Chapter 15 - THE WOMEN BENEATH THE RANCH
The chamber contained four sets of remains.
All belonged to women.
One was identified as Catherine Webb.
Officer Holloway’s biological mother.
Another was Naomi Ellis.
The third was Rosa Delgado.
The fourth remained unknown.
Each woman had been photographed pregnant.
Each had later disappeared.
Lorraine claimed she knew nothing.
Daniel claimed his grandfather committed the murders.
But forensic testing showed one victim died less than six years earlier.
Daniel had already been living at the ranch then.
The case changed from trafficking to homicide.
Investigators searched every structure.
They found Lorraine’s fingerprints on containers inside the chamber.
They found Daniel’s boot prints in old dust near the entrance.
They found jewelry identified by victims’ families.
Marissa recognized a blue bracelet.
It belonged to a woman she met during her first pregnancy.
Her name was Tessa.
She had threatened to expose Lorraine.
Then she vanished.
The unidentified remains belonged to Tessa Monroe.
Prosecutors charged Daniel and Lorraine with murder.
Daniel requested a meeting.
I refused.
He sent another letter.
My mother killed them.
I only helped bury them.
The sentence was meant to save him.
Instead, it placed him at the scene.
The trial date moved closer.
Samuel grew stronger.
Sophie began sleeping through the night.
Mia stopped hiding food beneath her bed.
Abigail visited every Saturday with Amanda.
She called me Elena at first.
Then Miss Elena.
One afternoon, she accidentally called me Mom.
She froze.
I smiled.
“You can call me whatever feels safe.”
She nodded.
Then she asked whether she could hold Samuel.
Our family did not return all at once.
It rebuilt through small permissions.
A hand held.
A name tested.
A door left unlocked.
Marissa moved into transitional housing near Lily.
Officer Holloway took extended leave from the police department.
She began working with a nonprofit for trafficking survivors.
My attorney filed to dissolve the Mercer trust.
We argued that no child should inherit property tied to abuse, kidnapping, and murder.
The oil company fought us.
They wanted drilling rights before the land became evidence forever.
During a public hearing, an environmental scientist presented a new report.
The groundwater beneath the ranch was contaminated.
For decades, the Mercer family had buried chemicals alongside human remains.
The land that drove their obsession was poisoned.
The fortune Daniel tortured me to secure was nearly worthless.
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When he learned, he laughed inside the jail interview room.
Then he began screaming.
