I thought of his eyes.
Gray with a faint ring of green.
My eyes.
I grabbed the first bundle of letters.
They were written by my mother to Carl.
Some were affectionate. Some furious. Some desperate.
The earliest letters spoke of plans to leave the city together. Later ones mentioned threats, hidden money, and a man named Victor Hale—my legal father, whom I had been told d/i/ed in an accident before I was born.
According to the letters, Victor had not been my father at all.
He had been Aunt Nora’s husband.
And he had known about Carl.
One letter was dated three days before my mother disappeared.
Carl, Victor found the photographs. He knows Anna is yours. He says he will ruin all of us if I try to leave. Nora begged me to wait, but I don’t trust her anymore. She says she is protecting Anna. I think she is protecting herself.
