Chapter 17: The Visit

"Then I'll find you the card," I said.

The detective looked at me over her glasses.

"You'll find me the man who has it. And you'll let me do the finding. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And nobody says one word about this recording outside this room. Not to the press. Not to your husband."

"Especially not to my husband."

"Especially not." She stood up and put a twenty on the counter. "Your mama made a better biscuit."

"Everybody's mama made a better biscuit."

For the first time since I'd met her, she smiled.

Daniel's first supervised visit was that Saturday at three-thirty, after close.

The court sent a monitor.

She was a tired woman with a canvas bag and a clipboard, and she took stool six and didn't touch her coffee.

Rafael and the crew stayed out in the lot.

Raymond went with them.

"If I look at him today," he said at the back door, "he'll know. I've never been able to hide a thing from that boy's face."

"He hid plenty from yours."

"He learned it somewhere."

Daniel came in at three-thirty exactly.

He was in a soft gray sweater, no suit, no watch.

His right hand wasn't bandaged anymore.

He had a gift bag in his left, so big he had to turn it sideways to fit through the door.

He looked around the room.

"Grace."

"Daniel."

"You look tired."

"I run a restaurant."

He smiled at the monitor.

Then he crouched down by the side stairs, where Lily was sitting on the bottom step with her whale.

His voice changed completely.

"Who's that sitting on my stairs?"

Lily's whole face lit up.

I hated that it did.

"Daddy!"

She came at him with her arms out, and he caught her and swung her up, and she screamed with laughter.

He'd always been good at this part.

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