CHAPTER 2 – THE WOMAN WEARING MY FACE
CHAPTER 2 – THE WOMAN WEARING MY FACE
By 9:21 that morning, I was inside Elena’s car with a police officer on speakerphone and my son’s terrified face frozen on the laptop between us.
Daniel was seven years old.
He was wearing dinosaur pajamas beneath his school jacket.
His left hand was trapped beneath Silvana’s grip.
His right hand was raised against his chest.
Three fingers.
Our signal.
He needed me.
“Send officers to Dr. Mariana Cordero’s clinic,” I said.
My voice sounded calmer than I felt.
“Immediately.”
The dispatcher asked me to repeat the address.
Mateo read it from the emergency release form.
The clinic was located outside Mexico City, nearly ninety minutes away without traffic.
Silvana had taken Daniel twenty minutes earlier.
If they had driven directly there, they already had a dangerous lead.
The officer asked whether Daniel’s father had legal custody.
“Yes,” I said.
“But he does not have permission to remove Daniel from school using forged documents.”
“Do you have proof the authorization was forged?”
“I am looking at a copy.”
“The signature is not mine.”
“The identification belongs to me.”
“The woman who used it is my husband’s mistress.”
A short silence followed.
“Ma’am, are you currently involved in a custody dispute?”
“No.”
“My husband created one without telling me.”
Elena reached over and pressed the phone closer to her mouth.
“This is attorney Elena Vargas.”
“We have filed an emergency notice of financial fraud and suspected identity theft.”
“We also have video evidence showing the child being removed by a woman impersonating his mother.”
The officer’s tone changed.
“What kind of video evidence?”
“A school security photograph.”
“We can send it immediately.”
“Do that.”
“And remain available.”
I looked out the window as Elena accelerated onto the highway.
Remain available.
The words felt absurd.
My child had been taken by a woman wearing my coat, carrying my identification, and pretending to be me.
My husband had drugged me.
Forged my signature.
Tried to move millions from my accounts.
And now the police wanted me to remain available.
Mateo followed us in another car.
He stayed connected through a secure call, speaking with the bank, the notary office, and a private investigator while Elena drove.
I called Rosa again.
No answer.
I called the house.
The line rang six times.
Then Eduardo answered.
“Laura?”
His voice carried perfect surprise.
It was the voice of a husband who had no idea his wife had discovered anything.
I looked at Elena.
She shook her head once.
Do not reveal where you are.
I forced myself to breathe normally.
“Hi.”
“Did you land already?”
“Not yet.”
I hated how easily the lie came.
“I’m waiting to board.”
“What happened to your flight?”
“Delayed.”
He paused.
In the background, I heard a cabinet close.
“Where are you?”
“At the airport.”
“Which terminal?”
My grip tightened.
“Why?”
“I wanted to check your departure online.”
“That’s sweet.”
Another pause.
He was not being sweet.
He was testing me.
“Daniel forgot his lunch,” I continued.
“Can you take it to school?”
The silence lasted less than two seconds.
It was enough.
“I already handled it.”
My pulse quickened.
“How?”
“I dropped something off.”
“You went to school?”
“Yes.”
He sounded irritated now.
“You know I take care of things when you’re gone.”
I stared at Daniel’s photograph on the laptop.
“Of course.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know.”
“You sound strange.”
“I’m sitting near a crying baby.”
“That’s probably it.”
Eduardo exhaled softly.
Then his voice became gentle again.
“You should relax.”
“You’ve been under too much pressure lately.”
There it was.
The first thread of the story he had prepared.
I was stressed.
Overworked.
Forgetful.
Possibly unstable.
“I’m fine,” I said.
“I know.”
“But after this trip, maybe we should talk to someone.”
“Talk to whom?”
“A doctor.”
My skin went cold.
“What kind of doctor?”
“Someone who can help with anxiety.”
“I don’t have anxiety.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You just said I should see a doctor for it.”
Eduardo lowered his voice.
“Laura, I’m trying to help you.”
“You haven’t been yourself since the surgery.”
“What does that mean?”
“You forget things.”
“You get confused.”
“You wake up in the middle of the night.”
I almost laughed.
He had built the lie carefully.
He was reciting it now, perhaps recording the call.
I chose every word with care.
“I woke up because Daniel came into my room.”
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
“When?”
“Two nights ago.”
“What did he want?”
“He had a bad dream.”
“What kind of dream?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Did he say anything else?”
Elena glanced at me.
I could see the warning in her face.
Eduardo knew.
He did not know how much Daniel had heard.
But he knew enough to be afraid.
“He said there was a monster downstairs,” I replied.
Eduardo gave a small laugh.
It sounded forced.
“Kids.”
“Yes.”
