ログインVivian “She has vanished,” Vivian remarked, very frustrated. “I have had someone watching her apartment building for two weeks and she has not been back once. Her father has cut her off. Her mother will not speak. She is nowhere, Mrs. Cross, and I need to find her.” Mrs. Cross sat across from her in the front sitting room of the Cross estate with her hands folded over her handbag “Alexander has hidden her somewhere,” Mrs. Cross replied. “He has resources you have not located yet. When you find where the money is going you will find the address.” “I intend to,” Vivian answered, very determined. “And when I do, I will not hesitate. I have been patient long enough with that girl. If I get a hold of her—” She stopped herself and smoothed her skirt once with her palm. “I simply need to find her first. Do you know that swine is making him do despicable things? He’s planning on taking the matter to the council to dissolve our marriage by all means”“He’s willing to go to that lengt
Alexander Alexander arrived at his parents’ house at five minutes to eight. The housekeeper took his coat at the door and told him the family was already seated. He had expected that. His mother always set the table early and considered it rude to arrive after the candles were lit. He straightened his jacket and walked through to the dining room. The table was full. His father sat at the head the way he always sat, straight-backed and quiet, already cutting into his bread. His mother sat to Richard’s left with Sianna his younger sister beside her. Sienna looked up when Alexander came in and smiled. She had not seen him in years since she moved away. Max sat across from Sianna, and beside Max was Vivian, and beside Vivian were her parents — Mr. Ashford and Mrs. Ashford.He greeted them with a soft smile and a wave of hand and pulled out the chair at the foot of the table. The seat opposite his father. He had avoided sitting in that chair for the better part of fifteen years, and
Alexander The priest was speaking the final words as Carlos was lowered into the ground. “We commit the body of Carlos Cross to the earth, and we commend his spirit to those who came before him. May his name be spoken at the table for as long as the table stands.” Alexander stood near the back of the crowd in a black suit he had not worn in two years. The morning was cold. The cemetery sat on the high ground east of the city, and the wind moved through the trees along the upper path in a way that made the mourners closest to the grave keep one hand on their hats and the other on their coats. Alexander had not put on a hat. He stood with his hands folded in front of him and his head slightly bowed. There were perhaps two hundred people present. Mona stood at the front in a black coat and a black veil, her hand on Victor’s arm. Ethan was not beside them. Alexander had been looking for Ethan in the crowd from the moment he had arrived, and the absence told him the rest. Whateve
The police officers arrived at the Cross estate at quarter past eight in the evening, and Victor received them in the front sitting room while Mona stood in the doorway of the hall still in her robe, having come down when she heard the knock.Carlos had not answered his phone in two days. Mona had known since yesterday morning that something was wrong. She simply had not said it out loud yet.The older officer asked if they could sit. Victor told him to say what he came to say.“Mr. and Mrs. Cross, your son Carlos was found this afternoon in the woods off Highway Twelve, approximately forty miles outside the city,” the officer revealed, his cap held in both hands. “The injuries were consistent with a wolf attack. He was pronounced at the scene. I am very sorry for your loss.”Mona sat down on the nearest chair. She pressed both hands flat against her knees and looked at the floor between the officer’s feet tears running down her cheeks. Victor thanked the officers, walked them to the
Elena Alex walked through the front door and froze at the sight. Elena was on the floor beside Harper with both hands pressed against the side of Harper’s head, her palms soaked through with blood. She was breathing hard and her shoulders were shaking “Elena.” He ran to her side She looked up then. Her face was wet, her hands were trembling against Harper’s temple and she could not make them stop. “What happened?” He crouched beside her “I’m okay,” she said in a shaky voice . “Harper isn’t.” He pressed two fingers against her neck then bent his head close to her mouth. “She’s breathing,” he confirmed. Then he looked up to the messy room. The cracked plaster above the fireplace. The picture frame on the floor. The couch pushed out of place. And then Carlos, on the rug on the other side of the room, face up and still. “Elena. What happened here.” Elena’s hands were still pressed against Harper’s head. She started sobbing and recounted how Carlos attacked her and
Elena opened her eyes as the sunlight through the sheer curtains pierced her vision. She did not recognize the room at first. Then she recalled Alex had brought her here in a daze the night before. “Hey, beautiful.” Alex walked into the bedroom already dressed, with a tray of breakfast in his hand. He set it down on the bed close to her. “You made breakfast this early,” Elena observed while adjusting to sit upright. Alex nodded. Elena smiled. “You still haven’t told me where we are.” “At my grandmother’s. She lived here before she passed. I grew up here most of the time.” Elena looked around. The room was full of antiques. The bedroom looked like it came out of a dreamy novel. “You’re heading out,” she questioned. “Yes. I have a meeting with someone. I will be back as soon as possible.” He walked to her side and kissed her forehead. Elena held onto his hand and rubbed the veins along the back of it. “Don’t leave me for too long.” “Make sure you get to schoo







