Chapter 32 - How to Kill a SaintTaking down Alejandro Vargas had been a matter of exposing a corrupt politician. But Hector Del Rio was entirely different.
To the public, Del Rio was a saint. He funded orphanages, built universities, and donated millions to disaster relief funds. He was practically royalty in Latin America, untouchable by the press and adored by the masses.
"How do you take down a man who buys his own halo?" Elias asked the next morning in the War Room.
"You don't attack the halo," Renata replied, her eyes scanning the sprawling dossiers on the digital table. "You look for the shadows it casts. A man who orchestrates political blackmail and cartel money laundering doesn't do it without leaving personal victims. He controls people. And people who seek ultimate control always have a weak link in their own home."
She swiped her hand across the screen, pulling up public family records.
"His wife died twenty years ago in a boating accident. Convenient, but too old to investigate. What about children?"
Elias typed furiously.
"One daughter. Camila Del Rio. Thirty-one years old. But she’s a ghost, Renata. She hasn't been photographed in public for over six years. The official PR statement from the Del Rio estate is that she stepped away from public life to manage her private art collection in Europe."
Renata narrowed her eyes.
"A thirty-one-year-old heiress to a multi-billion-dollar empire just vanishes to look at paintings? No. She saw something. She threatened his control, and he erased her."
"I'll start digging into private flight manifests and medical records," Elias said.
Before he could finish his sentence, the intercom on Renata’s desk buzzed violently.
"Ms. Garza," her receptionist's voice trembled. "You need to turn on the news. And... there are city inspectors in the lobby. They have police escorts."
May you like
Renata’s jaw tightened.
Hector Del Rio knew they were looking. And he was making the first move.
