Chapter 2 - THE LIE HER FATHER CHOSE.
Emma ran back into the kitchen and held the photograph beneath the lamp.
“You told me we ate him.”
Michael’s face collapsed.
“I needed you to stop searching.”
Sarah explained that Hale’s men had taken Rusty after Michael refused to surrender the family’s remaining acreage. They brought the meat from the lodge and warned that if Emma followed the tire tracks, the family would lose its home immediately.
“You let me believe something horrible,” Emma cried.
“We were trying to keep you away from men who own the sheriff, the bank and every road out of here,” Sarah said.
Hale entered without removing his polished coat.
“Your parents owe six months of rent.”
Michael pointed at the pantry.
“You raised our rent after the harvest failed, then reported us as financially ineligible for food aid.”
Hale called it business.
Emma lifted the photograph.
“Where is Rusty?”
Hale smiled.
“Sign the deed tonight, and perhaps the dog comes home.”
May you like
Then Emma noticed the lodge guard in the picture.
It was her missing uncle, Daniel.
