“When I tried to pull Izzy away from the other officer, he flung me off like I was rag doll. I hit the pavement hard. Cal was bleeding, but I remember him coming toward me right before I passed out. I saw his badge. His name was Callahan.”
“What happened to Jackson?” she asks, frowning in confusion.
“His name is Jackson Callahan,” I say. “I always thought Jackson was his last name. Some mail got misdelivered here. His business name was on it,Jackson, so I figured that was it. But tonight, when he said his last name is Callahan, it hit me like a freight train. That day... it came rushing back all at once.”
“He didn’t remember you?” she asks, stunned. “You didn’t remember him? What about your last name?”
“When I found out our grandfather didn’t want us, I decided I didn’t want him either. As soon as I turned eighteen, I changed my name to my mom’s maiden name. For the past six years, I’ve been Elle Keaton.”
I exhale shakily.
“I only saw Cal that day. He was clean-shaven. No beard. I was fourteen, bruised and scared out of my mind. That’s probably all he saw, too.”
“Elle,” she says gently. “He was just doing his job.”
“I told them we were going to see our grandfather,” I snap, my voice sharper than I intend. “They could’ve let us go. They saw the bruise on my face. They could’ve let us go.”
The tears return before I can stop them. Raw, aching. The memory slices through me like it always does. Thefear, the confusion, the sheer panic in Izzy’s eyes—it’s never left me.
“They could’ve let us go,” I whisper again, broken now.
Tina nods, then reaches for me, pulling me into a tight hug. She holds on as the guttural sobs rise up from somewhere deep inside me—wild, shaking, unstoppable. She doesn't say a word. Just holds me tighter, like she’s trying to keep me from falling apart completely.
When I fall quiet, Tina pulls back just enough to look at me, her expression open. She takes my hand and gives it a firm squeeze, like she’s bracing both of us for whatever’s coming next.
“I haven’t told you the worst part,” I say, trying to steady a hiccup. “They didn’t just take Izzy away that day... Cal kept her.”
Tina frowns, confused. “What do you mean,kepther?”
“Cal’s family adopted my sister,” I whisper. “They have Izzy. Elizabeth Hazel Callahan. Beth Callahan is my sister.”
Her mouth opens slightly, but no words come.
“They took my sister from my arms. Changed her name. Kept her—and forgot all about me. They left me in the foster system where I had to fend for myself. Four long years. Alone. Losing my mind, not knowing what happened to her. If that’s not cruel, I don’t know what is.”
I meet Tina’s gaze. And for the first time in six years, she’s completely speechless.
Chapter 8
Cal
The front door closed behind them, and the silence that followed was deafening.
Just like that—she was gone, out of my reach, out of my life.
Her words ring in my ears:You ruined my life. You took the only thing I had in this world.
And then what cut deeper than any knife ever could—You’re a monster.
I’m sitting on the porch steps, elbows on my knees, hands in my hair, when it all slams into me like a freight train.
Elle.
Dani.
Danielle.
Beth's sister.
