Chapter 5 - THE CORNERED RAT
The media fallout was instantaneous, brutal, and global.
Within two hours, the bodycam clip was trending as the number-one video across social media platforms, tagged under *#TheCowardOfPolanco* and *#SaveMyWifeFirst*. By nightfall, the city council announced an immediate freeze on all pending contract renewals with *Horizonte Respuesta Estratégica*, launching an emergency oversight inquiry into the sudden patent transfers.
Yet Alejandro Mendoza was not a man to surrender without scorching the earth behind him.
At 8:00 PM that evening, Valeria was sitting in Gabriel’s secure office in Lomas de Chapultepec, watching Mateo sleep peacefully on the sofa under a plush wool blanket. Gabriel was reviewing bank statements when his desk phone chimed with an urgent notification.
“He’s retaliating,” Gabriel said, turning his monitor toward her. “Alejandro just filed an emergency petition in family court for sole legal and physical custody of Mateo.”
Valeria felt a cold shock travel down her spine. “On what grounds? He left Mateo in the rubble!”
“He’s claiming you are suffering from acute post-traumatic psychosis,” Gabriel said, reading from the electronic filing. “He attached a fabricated report from a corrupt private physician claiming you exhibited suicidal ideation prior to the earthquake and that you deliberately endangered Mateo by taking him into an uninspected commercial property. Furthermore, he’s frozen your personal credit lines, drained the joint savings into an offshore escrow account, and canceled Mateo’s private health insurance policy.”
Valeria’s hands began to shake with rage. “He canceled our son’s medical coverage while Mateo is recovering from smoke inhalation? How can a human being be that vile?”
“Because he has nothing left to lose,” Gabriel said coldly. “Alejandro knows that once the criminal fraud charges stick, he faces fifteen to twenty years in federal prison. His only leverage against you is Mateo. He wants to force you into a settlement: drop the IP theft charges, sign over the full patents, and in exchange, he drops the custody battle and returns your son.”
“I will die before I let him take Mateo,” Valeria whispered, her voice shaking with visceral maternal fury.
“You won't have to die,” Gabriel said, picking up his fountain pen. “Because he made a critical miscalculation. When he emptied the joint accounts, he transferred 4.2 million dollars into an account under Renata Salgado’s name at a private bank in Panama. He thought the transaction was shielded by corporate privacy laws.”
“How did he bypass the dual-signature requirement for amounts over one million?”
Gabriel tapped the desk with his pen. “He forged your signature again. But this time, he didn't just use your digital token. He used a physical power-of-attorney document notarized by a crooked official in the State of Mexico. I’ve been tracking this specific notary for three years on behalf of two other corporate clients. The man is already under federal investigation for money laundering.”
Just then, Valeria’s phone rang. The screen displayed Renata Salgado’s private number.
Valeria looked at Gabriel, who nodded and hit the record button on his console. Valeria answered on speakerphone.
“Valeria?” Renata’s voice was uncharacteristically frantic, stripped of all her previous condescension. Background sirens and shouting echoed through the line.
“What do you want, Renata?” Valeria asked coldly.
“You have to call off the federal investigators!” Renata pleaded, her voice cracking into a high-pitched sob. “The police just raided my apartment! They have a search warrant for my laptops and my personal safe! Alejandro told me everything was protected! He told me the transfer was completely legal!”
“You were in the boardroom when he toasted to the new company,” Valeria replied mercilessly. “You wore my stolen life like a costume, Renata. You walked out of that rubble on my son’s life.”
“You don't understand!” Renata shrieked. “Alejandro set me up! I just looked at the corporate incorporation papers the police brought. My name is listed as the *Sole Operating Administrator* of *Horizonte*! He isn't listed on the operational filing at all! If the patents are fraudulent, I am the one going to prison for thirty years, not him! He used me as the fall guy!”
Valeria looked at Gabriel, whose eyebrows shot up in vindictive amusement.
“Renata,” Gabriel interrupted smoothly through the speakerphone. “This is Gabriel Vance. If you want to avoid spending the next two decades in Santa Martha Acatitla federal penitentiary, you have exactly sixty minutes to bring every encrypted hard drive, every audio recording, and every ledger in your possession to my office. If you cooperate, we will petition the federal prosecutor to grant you state’s witness status. If you don't, I personally ensure you take the full fall for Alejandro’s empire.”
There was a heavy, shuddering breath on the other end of the line.
“I’m coming,” Renata sobbed. “I have recordings of him planning everything from six months ago. Just please… don't let him kill me.”
The line disconnected.
Valeria looked at Gabriel, the reality of the situation sinking in. “Alejandro planned to discard her all along.”
May you like
“Of course he did,” Gabriel said, standing up. “Narcissists don't have partners, Valeria. They have accomplices and they have shields. And Alejandro’s shield just shattered.”
***
