Chapter 12 - Anna Steps Into the LightDaniel returned to the eastern fence at sunset.
“Anna!”
Nothing.
“I know you can hear me.”
Wind moved through the trees.
“Ethan is safe now. Claire’s gone.”
A branch snapped.
Daniel turned.
The red-haired woman stepped from the woods.
For twenty-three years Daniel had imagined his sister forever ten years old.
The woman before him was thirty-three.
Older around the eyes.
Tired.
But unmistakably Anna.
Daniel couldn’t speak.
Neither could she.
Finally he whispered:
“You’re alive.”
Anna gave a sad smile.
“That’s usually how people begin.”
Daniel crossed the distance between them.
He stopped a few feet away.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“I tried when you were sixteen.”
Daniel stared.
“Dad intercepted the letter.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he came to see me afterward.”
Daniel felt anger rising.
“Where were you?”
“Boarding schools. Foster placements. Eventually with Aunt Caroline in Oregon.”
“We didn’t have an Aunt Caroline.”
“She wasn’t family. Dad paid her.”
Daniel looked toward the barn.
“What happened there?”
Anna followed his gaze.
“Not tonight.”
“Ethan was put in that room.”
Her expression changed.
“I know.”
“You were watching.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you stop Claire?”
Pain crossed Anna’s face.
“I almost did.”
“Almost?”
“I needed proof.”
“He’s a child.”
“I know.”
Daniel’s voice rose.
“You watched my son suffer because you needed evidence?”
Anna stepped back.
“You think I don’t hate myself for that?”
Silence.
“I called child services anonymously twice,” she continued. “Claire convinced them Ethan was clumsy and emotional. Robert had already prepared explanations.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Robert knew you were watching?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then why are you afraid of him?”
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Anna looked directly at him.
“Because Robert is the reason I disappeared.”
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