Chapter 16 - The First Hug
Sadie ran down the hospital hallway so fast that Faye had to call her name twice.
Nora stood outside her room, one hand braced against the doorframe. She was thinner than Julian remembered, with a bruise on her wrist and a hospital bracelet she kept trying to remove. But when she saw Sadie, she forgot the doorway and held out both arms.
"Mama!"
The little girl crashed into her. Nora bent around her daughter and began shaking with silent sobs. Sadie cried into her shoulder, asking the same question over and over.
"Are you coming home? Are you coming home?"
"Yes," Nora whispered. "Not today, sweetheart. The doctors have to help me first. But I'm here. I'm not leaving you on purpose."
Julian stayed by the vending machines. That embrace belonged to them. After a while Sadie turned and waved him over.
"He found you," she told Nora. "He didn't tell the green lady where we went."
Nora looked at Julian. "Thank you."
"Sadie found me," he answered. "I just finally listened."
Nora watched him carefully. "She deserves the truth about you. We both do."
"Then we'll go slowly. A test, legal paperwork, whatever you want. No shortcuts because of my last name."
Sadie frowned. "What test?"
"One that helps grown-ups get the facts straight," Nora said. "It doesn't change who loves you."
Later, while Sadie drew flowers on a paper cup, Serrano arrived with a new lead. Owen had made the cash withdrawal after an anonymous caller offered to sell him missing security footage from the night Nora's car went into the river. He had gone without notifying police.
"That was reckless," Julian said.
"Very. We haven't decided whether he's involved or being played."
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Owen's abandoned car had been found at a gas station. On the passenger seat lay a phone with a shattered screen and one unsent message addressed to Julian.
Serrano showed him the draft: I FOUND THE ORIGINAL BRIDGE CAMERA. MARTIN WAS THERE. SOMEONE ELSE WAS TOO.
