Deadly Echoes by Nancy Mehl Read Free Book Online

woman. Unfortunately, a year later Mrs. Johnson passed away suddenly.” I realized I was talking quickly, but this wasn’t a story I liked to repeat. “Not long after that, Hannah was adopted by a very loving couple. I stayed in foster care. Hannah was a beautiful child with blond hair and blue eyes. As you can see, I’m very plain, and I’m sure most adoptive parents weren’t looking for skinny redheaded children with freckles.”
    Paul frowned at me. “I don’t think you’re plain. Not at all.”
    â€œWell, thank you, but you don’t have to say that. Next to Hannah, I disappeared into the woodwork. She was very special. And not only on the outside. She was beautiful inside.”
    â€œSo you were never adopted?” he asked.
    â€œNo. After being shuffled around to several foster homes, Iended up with a couple in St. Louis who were in the system only for the money the state paid. With all the moving around I did, Hannah and I lost contact. Though I asked repeatedly for help finding my sister, the people I lived with weren’t interested. To them, I wasn’t a child. I was a paycheck. They weren’t physically abusive; they just didn’t care about me. I never complained because I didn’t want to move again, afraid if I did, Hannah would never find me. So I kept my mouth shut and put up with the mistreatment.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Paul said. “Some people shouldn’t be foster parents.”
    I nodded. “That’s true, but actually I’m very grateful to them. You see, the family had two dogs that they treated better than their foster children. It was my job to take the dogs to the vet when they needed care. That’s where I met Janet. She ran a veterinary office near our house. She was very kind to me. Not long before I turned eighteen, she told me she was moving to Sanctuary and asked me to live with her. Her sister owned the house where Janet lives now, but she’d decided to move to Florida. She offered Janet the house, and she accepted. As soon as I turned eighteen, I left my foster family and came to Sanctuary.” I took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. “I know that’s the long answer to your question, but I don’t know how else to explain it.”
    â€œAnd now you’re a teacher.”
    â€œYes. I’d wanted to be a teacher ever since we lived with my aunt. She was an incredible teacher. She not only gave me a love of learning, she showed me how teachers can make a huge difference in the lives of young people. Janet helped me obtain a scholarship, and I went to a small community college in Park Hills to get my degree. I worked hard and graduated in threeyears. My plan was to try to find a position near Sanctuary, but then the town approached me with the idea of opening a school here. I jumped at the chance.”
    Paul nodded. “So when did you and your sister reconnect?”
    â€œAlmost a year ago. After searching for me for a long time, she finally found someone who knew my foster family and remembered that Janet and I were friends. Hannah was able to track down an old friend of Janet’s who told her she’d moved to Sanctuary. Hannah called Janet, found out I was living with her, and she and Cicely came to visit. I was so thrilled to have her in my life again.” I looked away for a moment, trying to rein in my emotions.
    â€œI’m sorry. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this right now,” Paul said gently.
    â€œNo, it’s okay. Although I loved seeing Hannah, she seemed almost obsessed with our parents’ murder. You see, she didn’t believe their deaths were the result of a burglary, the way the police had said. She’d been trying to find evidence to prove that ever since she was nineteen. Then a couple of months ago, a reporter, who was a friend of my mom’s when she worked for a Kansas City newspaper, contacted Hannah. The