CHAPTER 3

The policeman's face froze on hearing such news. He cursed to himself, but at the same time, his questions grew. The Cliff family was everywhere: in business, in banks, in politics, in the courts, and the police. He belonged to the Intelligence Department, and it wasn't his job to investigate cases close to them, but everyone at the station knew that the Internal Affairs Department pursued anyone linked to police corruption and the strongest version: that this corruption was sponsored by the Cliffs and their business. It was never his jurisdiction to catch white collars, but he knew who the leaders of those mafias were. His boss gave him Sofia's case, which mentioned Gael as the plaintiff. He was only taking her to the station; now he understood the reason for making her enter from behind and take her to the special interrogation room. He had thought it was for avoiding ordinary paperwork and not for anything worse.

Vos looked at her for several seconds and bit his lower lip, thinking about how to proceed. He had to do something soon, he sensed that they wanted to hurt her more than she could already imagine, even more than she already was.

"Have you taken money out of any of Cliff's accounts?" She didn't answer, frozen on the spot. "Yes or no?"

"Is that what it says in the complaint?"

"Did you? Did you steal money?"

"I didn't steal anything!" she emphasized through gritted teeth. "It's an account that Gael gave me for the baby's expenses, more than a year ago, but the money stopped coming in after the baby was born."

He looked at her with bewilderment, he didn't understand if the answer was affirmative or negative.

"The truth is that I didn't touch any money because there never was any." It seemed to him that she was embarrassed by that fact, or by what she would say next. "I got help from the city council, but the pandemic froze all the processes and I'm still waiting for the retroactive payment, which I don't think will come. I had no money, I couldn't afford the expenses and I couldn't stop working. I tried to contact Gael, but he never answered. I looked for him, but he never came out. Not at his apartment and no one from his family would answer either. So I went and took the old card, checked the ATM, and saw the money there. I took it and bought things for my son, his son, whom he has never wanted to meet. It's not theft, it's something he is entitled to give me." Sofia explained everything with her heart in a fist, almost breathless. "Is he seriously denouncing me for having taken a few bills? How miserable!"

Vos scrutinized her eyes, her determined and clear eyes, looking for certainty in them.

"Where is your son?"

"In the nursery, two blocks from the café."

"Good." He looked back, the rookie still waiting like a sentry. Then he tilted his gaze for just a second to quickly check where the nearest camera was. "You're going in with us, you'll be questioned. Do you have any documents to prove what you've told me?"

She made a gesture of denial mixed with anguish.

"It's his son, what more proof do I have to give?"

"Does he bear the name Cliff?"

She clenched her jaw.

"Yes. It's the only thing he gave him, besides his life."

Vos nodded and prevented her from seeing that he was swallowing thickly, glancing back and over to a corner of the ceiling. He sensed it was all a paternity whim and sensed the worst.

"I'll send a trusted officer to keep an eye on the Maternity Ward while you leave," he explained as he grabbed her arm again, and they resumed their walk.

"Why would you send someone to keep watch?" Her chest tightened and she tried to stop herself in her tracks. "Can something happen to my son? Officer!"

They were already close to the small glass door and the rookie, so Vos could no longer violate protocol.

"Be quiet," he whispered in her ear, but his words were measured in case he or anyone else heard them. "You know you can ask for a lawyer," he emphasized the last word, and Sofia could confirm that indeed, Officer Vos wanted to help her.

They crossed the threshold, then turned right, walking down a long hallway with white and gray walls and floors, devoid of chairs or pictures, although with some doors on both sides.

The air conditioning made her shiver, he noticed, as the other officer led the way ahead of them.

"No showing nerves," he whispered to her, before crossing to the left and entering another corridor and positioning in front of a wooden door at the right end of the landing.

She wanted to tell him that his shivering was from cold, but she couldn't do it. Yes, she felt nervous; it was one of the strongest feelings, but the anguish of not being able to see her little boy again, especially after what the handsome policeman had hinted to her, overrode everything else. She wasn't a thief, she was innocent of everything, she didn't steal from anyone, and she would defend herself, but her baby worried her too much; she could hardly think of anything else.

"You can tell Intelligence that Sofia Sullivan is already in the interrogation room," Vos told the rookie. "I'll stay here until they arrive."

Grant frowned when he saw that his immediate superior, L. Vos, didn't close the door and remain outside, as was the norm, but seemed to indicate that he would enter the room and remain there with the detainee.

But he was the new guy; he would not argue, nor would he give his opinion, so he nodded, turned his body to the left, and walked through a glass door that directed him to the rest of the building.

Vos entered the room and closed the door behind him. He could not speak freely with her, everything could be recorded.

"You also have the right to a phone call, but I'm not the one who should allow it, so don't forget to ask for it when another officer comes to interrogate you," he said, pointing to one of the two gray chairs in the room.

Sofia obeyed, sitting down and crossing her arms, almost hugging herself. 

"What will happen to my baby?"

He didn't answer, preferring not to.

"Do you want anything? The station can provide you with refreshments. Do you smoke?"

"I don't smoke, and I'm not hungry; I just want to know what's going on, what will happen to me; I want answers!"

The officer came out, locking her in there. He took a deep breath and got on his way.

Not caring much about the cameras in that area, since he was outside that room, where doing that could mean another protocol violation, he took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

After a couple of rings, someone answered on the other end of the line.

"Raymond, I need a favor."

Inside, Sofia closed her eyes and held her head in her hands, tossing her long red hair back. She felt partly regretful for having used that money, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't a crime since she possessed a card that Gael himself had given her. She wondered whether or not it was a good thing that Liam had the last name Cliff, something that had never served her well, because neither her father nor her family took responsibility, except for that one act full of lies and lack of zeros in giving her a debit card from an unusable account.

She didn't carry her cell phone; she had left it at the café. Nor did she wear a wristwatch because had sold for to eat. She didn't know the exact time, she could only guess. «Liam, Liam, Liam!», she thought over and over again.

«Miserable Gael,» she thought too, for showing up after a year in the vilest and low-down way.