Chapter 16 - Anna's Bargain
Anna did not run from the truth.
She explained it.
Twenty-four hours before Richard died, Anna had secretly met Charles Vale.
She wanted information about her daughter.
Charles promised to tell her where Claire was if Anna told him what Richard was planning.
Claire stared at her biological mother.
“You told him.”
Anna cried.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know he would kill Richard.”
Claire stood.
“You told a man you knew was dangerous.”
“I was desperate.”
“You traded Richard’s life for information about me.”
“I didn’t know that would happen.”
Claire stepped away.
For the first time since meeting Anna, she could not look at her.
Anna had suffered terribly.
But suffering did not erase consequences.
Hale asked what Charles gave her.
“Nothing.”
Anna laughed bitterly.
“He lied.”
“Richard died.”
“And Charles disappeared from Boston for six months.”
Claire understood why Richard’s death had silenced the investigation.
The evidence went into hiding with Rebecca.
Anna spent decades carrying guilt.
Eleanor later discovered Anna’s role and used it to control her political career.
That explained why Anna had rarely challenged Eleanor publicly.
Claire felt betrayed.
Yet another person had hidden the truth to protect herself.
That evening, Claire returned to Rebecca’s storage unit alone.
She opened boxes she had been unable to touch after the funeral.
Letters.
Photographs.
Birthday cards.
A journal.
Rebecca had written about Anna.
Claire read until midnight.
Rebecca knew Anna had betrayed Richard.
She had still refused to hate her.
One passage stood out.
ANNA MADE ONE TERRIBLE CHOICE WHILE TRYING TO FIND HER CHILD.
ELEANOR MADE THE SAME CHOICE EVERY DAY FOR THIRTY YEARS.
Claire closed the journal.
Rebecca had understood the difference.
Claire was not ready to forgive Anna.
But she understood.
Then a loose photograph fell from the journal.
It showed Rebecca and Richard standing outside a small cabin.
A number was written on the back.
LOT 17.
Claire searched the storage boxes.
She found a property deed.
Richard had purchased a cabin in Maine under a trust name.
The property still existed.
The deed had never been transferred.
Ethan drove with her the next morning.
The cabin appeared abandoned.
Inside, they found one room untouched.
A desk.
A tape recorder.
And twelve boxes of evidence.
Eleven were labeled with children’s names.
The twelfth carried only two words.
ELEANOR VALE.
Claire opened it.
Inside was evidence that Eleanor herself had not been born Eleanor Vale.
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Her birth certificate had been altered.
The woman who had stolen children had once been a stolen child herself.
