“No, señorita,” Rosa said, her head shaking quickly.

“I found the key to my private filing cabinet in your quarters this morning, Rosa,” Patricia said.

My breath caught in my throat.

“That is a lie,” I said to the monitor. “Rosa would never go into her room.”

“She is setting her up,” my father said.

He stood up from his chair.

“Ramiro, open the passage,” my father ordered.

Ramiro immediately moved to the wall panel.

He pressed the release button.

The heavy concrete block slid back with a low groan.

“We must go quickly,” Ramiro said. “If she calls the police now, they will arrive before we can explain the documents.”

“She won’t call them yet,” my father said. “She wants to humiliate Rosa first. She wants to clear her out of the house so there are no witnesses left.”

We hurried out of the monitoring room.

The air in the narrow stone passage was cold and smelled of old mortar.

My boots made a soft clicking sound on the stairs.

My father was ahead of me, his breathing heavy but steady.