Chapter 2 - Sofie Says Emma Survived
Cameron stared at the three-year-old as if the room had tilted beneath
him.
“What did your mother tell you?”
Sofie hugged herself.
“That the girl woke up.”
The nanny, Margaret, stepped forward.
“Mr. Hale, Sofie is three. She may have misunderstood.”
Sofie frowned.
“I didn’t.”
Cameron looked again at the photograph.
His daughter Emma was clearly alive after the crash.
A bandage crossed her forehead. Her eyes were open.
Beside her stood a young nurse.
“Who is your mother?”
“Naomi.”
“Naomi what?”
“Brooks.”
Margaret gripped the back of a chair.
Cameron noticed.
“You know that name.”
Margaret denied it too quickly.
Cameron turned toward her.
Ten years earlier, Margaret had been his wife Claire’s closest friend
before becoming household manager after the crash.
She had handled funeral arrangements while Cameron barely functioned.
Now she looked terrified.
Cameron asked Sofie where Naomi was.
“At work.”
“What hospital?”
Sofie did not know.
But she knew something else.
“Mommy said the sad man would ask about Emma.”
Cameron stopped breathing.
He had never told Sofie his daughter’s name.
Neither had anyone in the room.
May you like
Sofie pointed toward the folded photograph.
“Mommy said Emma remembers you.”
