The name on the page shook Daniel. Teresa named a mastermind. It was not only the private clinic. She alleged that the director of the municipal hospital, Dr. Carlos Montiel, a respected figure and Daniel’s mentor, had used his position to divert patients to the clinic for experimental treatments without proper approval. The materials included records, transfers, altered medical histories, and photographs of late-night meetings and document destruction. Suddenly, pieces settled into place. The attempt to frame Daniel, the pressure to withdraw testimony, the danger to his family, all pointed to a coordinated effort to protect a larger operation.
At that moment, Montiel called Daniel. His voice was casual, concerned for Benjamin, and full of subtext. He proposed dinner, just the two of them, as they used to do. The team saw an opening. A conventional sting would be risky, so they kept the approach quiet. That evening at El Dorado, Patricia worked the floor in a borrowed server’s uniform. Her phone, set to record, rested in her apron. Officer Mendoza and colleagues waited nearby, listening.
Elena rushed in with new fear. Benjamin was having seizures. At the hospital, the emergency team moved fast. Daniel’s training took over. He noted a small mark, a tiny puncture on his son’s arm, and an empty micro-vial near the window. The symptoms rang an old bell. Years earlier, Daniel’s father, Dr. Jorge Acosta, had died suddenly while researching the side effects of experimental drugs. Officially, it had been called a natural death. The symptoms now mirrored what Daniel remembered. He asked to see visitor logs. Someone had entered as “maintenance,” though no work order existed.
Security footage named the intruder. It was Roberto, Jorge Acosta’s former assistant, missing since the elder doctor’s death. He was detained trying to leave the city. With him, the police found records dating back fifteen years. Roberto admitted that the same substance had been used to silence critics. He also confessed that a slow-acting dose had been introduced into the family’s home water, which is why Teresa had grown suspicious and insisted on watching over Benjamin.
Daniel, who had never accepted the official account of his father’s passing, had spent years studying that compound and had developed a countermeasure. He administered the antidote, and Benjamin’s seizures subsided. His breathing steadied. That small rise and fall of a child’s chest felt like sunrise.
