Deadly Echoes Read Online Free PDF Page B

else. Someone else. I know who it was, but I can’t tell you. You might make the same mistake I did. It’s just too dangerous. The conspiracy is huge. Much bigger than I realized. Too big for either one of us to handle.
    Don’t look for us, Sarah. I mean it. You will be putting all of us in terrible danger if you do. Leave it alone. Please. Just pray for Cicely and me.
    Sarah, I need you to promise me something else. Never search for Cicely’s father or look too closely at my past. I can’t stress enough how important this is. Don’t take this warning lightly. If you love me, if you love Cicely, you’ll do as I ask.
    I think I can get us out of here safely, but if anything goes wrong, if something happens to me, please take care of my daughter. As I already told you, you’re the only person I trust to raise her the right way. We may have had tough childhoods, but somehow through it all, you retained your goodness and your sweet spirit. I know you’ll pass that on to Cicely and you’ll help her to become all God has created her to be. I’m counting on you, Sarah. I know you won’t let me down. I’ve made out a will stating that you are to be Cicely’s guardian. My attorney, David Rose, has a copy. His office is on 2nd Street in downtown Kansas City. His number is in the phone book. He doesn’t know anything about my plans to leave Kansas City, so asking him where I am would be pointless.
    After you read this, please destroy this note. No one else is to ever see it. Especially Cicely. Raise her up with joy and love, the way Mom and Dad raised us. They were such good people, Sarah. I want you to always remember that what happened to them wasn’t their fault.
    I really love you, Sarah. Please don’t be sad. We’ve been apart before, but we will never lose each other. We’ll be together again, either in this life or in the next. And someday we’ll be reunited with Mom and Dad. What a great reunion we will have!
    I will love you forever.
    Remember me,
Hannah”
    Janet dropped the letter as if it were hot. “Oh, Sarah. What are we going to do?”
    All I could do was shake my head and cry.

Chapter
Four

    Two days later, I was packing to go to Kansas City. The police wanted to interview me before I picked up Cicely. A copy of Hannah’s will had been sent to DCF, and it cleared the way for me to take her home. Even though I felt emotionally and physically drained, I kept pushing forward. There wasn’t any choice. Cicely needed me. It was a little after seven-thirty in the morning when the phone rang. It was Paul.
    â€œIf you don’t mind, I’d like to meet you at The Whistle Stop for breakfast.”
    â€œI’m not sure I have the time.”
    â€œIt . . . it’s very important. Please, Sarah.”
    I was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out if I could squeeze Paul in and still get on the road with plenty of time to get to the police station for the interview. He sounded so insistent I agreed to meet him at nine. As I hung up, I wondered what he could possibly want to talk about. At least this would give me the opportunity to let him know about Hannah’s letter. Janet and I hadn’t told anyone else. To be honest, we weren’t sure what to do about it. Hannah had warned me about getting involvedin what had happened to her, but how could I let it drop? Was she really killed because she’d looked into our parents’ deaths? Were the two cases related? If they were, what did that mean? I wanted answers, but I had serious doubts about Hannah’s conclusion. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t come up with any reason someone would wait almost twenty years after killing our parents to murder my sister. It didn’t make any sense. Maybe the letter was just another sign of the fixation that had taken over Hannah’s life. Because of that very real possibility, I had doubts about