Margaret did not touch the envelope immediately.
She looked at me first.
“May I?”
I was still standing beside the mailbox with my backpack hanging from one shoulder, my cheek throbbing where Gerald had struck me.
Richard stood several feet away, holding the worn photograph of Catherine and me.
He seemed afraid that if he moved too quickly, I would disappear.
I handed Margaret the envelope.
She compared the number printed beneath the Virginia seal with the document inside her portfolio.
Her expression tightened.
“It matches.”
“What matches?” I asked.
Richard closed his eyes for a second.
Margaret answered.
“The case number.”
The words meant nothing to me yet, but Richard reacted as though someone had confirmed a fear he had carried for years.
I looked from one of them to the other.
“Someone needs to tell me what is happening.”
Margaret nodded.
“You’re right.”
She gestured toward the open SUV but didn’t ask me to get inside.
“We can explain here, or somewhere public.
You choose.”
That mattered more than she probably knew.
Gerald never asked what I wanted.
Donna rarely did.
Megan usually decided what I was allowed to feel before I had finished speaking.
For the first time that night, someone was giving me a choice.
“There’s an all-night diner three blocks away,” I said.
Richard nodded immediately.
“We’ll meet you there.”
“You’re not putting me in the car?”
“Not unless you ask,” Margaret said.
So I walked.
The Escalade followed at a distance until the neon lights of the diner appeared.
Inside, I chose a booth near the front windows.
Margaret sat across from me.
Richard took the outside seat, leaving space between us.
A waitress brought water.
Nobody ordered food.
Margaret placed the envelope on the table.
“Would you like to open it?”
My fingers shook as I broke the seal.
Inside were several pages covered in formal language I could barely process.
Dates.
Court references.
My adopted name.
Richard Witford’s name.
And Gerald Talbet’s name.
“What is this?”
“A legal notice,” Margaret said.
“One of several attempts made to establish contact after Richard learned where you had been placed.”
I stared at her.
“Contact with me?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Richard.
“You knew where I was?”