“Always imagining things.”
My jaw tightened.
“Always.”
Someone spoke near him.
A woman.
The voice was faint, but unmistakable.
Silvana.
Eduardo moved away from the phone.
“What was that?” I asked.
“The television.”
“It sounded like a woman.”
“A news anchor.”
I closed my eyes.
Eleven years of marriage.
A child.
A home.
Thousands of mornings and dinners and quiet conversations.
And he could lie without his breathing changing.
“Eduardo.”
“Yes?”
“Do you love me?”
Elena looked sharply at me.
I had not planned to ask.
The question escaped from somewhere beneath my anger.
Eduardo answered immediately.
“Of course I do.”
Not even a pause.
Not even shame.
“Why are you asking?”
“No reason.”
“Laura, you sound emotional.”
“I’m waiting for a flight.”
“I’m tired.”
“You see?”
His voice softened.
“This is what I mean.”
“You’re overwhelmed.”
“We’ll talk when you come home.”
“When do you think I’m coming home?”
“Friday.”
“And what will happen before then?”
This time, he hesitated.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
“I was thinking about work.”
“Try not to worry.”
“I’m taking care of everything here.”
I looked at the photograph again.
My son’s three raised fingers blurred through sudden tears.
“I know you are.”
Then I ended the call.
My hands shook so violently that the phone slipped against my palm.
Elena kept her eyes on the road.
“He was recording you.”
“I know.”
“He wanted you to sound unstable.”
“I know.”
“You did well.”
“No.”
I looked out at the traffic.
“I asked if he loved me.”
“That doesn’t make you weak.”
“It makes me foolish.”
“It makes you human.”
I pressed my forehead against the cool window.
“I don’t want to be human right now.”
“I want to be faster than him.”
Mateo’s voice came through the secure call.
“I may have found something.”
Elena switched the call to the car speakers.
“What?”
“The notary office confirmed a document was processed under Laura’s name.”
“What document?”
“They won’t release the full file without a court order.”
“Then what did you find?”
“The title.”
I braced myself.
“Petition for Emergency Protective Guardianship.”
Elena’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Guardianship over Laura?”
“No.”
Mateo paused.
“Over Daniel.”
My chest hollowed.
“Why would Eduardo need guardianship over his own son?”
“He wouldn’t.”
“Not under normal circumstances.”
“Then explain it.”
“The petition does not name Eduardo as the proposed guardian.”
The road noise seemed to disappear.
“Who does it name?”
Mateo answered quietly.
“Silvana Armenta Ortiz.”
For several seconds, I could not understand the words.
Silvana wanted legal guardianship of my child.
Not custody through Eduardo.
Not temporary authority.
Guardianship.
I turned toward Elena.
“That makes no sense.”
“It might,” she said.
“If they planned to claim both parents were unavailable.”
“Unavailable how?”
“Laura.”
“No.”
“Say it.”
She did not.
Mateo did.
“If the petition alleges you are mentally unfit and Eduardo is unable to provide care, Silvana could be presented as an emergency guardian.”
“Unable?”
“What does that mean?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“But there may be another document involving Eduardo.”
A cold pressure formed behind my ribs.
“What kind of document?”
“A medical declaration.”
“Or a disappearance report.”
“Or something that takes him legally out of the picture after he gains control of the assets.”
I stared ahead.
Eduardo had signed the guardianship document.
That meant he was helping Silvana gain authority over Daniel.
But why would he willingly remove himself?
Unless he did not understand the full plan.
Unless Silvana was using him too.
The possibility did not make him innocent.
It made the conspiracy more dangerous.
“Find out who paid Dr. Cordero,” I said.
“I’m working on it.”
“Find every connection between her and Silvana.”
“I already started.”
“And locate Rosa.”
Mateo was silent.
“What happened?”
“I sent someone to the house.”
“And?”
“The front door was open.”
My heart jumped.
“Was Rosa there?”
“No.”
“Was Eduardo?”
“No.”
“Silvana?”
“No.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
My breathing quickened.
“The house was empty?”
“Almost.”
“What does almost mean?”
“The investigator found blood near the kitchen sink.”
Elena looked at me.
The car drifted slightly before she corrected it.
“How much blood?” she asked.
“Not enough to determine what happened.”
“Could it be from the broken juice container?”
“There was no glass.”
“The container was plastic.”
“Then whose blood was it?”
“We don’t know.”
I dialed Rosa again.
The call went directly to voicemail.
“Rosa.”
I tried to keep my voice steady.
“This is Laura.”
“Call me as soon as you hear this.”
“Do not go back to the house.”
“Go somewhere public.”
“Please.”
I ended the message.
A text appeared almost immediately.
Not from Rosa.
From Eduardo.
