y

. I've been dreading this call even more than I usually dread calling Joe. Just as I'm about to dial his number, I hear the

. But as I was driving up, I heard noises indicating human activity. I killed the engine in my ATV and crept up to the site as quietly as someone with a crippling limp can. The crash h

in and call. He picks

's po

der than me, but still manages to maintain

voice, another gift from the explosion th

n the other end s

ou expecting

other than th

going to need to write this down." I start with items on Ana's list

hing

xplain this yet. I decide to launch into the

ave you taken up cross dressing, or do y

glare through the phone

l me, is she into maimed guys? When you touch her

ike that. And even if it was, do I b

at I'm blackmailing him just as much as I am Mom, Dad, and the

that you said

e at a tree every time he starts to snicker. I make him repeat th

word to anyone about the woman, I'll call TMZ and tell them ev

o be having this conversation than he did w

three more g

l the disdain he and the rest of my family have for fi

bing the two hand guns I want for me

s. "Is t

t - one m

gr

t. Besides, I want news. Have you seen anything in the

Alas

on, Alask

N

n you lo

wn the phone. A few seconds

's everywhere this morning. It's tren

happ

. The crash site was finally discovered early yesterday morning after two weeks of searching. Al

Only California, Texas, and Alaska itself are larg

Anastasia Clarence, was in WITSEC after witnessing the murder of her parents and sixtee

es recovered at the scene. Why is in

mal report will not be available for several weeks, inclemen

know that the people hunting Ana did this and that they know she got away. Suddenly it hits me. Ana. Her family. She told me her family was dead, but I

re you st

h, w

listening to a

N

shed if you hadn't seen it? Is that girl

one. The best way to shut him up

sn't an accident, Joe. It

you kn

nd I saw the bullet h

et ho

were shot in the head. One of them had been shot in the chest sixte

I don't like guns? Why

." Saying they want some one would be more accurate, but again, Joe doesn't need to know that. "They will kill anyone

t another secret to keep. And you never told m

ets much worse if

t I asked. What else

f I'm finished with our conversati

as my mind reels with the ne

sia Cl

name is Anastasia. Don't they give people new identities when they're in witness protec

-one y

y-one. She's only five years younger than me. When I found her in the woods and tried to keep her alive in the cabin, she looked so young and almost childli

of her parents and s

ly - her mom, her dad, and her little sister - die. The people who did that to her family have been chasing

get into thi

hs. The last thing she needs is someone poking around and trying to dredge this stuff up. She seems to be barely holding herself together as it is. What she ne

hurt Ana while I'

~

ntinues to look more and more incredulous until she closes the book with a dull thunk and s

is it?

the book in front of her. "I didn'

e wh

pect the Phantom - Erik, I guess - I didn't expect the

. Evil, derang

e runs a hand through her hair. "He's still a murderer, and he makes bad choices, and he doesn't really c

like in tho

is past mistakes or try to make up for them. So many people prefer

ving. The book must be

kind of obnoxious. And the Phantom is dark and brooding and myste

er hands and her face displays a myriad of expressions.

antom is a

loves Christine, and though he comes off as a little crazy, it seems born out of a sense of de

finish

N

ld," I say, kno

k is making me roo

ession that suggests that th

ook if you haven't r

w raises.

Tom Clancy novel I've read before. I settle into my sid

and picks the b

ven though Ana has her dark moments like the night before, she can still exude life a

inly hope to s