Standing over her, arms crossed, a look of smug, reptilian satisfaction on his face, was my cousin, Ben.

He was in the act of locking the front door, the final, definitive click of the deadbolt echoing in the quiet, tree-lined neighborhood like a gunshot.

“What in God’s name is going on here?” I demanded, slamming on my brakes, my car lurching to a stop. I was out of the car and running up the walk before it had even settled, my heart a cold, hard knot of dread in my chest.

Elaine looked up, her face streaked with tears and a raw, utter humiliation that tore at my heart. “Anna! They… they said I have to leave. Ben