Chapter 8: Rosa
Rosa picked up on the second ring.
Elena had been given a secure line through Garrett's system — a routed call that masked the origin.
She sat in the east wing sitting room with the door closed, the photograph face-down on the cushion beside her.
Rosa: Hello?
Elena: Rosa.
It's me.
A pause.
Then a sharp intake of breath.
Rosa: Elena.
Oh my God.
Elena, where are you?
Are you safe?
Elena: I'm safe.
I'm somewhere safe.
I can't tell you exactly where yet, but I'm with people who are helping me.
Rosa: I've been so worried.
Two years, Elena.
Two years without a word and I didn't know if you were—
Her voice broke.
Elena: I know.
I'm sorry.
I stayed away because I thought it was protecting you.
I thought if you didn't know where I was, he couldn't use you to find me.
Rosa: He already found you, didn't he.
It wasn't a question.
Elena: Yes.
I need you to listen to me carefully.
He sent someone to photograph you.
Outside your grocery store.
Recently — within the last week or two.
He sent the photograph to me this morning as a warning.
Silence.
Rosa: He's been watching me?
Elena: I don't know for how long.
I need you to go somewhere you trust today.
Not home.
A friend's house, or a public place where you're around people you know.
And I need you to call the police in your area and tell them you have reason to believe you're being surveilled by your former brother-in-law.
My attorney is going to contact them as well.
Rosa: Elena—
Elena: I know it sounds like a lot.
But we're filing today.
We have documentation.
We have a real attorney this time, not a legal aid appointment.
Things are different now.
Rosa: Different how?
Elena: I have people standing with me.
Another pause.
When Rosa spoke again, her voice was quieter.
Rosa: Do you remember what you told me the day you finally left him?
You called me from a gas station payphone.
You had nothing.
You said, "I just need one person to believe me."
Elena: I remember.
Rosa: I believed you then.
I still believe you.
Elena's throat tightened.
She pressed her free hand flat against her knee.
Elena: I know you do.
Rosa: What do you need me to do?
Elena: Exactly what I said.
Go somewhere safe.
Talk to the police.
And save every text, voicemail, or contact from anyone you don't recognize over the past month.
Screenshots, everything.
My attorney needs it.
Rosa: I have some already.
I thought they were spam, but I saved them because something felt wrong.
Three texts from an unknown number asking if I'd heard from my sister lately.
Elena: Send them to me.
I'll give you a secure email address.
Rosa: Okay.
Elena — are you really okay?
Elena: I'm getting there.
Rosa: The people helping you.
Are they good people?
Elena looked toward the window.
Outside, the estate grounds were bright in the morning light.
Garrett was walking the perimeter below, unhurried, steady.
Elena: Yes.
They are.
She ended the call and sat for a moment with the phone in her lap.
Then she picked up the photograph of Rosa and carried it back to the library, where Patricia was still working.
Patricia: How is she?
Elena: Scared.
But she has documentation we didn't know about.
Three texts from an unknown number, asking about me.
Patricia: That's pattern evidence.
Send it to me the moment you have it.
Elena set the photograph on the desk.
Elena: Patricia.
What happens if he actually gets this to court?
The Arizona motion.
Patricia: We respond, we appear, and we dismantle it.
He filed in Maricopa County, which is where you last had a registered address.
But you haven't lived there in over two years.
Jurisdiction is already questionable.
And the motion itself — I've read the filing — it's thin.
It's designed to force you to appear, not to win.
Elena: He knows I've never had the resources to fight back properly before.
Patricia: He knew.
Past tense.
A knock.
Marcus came in carrying two cups of coffee.
He set one in front of Elena without asking.
Marcus: Rosa?
Elena: She's safe.
She's going to a friend's house.
Marcus: Good.
He sat down across from Patricia.
Marcus: I spoke with Raymond Chu this morning.
Both women looked at him.
Marcus: I called him directly.
I told him I knew he'd been in contact with Daniel Vasquez and that I knew he'd made an introduction that led to my household being targeted.
I gave him the opportunity to explain himself.
Patricia: What did he say?
Marcus: He said he didn't know what I was talking about.
He said he and Daniel were old friends but he hadn't seen him in months.
Elena: He's lying.
Marcus: I know he's lying.
I told him I know he's lying.
And I told him that if he contacts Daniel Vasquez between now and the resolution of this matter, I will be withdrawing both renovation contracts and referring the matter to my legal team.
Patricia: That's significant leverage.
Marcus: The two contracts together are worth just under four million dollars.
Raymond went very quiet after I said that.
Elena: Did he admit anything?
Marcus: No.
But he said he would make a call and get back to me.
Which tells me everything.
Patricia: If he cuts contact with Daniel, it isolates him further.
Daniel loses his inside line to this household.
Marcus: That's the idea.
He looked at Elena.
Marcus: He's running out of people to use.
The investigator is compromised.
Raymond is scared.
Victoria—
He stopped.
Elena waited.
Marcus: Victoria asked to speak with you this morning.
I told her it was your decision.
Elena: What does she want?
Marcus: She didn't tell me.
But she came downstairs without her phone, which is unusual.
And she asked quietly.
She didn't demand.
Elena thought about it.
Elena: After Patricia and I finish this morning, I'll speak with her.
Marcus nodded.
He looked down at his coffee cup for a moment.
Marcus: I owe you an apology.
On behalf of this household.
What happened in that hallway yesterday — you were doing your job, you were protecting my son, and you were put in an impossible position by people who should have known better.
Elena: You don't have to—
Marcus: I do.
You've been in this house for eight months and no one asked you once whether you were safe.
Whether there was anything you needed.
We just assumed that because you were quiet about it, everything was fine.
Elena: I was quiet about it on purpose.
Marcus: I know.
But we should have asked.
The room was still for a moment.
Then Leo's voice came through the baby monitor on Patricia's side of the desk — a small, bright sound, waking up and announcing it to no one in particular.
Elena stood up automatically.
Patricia: Go.
I have enough to work with for the next two hours.
May you like
Elena went to get Leo.
And for the first time since she'd walked through the front door of the Vance estate eight months ago, she didn't feel like she was borrowing the space she stood in.
