Chapter 11 - THE OLD ALLY
After breakfast,
Andrés left the house under the pretense of running military errands at the base.
Instead,
he drove down to the old city center,
parking near the massive stone building of the Prosecutor’s Office.
The streets were bustling with people,
completely unaware of the private war he was waging.
He entered a small,
discreet coffee shop located just around the corner from his old office.
Sitting at a corner table was a man in a sharp grey suit,
reviewing a stack of legal briefs.
This was Mateo,
his closest friend and former partner from his fraud investigation days.
Andrés,
you look like you just crawled out of a trench,
Mateo said,
standing up to shake his hand firmly.
The Sierra must have been brutal this time around,
my friend.
It wasn't the Sierra that exhausted me,
Mateo,
Andrés replied,
sitting down and placing his phone on the table.
The real battlefield is inside my own home,
and I need your help.
He opened the encrypted file on his phone,
sliding it across the smooth wooden surface toward his friend.
Mateo took a sip of his black coffee,
his eyes scanning the digital documents.
As he scrolled through the bank statements and the forged notary stamps,
his expression grew incredibly serious.
This is a systematic asset strip,
Andrés,
Mateo muttered,
his legal mind analyzing the data instantly.
They are trying to liquidate your mother’s entire estate before you can even notice.
Look at this notary stamp,
it belongs to Estrada,
a man we investigated three years ago for corporate fraud.
He is dirty,
and he will sign anything for the right price.
Andrés leaned in,
his voice dropping to a low,
intense whisper.
Can you track the offshore account listed in the transfer request,
he asked.
I need to know who else is holding the string behind my wife,
because she didn't do this alone.
Mateo nodded,
slipping the flash drive Andrés handed him into his pocket.
Give me twenty-four hours,
and I will have the entire network mapped out for you,
he promised.
Just promise me you won't do anything reckless,
Andrés,
remember how these predators react when cornered.
Andrés stood up,
buttoning his jacket with a cold,
calculated calmness.
I am a soldier,
Mateo,
May you like
we don't get reckless,
we get precise.
