupid, arrogant bastard! You think you’re so smart with your trucking company? You deserved to be played! You and that pathetic dead sister of yours!”
Alejandro didn't flinch. He didn't raise his hand. He didn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him break.
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“Take her out of my sight,” Alejandro commanded softly.
As the officers dragged a screaming, thrashing Valerie out through the front doors into the pouring rain, the heavy oak door slammed shut behind them, sealing the house against the storm.
