{"id":24944,"date":"2026-09-29T15:19:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24944"},"modified":"2026-09-29T15:19:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T15:19:42","slug":"part-6-dannys-drawing-turned-edwards-old-secret-into-a-present-danger-and-the-search-for-aaron-suddenly-became-urgent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24944","title":{"rendered":"PART 6 \u2013 Danny\u2019s Drawing Turned Edward\u2019s Old Secret Into a Present Danger, and the Search for Aaron Suddenly Became Urgent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I did not wake Danny.<\/p>\n<p>Every instinct in me wanted answers immediately, but he had already spent too many weeks carrying adult fear in a child\u2019s body.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I photographed both pages.<\/p>\n<p>Then I called Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>She answered before the second ring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sent the pictures.<\/p>\n<p>There was silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did he get the name Aaron?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t told him anything about Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaudia?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDanny hasn\u2019t spoken to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen Edward told him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The certainty in her voice terrified me.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Danny sleeping.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr Sylvia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does it mean that he said Danny could meet Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe find out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answer was not enough, but it was the only honest one.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor contacted the investigator.<\/p>\n<p>I called Claudia and asked her to sleep in the guest room.<\/p>\n<p>Then I sat on the hallway floor outside Danny\u2019s door until nearly dawn.<\/p>\n<p>At six forty, he shuffled out rubbing his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>He stopped when he saw me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you sleep there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot very well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s weird.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed softly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stepped over my legs and headed toward the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>I followed.<\/p>\n<p>He poured cereal into a bowl with too much confidence, scattering pieces across the counter.<\/p>\n<p>I waited until he had eaten several bites.<\/p>\n<p>Then I placed his drawing beside him.<\/p>\n<p>His spoon stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou found it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face closed immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not mad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared into the cereal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny pressed his lips together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaddy said not to talk about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaddy isn\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said talking can make bad things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My anger came so fast I had to grip the edge of the counter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDanny, look at me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou do not make bad things happen by telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaddy said Aaron made his mommy leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The kitchen disappeared around me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Daddy say Aaron was his son?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He shrugged.<\/p>\n<p>Children measured time badly.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday could mean last week.<\/p>\n<p>A long time ago could mean spring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere were you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Daddy\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny scraped the spoon around his bowl.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe had a picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat picture?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Daddy say the boy was Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he say Aaron was your brother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny nodded again.<\/p>\n<p>Then he whispered, \u201cHalf brother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Edward had explained enough for Danny to understand the relationship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did he show you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said maybe soon I wouldn\u2019t be an only child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he say where Aaron lives?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he say how old he is?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he say when you would meet him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was again.<\/p>\n<p>My absence as a condition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was in Chicago?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was supposed to happen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny\u2019s breathing changed.<\/p>\n<p>I softened my voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward the hallway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaddy said we might take a trip.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the hotel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Sylvia?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said we might see Aaron.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated every question.<\/p>\n<p>I hated putting him through them.<\/p>\n<p>But each answer mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ever talk to Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny stared at me.<\/p>\n<p>That pause was different.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDanny?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaddy\u2019s phone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Aaron say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny twisted the hem of his shirt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said hi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe asked if I liked baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said not to be scared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would he say that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I asked if Daddy was taking me away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I could barely breathe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd what did Aaron say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny whispered, \u201cHe said Daddy does that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words were almost too quiet to hear.<\/p>\n<p>I sat down beside him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Aaron sound scared?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Danny thought about it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he tell you where he was?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould you hear anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike loud trains. A lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a tiny detail.