Chapter 3 - SEVEN OTHER BRIDESBy eight that morning, my daughter’s wedding had officially become a crime scene.
Officer Hart took possession of the paper found inside Sofia’s dress, logging it as evidence.
Nathan received a photograph separately through proper channels after police contacted federal investigators.
I did not ask what the FBI intended to do.
He would not have told me.
But at 8:17, I received one text.
Do not warn anyone.
That told me enough.
Daniel brought Sofia back to our condo after she was discharged.
He had changed from pajama pants into jeans and a gray sweater, but I noticed something he probably hoped I wouldn’t.
His military academy ring was on his right hand.
He only wore it when he needed courage.
Sofia slept in her childhood bedroom while Daniel sat outside the door.
I spent the next hour studying the photograph I had taken before the document was collected.
Seven transferred properties.
All owned by women.
I recognized one name.
Melissa Grant.
A former client from my years in private practice after leaving federal service.
I had represented her briefly in an employment dispute.
I found her number and stopped.
Officer Hart’s warning echoed in my mind.
Do not interfere.
So instead of calling Melissa, I emailed Nathan.
I recognize one name on the list. Let me know if you need background.
He responded two minutes later.
Already working it.
At 10:03, the Robles family arrived at my building.
All three of them.
Carmen.
Victor.
Javier.
The concierge called upstairs.
“Mrs. Mercer, they say this is a family emergency.”
“It is.”
“Should I send them up?”
“No.”
Daniel was standing beside me before I finished speaking.
“Tell security they are not permitted past the lobby.”
The concierge hesitated.
“Mr. Robles says he’s Mrs. Robles’s husband.”
Daniel took the phone.
“My daughter is here voluntarily. Nobody from that family comes upstairs.”
His voice had returned to the tone that once moved battalions.
“Yes, sir,” the concierge said.
Three minutes later, Javier called.
Sofia was awake now.
She saw his name and began shaking.
I sat beside her.
“You do not have to answer.”
“I want to hear what he says.”
“Then put it on speaker.”
She answered.
“Hello?”
Javier sounded relieved.
“Thank God. Sofia, come downstairs.”
“No.”
“Baby, please. Mom wants to apologize.”
In the background, Carmen shouted something we couldn’t make out.
Sofia flinched.
Javier lowered his voice.
“She’s upset.”
“She beat me.”
“She panicked.”
“She locked me in a room.”
“Nobody locked you in a room.”
“You locked the front door.”
“That was because people were still coming and going after the reception.”
“At two in the morning?”
Silence.
Then Javier changed direction.
“Can we not do this over the phone?”
“No.”
“Sofia, we’re married.”
She looked at me.
Her expression broke.
“For less than a day.”
“That doesn’t mean we throw everything away.”
“You watched her hurt me.”
“My mother thought you were trying to steal from the family.”
“My condo belonged to me before I met you.”
“It would have benefited both of us.”
“Then why did you need me to sign papers in the middle of the night?”
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Javier’s next words were quieter.
“You have something that belongs to us.”
Sofia’s eyes moved toward mine.
“The paper.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t play games.”
It was the first time his mask slipped.
His voice became colder.
“My uncle keeps records. One of them is missing.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I don’t.”
“Sofia.”
He spoke her name like a warning.
Then Daniel stepped forward.
“Javier.”
Nothing.
“General Mercer,” Javier finally said.
“You will not speak to my daughter that way again.”
Javier laughed nervously.
“Sir, this is between my wife and me.”
“No. It stopped being a marital disagreement when your mother put her hands on her.”
“She’s exaggerating.”
Daniel’s face went still.
I saw the soldier appear.
“Choose your next sentence carefully.”
Javier apparently did.
Because he hung up.
Ten minutes later, someone downstairs called police because Carmen began screaming at the concierge.
She accused us of kidnapping Sofia.
The responding officers spoke privately with our daughter.
She told them she wanted her husband and his family removed.
They were escorted from the building.
But Carmen did something before leaving.
She looked directly into the lobby security camera and smiled.
Then she raised her phone.
A message reached Sofia seconds later.
You have no idea what your mother just started.
Sofia showed me.
For the first time since arriving, I smiled.
“Actually,” I said, “I think Carmen has that backward.”
That afternoon, Nathan called.
“I need to speak with Sofia.”
“About what?”
“The list.”
“What did you find?”
“I can’t discuss an active investigation.”
“Nathan.”
He sighed.
“Three of the women on that document were married to men connected to the Robles family.”
My skin prickled.
“Were?”
“Two divorced. One died.”
I sat straighter.
“How?”
“Officially? Accident.”
“What kind?”
“Car wreck.”
“And the properties?”
“All transferred into companies connected to RBG before the marriages ended.”
I closed my eyes.
Seven women.
Seven properties.
One dead.
“How long has this been going on?”
“We don’t know.”
“Does Javier know?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
There was something he was not telling me.
“What else?”
Nathan remained silent.
“Nathan.”
“The notary contacted police this morning.”
“Thomas Bell?”
“Yes.”
“Is he cooperating?”
“He says he was hired for what he believed was a routine postnuptial property transfer.”
“But?”
“He recorded part of what happened on his phone.”
I stood.
“Recorded?”
“He got nervous when Carmen locked the door.”
“What’s on it?”
Another pause.
Then Nathan said, “Enough.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Enough for what?”
“To prove Sofia didn’t misunderstand anything.”
I looked toward her bedroom.
Nathan continued.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Bell says Carmen made a phone call while Sofia was trapped.”
“To whom?”
“He couldn’t hear the person on the other end.”
“What did Carmen say?”
Nathan’s voice changed.
“She said, ‘This one is worth more than the others. Once the wife signs, move the property before morning.’”
I felt cold.
“This one?”
“Yes.”
I walked to the window and looked over Dallas.
“What exactly are you telling me?”
“That your daughter may have walked into a system that existed long before Javier met her.”
May you like
Then he added:
“And whoever Carmen was talking to may be higher up than her.”
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