Chapter 11 - Anna Calls
The phone rang at 9:12 p.m.
Unknown number.
Julian answered.
“Hello?”
A woman said, “You found the certificate.”
His chest tightened.
“Anna?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
Charles stood.
Mara covered her mouth.
Julian put the call on speaker.
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“Is Elena alive?”
Long pause.
“No.”
Mara sat down hard.
“When?”
“2018.”
Mara began crying.
Anna’s voice softened.
“She kept every letter Lucia sent.”
“My mother thought she was dead.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t Elena contact her?”
“Fear became habit.”
Anna continued.
“She planned to call Lucia for years. Then Lucia died.”
Mara whispered, “She knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Obituary.”
Mara turned away.
Julian asked, “Why contact us now?”
“What instructions?”
“Wait until Arthur Mercer is dead.”
“He died twelve years ago.”
Julian’s mother.
“Why?”
Charles closed his eyes.
Anna continued.
“Then wait until Charles tells the truth.”
Julian laughed without humor.
“That was my conclusion.”
Charles flinched.
Julian asked, “Why the portrait?”
“And the crack?”
“My mother said Charles would recognize it.”
“He did.”
“Good.”
Mara leaned toward the phone.
“Anna, this is Mara. Lucia’s daughter.”
Silence.
Then Anna whispered, “Mara?”
“Yes.”
Mara started crying harder.
Julian looked away.
Some grief deserved privacy.
Then Anna said something unexpected.
“I’m coming to Boston.”
Charles looked terrified.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Because the wall was not where the worst thing was hidden.”
Julian’s stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Anna replied:
“Ask Charles what happened to Lucia after Elena left.”