I know you canceled the flight.
The words glowed on the screen.
I showed Elena.
Her face hardened.
Another message arrived.
Turn around.
A photograph followed.
It showed the underground hotel garage where I had changed cars that morning.
My abandoned vehicle sat in the corner.
Someone had taken the picture from behind a concrete pillar.
“They followed me,” I whispered.
“Or tracked the rental,” Elena said.
“That car was booked through your office.”
“No one should have known.”
“Someone did.”
My phone vibrated again.
You are making this worse.
Then another message.
Bring the original document.
Come alone.
I typed nothing.
Elena took the next exit.
“Where are we going?”
“Not directly to the clinic.”
“My son is there.”
“Maybe.”
“The release form lists the clinic.”
“That could be bait.”
I stared at her.
“We have to assume Eduardo knows we saw the address.”
“So we do nothing?”
“We verify.”
She called Mateo.
“Can you confirm whether Dr. Cordero is at the clinic?”
“I’m trying.”
“Check traffic cameras near the school.”
“We need the vehicle.”
“The school should have it.”
Mateo’s keyboard clicked rapidly.
“I’m accessing the image now.”
We waited.
Every second felt stolen from Daniel.
Finally, Mateo spoke.
“The vehicle that picked him up was a black Audi SUV.”
“License plate?”
“I have it.”
“Registered to whom?”
More typing.
Then silence.
“Mateo?”
“The vehicle is registered to Dr. Mariana Cordero.”
My stomach dropped.
“So Daniel is with her.”
“Possibly.”
“Track the car.”
“I can’t legally access live GPS.”
“Then use road cameras.”
“I’m checking.”
Elena merged onto a different highway.
The city spread around us in concrete, glass, and morning haze.
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Hello?”
A child was breathing on the other end.
“Daniel?”
No answer.
“Sweetheart, is that you?”
A whisper came through.
“Mommy?”
My entire body went cold.
“I’m here.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
His voice was so faint that I had to press the phone hard against my ear.
“Are you in a car?”
“No.”
“Are you at the doctor’s office?”
“I think so.”
“Is Silvana with you?”
“She left.”
“Who is there?”
“A lady in a white coat.”
“Dr. Cordero?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she tell you her name?”
“She said I’m confused.”
I closed my eyes.
“You are not confused.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
“She said you’re sick.”
“I’m not sick.”
“She said Daddy is scared of you.”
Elena reached over and turned on the call recording.
“Daniel, listen carefully.”
“Can you see a door?”
“Yes.”
“Is it locked?”
“Yes.”
“Can you see a window?”
“A little one.”
“Do you see anything outside?”
“Trees.”
“What kind of trees?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are there other buildings?”
“No.”
That did not sound like the city clinic.
“Can you hear cars?”
“No.”
“People?”
“No.”
“Animals?”
Daniel was quiet.
Then he whispered.
“Dogs.”
“How many?”
“Two.”
“Are they barking?”
“Yes.”
“Can you look for a sign?”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“You are being very brave.”
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Daddy came here.”
My breath stopped.
“When?”
“Before the lady gave me the phone.”
“Is he still there?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
Daniel’s breathing became uneven.
“He told me to say you yelled at me.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“You tell the truth.”
“Only the truth.”
“He said if I don’t, they’ll take you away.”
My eyes burned.
“No one is taking me away.”
“I promise.”
A sound came through the line.
A door opening.
Daniel gasped.
“Someone’s coming.”
“Hide the phone.”
“I can’t.”
“Daniel, put it under something.”
A woman’s voice sounded in the background.
“Who are you talking to?”
The phone moved.
Daniel whispered urgently.
“Mommy, she has your necklace.”
Then the line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
“My necklace?”
Elena looked at me.
“What necklace?”
“The gold pendant my mother gave me.”
“When did you last see it?”
“Before the surgery.”
“Where was it?”
“In my bedroom safe.”
“Did Eduardo know the code?”
“Yes.”
The meaning hit me slowly.
A personal item.
My identification.
My coat.
My signature.
My medication records.
They were not merely impersonating me on paper.
They were building a physical version of me.
A woman who could appear before witnesses.
A woman who could collect Daniel.
A woman who could sign forms.
A woman who could be seen entering places under my name.
“How similar does Silvana look to you?” Elena asked.
“Not very.”
“Same height?”
“Almost.”
“Same hair color?”
“Yes.”
“Build?”
“Close.”
“She may not need to fool people who know you.”
“Only strangers.”
My phone chimed.
Mateo had sent an enlarged photograph from the school camera.
Silvana’s dark sunglasses covered most of her face.
My coat hid her body.
My identification did the rest.
Then Mateo called.
“I found the Audi.”
“Where?”
“It left the school heading east.”
