Page 278 of Taken Away

“We argued.”

“I told her she had stolen everything.”

“She wouldn’t fight back.”

“She just kept looking at me.”

Anne swallowed.

“Then she smiled.”

Her voice broke.

“Like she’d already won.”

“Like she felt sorry for me.”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

"I wanted to wipe that smile off her face."

She closed her eyes.

"I lost control."

"She whispered..."

"You're too late..."

"She's already coming."

Anne's shoulders sagged.

"I killed my sister.”

Aubrey stood frozen.

Burke stepped forward gently.

As if this were something more than an arrest.

Anne did not resist when he helped her to her feet.

She did not ask where he was taking her.

She only looked at Aubrey.

“I’m sorry.”

Aubrey stared at her.

For a moment, the little girl in her seemed to search for something.

A mother.

An explanation.

One last piece of the life she thought she knew.