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe useless.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe everything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA bell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA school bell?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig. Like church.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I wrote both details down.<\/p>\n<p>Then Danny said something I had not expected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAaron called Daddy Edward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not Dad.<\/p>\n<p>Edward.<\/p>\n<p>I texted Eleanor immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Her investigator began searching for combinations of rail lines, churches, and known locations connected to Edward.<\/p>\n<p>The problem was enormous.<\/p>\n<p>Fifteen years had passed.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron\u2019s birth certificate had not been easy to find because Edward\u2019s surname was not originally Vance.<\/p>\n<p>That revelation arrived before lunch.<\/p>\n<p>Edward Vance had been born Edward Michael Corbin.<\/p>\n<p>He changed his last name legally twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the old court record on Eleanor\u2019s laptop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfficial filing says personal preference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing about Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he have been hiding from her family?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret had known him as Edward Corbin.<\/p>\n<p>Laura had known him as Edward Vance for part of their relationship because the name change occurred while they were together.<\/p>\n<p>I had only ever known Vance.<\/p>\n<p>Another layer removed.<\/p>\n<p>Another version of my husband exposed as temporary.<\/p>\n<p>The investigator, Malik Harris, arrived at Eleanor\u2019s office carrying two coffees and a folder thick with printouts.<\/p>\n<p>He was a former detective with the careful manner of someone who had learned not to speak until he knew which fact mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found Aaron\u2019s birth record.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA birth record tells us he existed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His restraint frustrated me, but I understood it.<\/p>\n<p>He continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no death certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Relief rose in me despite knowing absence of proof was not proof of life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about school?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found an enrollment under Aaron Hale in Tennessee fourteen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret inhaled sharply from across the table.<\/p>\n<p>She had joined us at Eleanor\u2019s request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTennessee?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe emergency contact was listed as an Edith Monroe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know that name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeither do we.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow old was he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout two.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My thoughts raced.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca vanished when Aaron was an infant.<\/p>\n<p>A year later, someone enrolled him in childcare under her maiden surname.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas Rebecca listed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho was Edith?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re searching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret covered her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>For fifteen years she had believed her grandson might be dead.<\/p>\n<p>Now there was proof someone had cared for him after Rebecca disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>That gave us one fact.<\/p>\n<p>It created fifty questions.<\/p>\n<p>Malik spread a map on the table.<\/p>\n<p>The Tennessee childcare center had been in a small town outside Chattanooga.<\/p>\n<p>A rail line ran less than half a mile away.<\/p>\n<p>A church stood across the street.<\/p>\n<p>Its bell tower was old enough to be heard throughout the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s where Aaron is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s where he was fourteen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Danny heard trains and a church bell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould still be there. Could be coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSearch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret leaned toward the map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca had an aunt near Chattanooga.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat aunt?\u201d Malik asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy sister Joanne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe died nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Rebecca know her well?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould Joanne have hidden Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Rebecca asked her to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell police?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey said they checked family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik wrote down the aunt\u2019s full name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you know where her records are?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer house sold after she died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Within hours, Malik discovered that Joanne\u2019s property had not been sold immediately.<\/p>\n<p>It transferred first to a trust.<\/p>\n<p>A trust administered by an attorney.<\/p>\n<p>The attorney\u2019s name was buried in paperwork until Eleanor recognized it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She pulled up another file.<\/p>\n<p>The same attorney had represented one of Edward\u2019s shell companies.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n<p>The room filled with the hum of the air-conditioning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Malik answered carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt means a lawyer connected to Edward once controlled property owned by Rebecca\u2019s aunt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret went pale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdward knew where Aaron was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d She shook her head. \u201cHe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The property eventually passed to a woman named Edith Monroe.<\/p>\n<p>The same woman who enrolled Aaron in childcare.<\/p>\n<p>My pulse accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik was already typing.<\/p>\n<p>Edith was eighty-two.<\/p>\n<p>Still alive.<\/p>\n<p>Still living near Chattanooga.<\/p>\n<p>And she had a grandson in her household.<\/p>\n<p>Not biologically.<\/p>\n<p>Legally.<\/p>\n<p>His name had changed.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Hale had become Aaron Monroe.<\/p>\n<p>Age fifteen.<\/p>\n<p>Alive.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret began sobbing.<\/p>\n<p>Not quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Not neatly.