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Sinking down onto the edge of her bed, she worried her lip with her teeth What was she supposed to do?

Fro and go to the grave with this secret, much like GG, or she could turn him in, her own flesh and blood

The first optionwith the burden of the truth She would always know she did nothing Was keeping his secret taking the easy way out? Or was it harder?

She shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose Keeping his secret could very well eat her alive The knoould kill her And what about the countless victims?

Tears stung the back of Abby’s eyes She thought of the journal, the real Yoel Gutman’s account of the camps, and The Butcher of Auschwitz How could she not seek justice for them? They were innocent, not much older than her when they were forced into the camps They deserved the truth; they deserved justice for the ones responsible to finally pay for their crimes—family or not

But to turn him in

Abby couldn’t iine it While she didn’t think she could ever look hi the boy he shot in the head or the monster Irma Mentz, she wasn’t sure she could watch the flash of betrayal at knowing his own granddaughter had turned against him She didn’t know if she could watch them haul him away in cuffs, to be put in jail until he died Or worse, until they executed him

And what about her rief over losing GG; how could she handle losing hirandfather’s arrest would cause Her parents’ jobs would likely be in jeopardy; their reputations in the community ruined And Abby would be responsible because by re silent, she could prevent all of it—the heartache, the pain, the betrayal

Abby fisted her hands in the co she only had herself

Did her grandfather regret it? Did he rue the time in his life he was dubbed The Butcher of Auschwitz? Did he get down on his knees every night and pray for absolution?

Her grandfather—her whole family for that matter—had never been spiritual or faith-filled people Herfaith in a God that would allow such atrocities He couldn’t find it in hie, that put him in those camps in the first place But as Abby sat in the darkness of her roo at the flecks of cream in the carpet by her bed, the truth told another story She couldn’t help but wonder if he feared the wrath of a God who knew exactly what he did and who he was Maybe this whole ti Even from God

What she needed noas the truth—straight from him She needed to hear he hated himself for who he was and what he did And maybe only then could she find a way to keep this to herself and find a way to live with it

Abby got up, the springs in her bed creaking with the dissipating weight, and made her way out of her bedroouest roorandfather had occupied since GG’s death Her bare feet pattered over the cool hardwood, and when she stopped in front of his closed door, she paused, steeling herself to lay eyes on him for the first time since her discovery

Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her eyes shut and took in a cleansing breath in mental preparation, then pushed the door open before she could change her mind

A trickle of light from the hall spilled into the cavernous room As her vision adjusted to the darkness and cleared, she stepped inside, her gaze hoiant bed centered on the back wall directly across frorandfather’s body, protruded from the blankets