Chapter 5 - The Girl Named Anna)
DNA testing could not happen quickly enough for Claire.
Every minute felt stolen.
Emma remained Emma.
That did not change.
Claire told herself that again and again.
The girl sleeping upstairs was the child she had raised.
The child whose first word had been light.
The child who hated peas and loved strawberry pancakes.
The child who crawled into Claire’s bed during thunderstorms.
Biology could not erase nine years.
But biology could reveal what Richard had done.
Detective Bennett tracked Margaret Hale through financial records.
Three days before Christmas, Margaret withdrew fifteen thousand dollars in cash.
Two days before Christmas, Richard sold a collection of antique watches.
Together, the transactions suggested preparation.
Escape.
Then another record appeared.
Margaret had a daughter.
Anna Hale.
Nine years old.
Same birthday as Emma.
Claire stared at the photograph Bennett showed them.
Anna had dark blond hair.
Gray-blue eyes.
A small crooked smile.
Daniel looked at her for a long time.
Claire noticed his hands beginning to tremble.
“What?”
Daniel did not answer.
“What?”
“She looks like you.”
Claire’s throat closed.
Anna’s school photograph could have been a childhood picture of Claire.
Not identical.
But close enough.
Daniel sat down.
Bennett said quietly, “We’re trying to locate both Margaret and Anna.”
Claire pressed her fingers to her lips.
“Does Anna know?”
“We don’t know.”
Daniel looked toward the staircase.
“Emma can’t hear any of this.”
“She won’t,” Claire said immediately.
But Emma had already heard enough.
That evening, she found Claire crying in the laundry room.
“Is Grandpa coming back?”
Claire wiped her face.
“No.”
“Promise?”
Claire hesitated only for a fraction of a second.
Emma noticed.
“Mom?”
Claire knelt.
“We have police watching the house.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Claire almost laughed despite everything.
Emma had inherited that stubbornness from somewhere.
“I don’t know where Grandpa is.”
Emma looked down.
“Did he give me the cream because he doesn’t like me?”
Claire pulled her into a hug.
“No.”
It was the safest answer she could give.
The doorbell rang.
Police checked first.
A courier stood outside holding an envelope addressed to Daniel.
No return address.
Inside was a motel key card.
And a handwritten note.
ROOM 214.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE OTHER GIRL.
Daniel read it twice.
Claire grabbed his wrist.
“You are not going alone.”
“He might have Anna.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not going alone.”
Bennett arrived within minutes.
The key card belonged to a motel near the interstate.
Police surrounded the property quietly.
Room 214 was empty.
Inside, they found a child’s backpack.
A pink jacket.
A toothbrush.
And a small notebook.
The first page contained a name.
ANNA HALE.
On the second page was a drawing.
Two little girls stood beside a Christmas tree.
One was labeled ANNA.
The other was labeled EMMA.
Above them stood an older man with gray hair.
His face had been crossed out again and again in black pencil.
May you like
Beneath the drawing, Anna had written:
GRANDPA RICHARD SAYS ONE OF US IS WRONG.
