Chapter 5: J.R.

I told Hamish I needed one hour, and I took it.

I drove home, because I needed to see one thing with my own eyes.

Hailey's duffel bag sat on the bed in the guest room, unzipped.

The shower was running down the hall in my bathroom, and she was singing under the water.

I went through the bag in about a minute.

Diapers, a pink robe, a pill organizer, a phone charger.

In the side pocket, wrapped in a baby sock, was a man's steel watch.

I turned it over.

Two letters were cut into the back, small and deep.

J.R.

I stood there holding it and heard the water shut off.

Hamish had not lied.

My sister had carried a dead man's watch into the delivery room, and she had snapped at a nurse who tried to move it.

The bathroom door opened.

Hailey came down the hall in a towel with her wet hair hanging down her back, and she saw me standing by her bag.

She saw what was in my hand.

For one second, her face went completely still.

It was a face I did not know.

Then she smiled and held out her hand.

"Oh, that. Put it back, sweetie. It's just an old keepsake."

"Whose?"

"A friend's. Somebody who was kind to me, once." Her voice trembled. "I carry it for luck. After everything, I needed luck."

"It's a nice watch."

"It's sentimental."

I put it back in the sock, folded the sock over it and zipped the pocket.

I zipped it slowly so she could see me do it.

"You must be exhausted," I said. "Get some rest. Dalton will want you looking well on Saturday."

"You're so good to me," Hailey whispered.

I went down the stairs, called the number Hamish had given me at the hospital, and he picked up on the first ring.

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