“She protected me until I was fourteen.”
“What year is it?” Evelyn asked.
The question shattered me.
I told her.
She stared at the windows as though the lake had suddenly risen around us.
“No,” she whispered. “No, that can’t be.”
Lenora placed a hand on her shoulder.
“She has periods of clarity, but too much distress harms her.”
I stood.
“What did you do to her?”
“I provided medical care.”
“You took her from a clinic using false documents.”
“I removed my confused daughter from an institution that could not protect her.”
“You kept her hidden.”
“To keep her alive.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“From whom?”
Lenora’s gaze hardened.
“From Carl.”
Thomas laughed in disbelief.
“Carl spent his life trying to find her.”
“And what would he have done if he succeeded? Dragged her through court? Forced her to testify about events she barely remembered?”
“He would have reunited her with Claire.”
