“He said I should run away. He told me to leave a note for you and Katie and tell you I was leaving. He promised to pay for my plane ticket to California no matter what it cost and drive me to the airport. I have no idea why he chose California. I guess because it’s as far west as you can get without leaving the country. Anyway, he said he’d send me money every month. The only catch was that I couldn’t contact you or anyone in the family ever again. He swore he’d cut me off if I did. He promised to send me money until I was twenty-one and after that I’d be on my own.”
