Chapter 11 - Anna's Death Was Reopened
Richard contacted the district attorney.
Within days, the old Hale case reopened.
So did Anna Collins’s death.
Emma had not expected that.
She had spent fifteen years believing a stranger had hit her mother and driven away.
Investigators found something strange in the original file.
A witness had reported a black sedan following Anna before the crash.
The report disappeared from the final case summary.
The officer who took it had later joined a private security company.
One of its clients had been Nathan Cross.
Emma sat in Richard’s office when the detective explained it.
Her hands went numb.
“Nathan was nineteen.”
“Yes.”
“He couldn’t have arranged something like that.”
“Not alone.”
Richard stared out the window.
“Martin.”
The detective nodded.
Martin Cross had survived Daniel by thirteen years.
Anna died ten years after Daniel.
For a decade, she had carried the original evidence.
Martin may have believed she would eventually expose him.
Victoria looked devastated.
“I didn’t know.”
Emma turned on her.
“You knew Martin helped your father.”
“I knew he protected him legally. I didn’t know he killed anyone.”
“You kept working with his son.”
“I was trying to monitor Nathan.”
Richard asked, “By making him your attorney?”
Victoria looked ashamed.
“I thought if I kept him close, I’d know what he was looking for.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
Everyone in this family had the same disease.
Control disguised as protection.
Then the detective placed one final item on the desk.
A call log.
The night Anna died, Martin Cross had called Victoria six times.
Victoria had answered once.
For seven minutes.
Emma looked at her aunt.
“What did he tell you?”
May you like
Victoria closed her eyes.
And Emma knew the answer would change everything again.
