CHAPTER 2 – The File Hidden Beneath the Custody Papers
Alejandro's expression changed the moment he reached the bottom of the stack.
His fingers stopped.
There was another folder.
Thin.
Gray.
Unmarked.
He opened it.
Inside were photographs.
My photographs.
Dozens of them.
I felt my stomach tighten.
Some had been taken outside my doctor's office.
Others showed me leaving the grocery store.
One captured me crying in my car after a prenatal appointment.
Another showed me sitting alone in the cemetery on the anniversary of my father's death.
Someone had been following me.
For months.
I looked at Margaret.
She refused to meet my eyes.
Alejandro continued turning pages.
Every photo had handwritten notes.
"Emotional instability."
"Frequent crying."
"Appears isolated."
"Possible depression."
Then came witness statements.
Except they weren't real.
Neighbors claiming I screamed at imaginary people.
Cashiers insisting I forgot where I lived.
A nurse supposedly reporting I had spoken about hurting my baby.
None of it had happened.
Every page was a lie.
"Who helped you?" Alejandro asked quietly.
Margaret said nothing.
His voice hardened.
"You didn't build this alone."
Still silence.
He picked up another envelope.
Inside was a letter from my obstetrician.
Except...
Half the page had been replaced.
Someone had altered the medical report.
The original recommendation for routine monitoring had become concerns about my emotional fitness.
The signature looked genuine.
The words did not.
Alejandro immediately recognized the forgery.
"I know this doctor's writing."
I stared at him.
"You've seen it before?"
He nodded.
"When you were hospitalized after the miscarriage two years ago."
My breath caught.
That loss had nearly destroyed us.
Margaret had blamed me.
Said I wasn't meant to be a mother.
Now I wondered if even then...
She had already started planning.
Alejandro pulled out his phone.
"I'm calling Military Criminal Investigations."
Margaret finally reacted.
"No!"
The panic in her voice confirmed everything.
"They'll destroy this family!"
"You already tried."
Before she could move, someone knocked at the front door.
Three sharp knocks.
Alejandro opened it.
Two Army investigators stood outside.
"We've been looking for Captain Castillo."
May you like
Alejandro frowned.
"I think you're here just in time."