“Toward Dr. Cordero’s clinic?”
“For the first thirty kilometers.”
“And then?”
“It turned south.”
“Where does that lead?”
“A rural road near Tepoztlán.”
“Is there a clinic there?”
“No.”
“A private property is registered to Cordero Medical Holdings.”
Elena entered the location into the navigation system.
“How far?”
“Forty-two minutes.”
“Police?”
“They’re being redirected.”
“Send the address.”
The route appeared on the dashboard.
We were closer than I expected.
Eduardo had chosen the private property because it was isolated.
No neighboring offices.
No patients.
No witnesses.
I imagined Daniel locked in a room with strangers telling him his mother was dangerous.
I imagined Dr. Cordero asking leading questions.
I imagined Eduardo standing nearby, feeding her the answers he needed.
Then I remembered Daniel’s words.
She has your necklace.
They were not just trying to persuade him.
They were trying to confuse him.
To make him believe the woman with my belongings was somehow connected to me.
Or worse.
To make a recording in which Silvana appeared to be me.
My phone rang again.
Eduardo.
I answered.
“Where is Daniel?”
No greeting.
No performance.
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“Do not play games with me.”
“I’m not the one who removed him from school.”
“You had no right to revoke that power of attorney.”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“You had no right to obtain it while I was drugged.”
“I protected this family.”
“You tried to steal from it.”
“That money was supposed to be ours.”
“It was never yours.”
“It became mine when you married me.”
“No.”
“It became the thing you resented because you couldn’t control it.”
His breathing sharpened.
“You think you’re smarter than everyone.”
“I was smart enough to cancel the flight.”
That silence felt like a blade.
“So you admit it.”
“I admit I know what you did.”
“You know nothing.”
“I know about Silvana.”
“I know about Dr. Cordero.”
“I know about the prescription.”
“I know about the guardianship petition.”
He said nothing.
For the first time, I heard uncertainty.
Then his voice changed.
“Laura, listen to me.”
“No.”
“You need to listen.”
“Silvana is not who you think she is.”
“She is the woman helping you steal my child.”
“She is helping me save him.”
“From me?”
“From what happens when the truth comes out.”
My anger faltered.
“What truth?”
“Ask Elena why she never told you.”
I looked at Elena.
She kept her eyes on the road.
“What is he talking about?”
Her jaw tightened.
Eduardo continued.
“Ask your best friend what happened the night Daniel was born.”
A cold sensation moved down my spine.
Daniel’s birth had been difficult.
An emergency delivery.
Heavy bleeding.
Several missing hours.
Eduardo had always told me I nearly died.
“What happened that night?”
“Not over the phone.”
“Where is my son?”
“He is safe.”
“Give him back.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“No.”
His voice broke slightly.
Not with guilt.
With fear.
“If you reach that property before I fix this, we all lose him.”
“Fix what?”
“You were never supposed to find the notary document.”
“Who sent it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who forged my prescription?”
“Silvana handled the doctor.”
“Who drugged me?”
Silence.
“Eduardo.”
“I did what I had to do.”
My eyes filled with tears of rage.
“To steal my money?”
“To keep you from remembering.”
The world narrowed to his voice.
“Remembering what?”
He inhaled slowly.
Then he whispered the one sentence I could not understand.
“Daniel was not the only child born that night.”
The call ended.
I turned toward Elena.
Her face had gone pale.
“You knew?”
She did not answer.
“You knew there was another baby?”
“Laura.”
“What happened?”
“This is not the place.”
“My son has been kidnapped.”
“My husband says I had another child.”
“And you are telling me this is not the place?”
She gripped the steering wheel.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From the fact that Eduardo has lied to you since the day Daniel was born.”
“About another baby?”
“Yes.”
My lungs refused to fill.
“A twin?”
Elena’s eyes shone with tears.
“No.”
“Then what?”
Before she could answer, the navigation system announced our final turn.
The paved road disappeared behind us.
Trees closed around the car.
A high stone wall appeared ahead.
Two metal gates blocked the entrance.
A security camera turned slowly toward us.
Then the gates began to open.
No one had pressed the intercom.
No guard had asked our names.
Someone inside had been waiting for us.
Elena slowed the car.
A black Audi was parked near the main building.
Dr. Cordero’s vehicle.
Beside it stood Eduardo.
His hands were raised.
Blood covered the front of his shirt.
Silvana was on her knees several feet away.
A man in medical scrubs held a gun against the back of her head.
And at the second-floor window, Daniel pressed both hands against the glass.
He was not alone.
A little girl stood beside him.
She looked about seven years old.
She had Daniel’s hazel eyes.
May you like
Daniel’s light brown hair.
And my mother’s gold pendant hanging around her neck.
