Chapter 14 - ORTIZ’S SECRET
Ortiz denied knowing she was pregnant.
Medical tests confirmed an embryo had been implanted during a minor surgery six weeks earlier.
The surgeon worked for Carter Legacy Health.
The biological material came from Grace and Sheriff Cole.
Margaret had created another Carter descendant through assault.
Ortiz’s involvement was strategic.
A child carried by a law-enforcement officer could complicate custody, evidence, and prosecution.
Margaret planned even for arrest.
Ortiz stepped away from the case voluntarily.
She chose to continue the pregnancy after independent counseling and medical review.
Her choice mattered more than the embryo’s origin.
Rebecca Sloan took over the remaining investigation.
Margaret’s prison correspondence referred to a man called THE KEEPER.
The Keeper had moved the missing embryo, paid the surgeon, and protected research archives.
Thomas believed it was Walter Carter.
Ryan’s grandfather.
He was supposed to have died years earlier.
No body existed.
The pattern repeated.
Dead relatives.
False documents.
Hidden children.
Walter had started the breeding study with Margaret.
She became its public leader.
He controlled the archive.
A letter from him reached me.
It contained a photograph of the backyard pit taken before Ryan buried me.
Someone had prepared the breathing channel in advance.
The straw was not my idea alone.
It had been left where I could find it.
Walter wanted me to survive.
Why?
The letter answered:
MARGARET WANTED YOUR CHILD. I NEEDED YOUR TESTIMONY.
He had manipulated the rescue to destroy his partner.
I had been trapped between two architects.
Then Grace disappeared from protective housing.
May you like
Her room showed no struggle.
On the bed lay a single shovel covered in wet Texas soil.