<\/p>\n<p>Her shoulders collapsed as fifteen years of uncertainty broke open in Eleanor\u2019s conference room.<\/p>\n<p>I moved beside her and held her hand.<\/p>\n<p>She kept saying one sentence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Malik waited.<\/p>\n<p>Then he said, \u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAaron Monroe\u2019s legal guardian is Edith Monroe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe guardianship file is sealed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMinor involved. Family circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked the question everyone feared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik looked toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe still don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then his phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>He checked the screen and stepped into the hallway.<\/p>\n<p>When he returned two minutes later, his expression had changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked directly at Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdith Monroe called back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret gripped the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knows who I am?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knows about you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret began crying again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan I talk to him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Edith says Aaron is terrified Edward will find him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The joy disappeared from her face.<\/p>\n<p>I felt cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Edward knew where Edith lived years ago, why would Aaron think he doesn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik glanced at the notes in his hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to Edith, Edward believed Aaron died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one moved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d Eleanor asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdith says Rebecca arranged it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca is alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs my daughter alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdith says she was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Was.<\/p>\n<p>The word hit everyone at once.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s voice cracked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCancer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret folded forward.<\/p>\n<p>I reached for her but she pushed away, needing space to break.<\/p>\n<p>For fifteen years she had waited for a daughter who had survived six of them.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca had lived in hiding.<\/p>\n<p>Raised Aaron in secret.<\/p>\n<p>Then died without returning home.<\/p>\n<p>I looked toward Malik.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t she contact Margaret?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe believed Edward was watching her family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret began shaking her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. No, she could have called me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik\u2019s voice was gentle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe thought silence kept you safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was the cruelty of fear.<\/p>\n<p>It made every loving decision look like abandonment from the outside.<\/p>\n<p>I thought of Danny.<\/p>\n<p>Of Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>Of choices made under threat.<\/p>\n<p>Then Malik\u2019s phone buzzed again.<\/p>\n<p>He read the message.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAaron wants to speak to Lauren.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone turned toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik looked uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he has something Edward gave him years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe won\u2019t tell Edith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malik read the message again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Edward told Aaron that if another woman ever married him and had a son, she would eventually come looking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Edward had anticipated another family.<\/p>\n<p>Another child.<\/p>\n<p>Another woman discovering the pattern.<\/p>\n<p>Malik added, \u201cAaron says Edward gave him a box.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s inside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe won\u2019t say over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd he\u2019ll show me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>Then Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>Then at the map.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since Danny woke me before dawn, we had something Edward had not planned for.<\/p>\n<p>A surviving witness who remembered him.<\/p>\n<p>A boy old enough to understand what had happened.<\/p>\n<p>And a box Edward had entrusted to the child he thought was dead.<\/p>\n<p>By nightfall, we were preparing to drive to Tennessee.<\/p>\n<p>Then an alert arrived from the county detention system.<\/p>\n<p>Edward had been released pending further proceedings under strict conditions.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>I called Claudia immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLock every door.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice sharpened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEdward is out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I was already moving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere\u2019s Danny?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the living room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep him away from windows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor stood.<\/p>\n<p>Malik grabbed his keys.<\/p>\n<p>Then Claudia screamed into the phone.<\/p>\n<p>Not from fear.<\/p>\n<p>From shock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLauren.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s someone at the front door.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not open it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it Edward?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse hammered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claudia was silent for one terrible second.<\/p>\n<p>Then she whispered, \u201cIt\u2019s a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat boy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says his name is Aaron.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24945\">Click here to continue reading: PART 7: Aaron Appeared at My Sister\u2019s Door Carrying Edward\u2019s Box, but What He Knew About Danny Changed Every Assumption We Had<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I did not wake Danny. Every instinct in me wanted answers immediately, but he had already spent too many weeks carrying adult fear in a child\u2019s body. Instead, I photographed &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24944"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24979,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24944\/revisions\/24979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}