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Whenin a chair, waiting for them My mom comes in first Her face crumples as soon as she seesdown her face My dad is right behind her, and soon they are both huggingwith joy
I s theht, that all ofto worry about I don’t cry, though I can’t Everything feels dull and distant, and even my parents seem more like beloved memories than real people Nonetheless, I make an effort to act normally; I already caused them far too much stress and anxiety
After a little while, they calht?" I ask, re Julian’s promise "He told you I was alive?"
My dad nods, his face drawn tight "A couple of weeks after you disappeared, we got a deposit into our bank account," he says quietly "A deposit in the amount of one million dollars from an untraceable offshore account Supposedly it was a lottery that on"
My ave my parents money?
"At the same ti "The subject was: ‘Frohter with love’ It had your picture You were lying on a beach, reading a book You looked so beautiful, so peaceful" He ss visibly "The email said that you ell and that you ith someone ould take care of you--and that we should use the e It also said that ould be putting you in danger if ent to the police with this inforine what they ht at that point A million dollars
"We didn’t knohat to do," ht this could be a useful lead in the investigation, but at the sa to jeopardize you, wherever you were"
"So what did you do?" I ask in fascination The FBI didn’t say anything about a million dollars, so my parents couldn’t have spoken to theinethis further
"We used the ators," my dad explains "The best ones we could find They were able to track the deposit to a shell corporation in the Cay atthat money to look for you ever since"
"What happened, honey?"forward in her chair "Who took you? Where did this money come froin answering their questions At the sa in their familiar features My parents are a handsoood shape They had me when they were both in their early twenties, so they are still relatively young My dad has only traces of grey in his dark hair, though there isbefore
"So you really were swi books on the beach?" My mom stares at me in disbelief as I describe e s vacation And he did take care of me, like he told you he would"