For the first time since she had become a sleuth, Annie was sorry to have caught someone.

I know you’ve come for my confession. I’m not sorry or glad about it. It feels terrible to take a life, but I’ve kept girls like Maria out of his clutches.

ANNIE FINDS A WAY BY HELEN REED LEHMAN 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 43

Annie Temple told her masseuse Elena, “He won’t last. If he isn’t impeached, he’ll be forced to resign anyway.”

“But Senora Annie, he can hurt my family, put us in concentration camps, like Hitler did the Jews. He can do that before he’s made to resign. What will it do to the children?”

Annie sat up on the table, put her legs over the side, and started to get dressed. At fifty-five, she was still trim-figured, and pretty.

“My husband and I both had grandparents who escaped the Nazis. They had relatives here who sent them money.” She was nearly dressed now. “In those days, people came to America on ships.” Now she put on her jacket. “My dad told us kids about seeing Lady Liberty holding up her torch. He cried, saying how joyful they were at the sight.”

Elena was putting…