Chapter 15: Bay Four

Brett stood in the chapel doorway in yesterday's suit.

His tie was gone, and his eyes were red.

"Mom," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Telling the truth," Diane said.

He looked from her to me, and I watched him understand it.

"Jillian, don't listen to her. She's tired. She hasn't slept."

"Come outside, Brett," I said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not going to do this in front of a stained-glass window."

I walked past him without waiting.

He followed me, because he always had.

Ambulance Bay Four was at the end of the east corridor, where the double doors opened onto the loading lane.

Two paramedics were restocking a rig, and a security guard leaned on the wall with a coffee.

The sky had gone gray-pink.

I stopped in the middle of the lane and turned around.

"The ninth of March," I said.

Brett's face did not move.

"What about it?"

"Where were you that night?"

"At a work dinner. You know that. I told you."

"You told me about the deer."

"I hit a deer, Jillian."

"You hit a black car with a man inside it," I said, "and then you drove away from the fire."

One of the paramedics stopped moving.

Brett took a step back.

"That's insane. Who told you that? Him?"

"Look at me."

"Don't be dramatic."

"I'm not," I said. "I'm just counting."

His mouth opened.

"I came off shift the next morning and told you over breakfast that I'd pulled a man from a burning car. You set down your fork."

"I was being polite."

"You went gray."

"Jillian."

"Three days later a courier brought me a card from that man. You read it, and you tore it in half."

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