Page 274 of Taken Away

“No.”

“What did she say?”

Anne’s breath shook.

“She said…”

Her voice faltered.

“She said, ‘Oh, Annie.’”

Burke waited.

Anne’s face collapsed.

“She said it like she pitied me.”

Outside the door, Aubrey closed her eyes.

She knew that sound in her mother’s voice.

The voice Anne used when she wanted to make something terrible sound necessary.

Inside, Burke asked, “What happened then?”

Anne covered her face.

Outside the door, Aubrey stopped breathing.

Burke asked one final question.

“Anne…”

His voice was almost a whisper.

“What happened in that bedroom?”

Aubrey could not take another second.

She shoved the door open.

“Mother?”

The word cracked through the room.

Anne looked up.

Horror washed across her face.

“Aubrey…”

Aubrey stood in the doorway, tears streaming down her cheeks. Bennett was behind her, pale and silent.

Aubrey looked at the photographs on the table.

Then at Burke.

Then back to her mother.