The girl’s lip trembled.
“She’s at home. She’s really sick. She told me you leave work around this time on Wednesdays. She said if I waited here, I would find you.”
A cold feeling ran through Daniel that had nothing to do with the weather.
“How does your mother know when I leave the building?”
“She used to work there,” the girl answered simply. “Before she got sick.”
Daniel’s thoughts raced.
He employed hundreds of people. Without a name, it would be impossible to know who she meant.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Grace,” she said. “Grace Carter.”
The last name stirred a memory.
“And your mom?”
“Rachel Carter,” Grace replied. “She used to be your secretary before Miss Laura.”
Suddenly Daniel remembered.
Rachel Carter had been his executive assistant three years earlier. She was quiet but extremely capable. She had suddenly resigned, explaining that family issues required her to leave.
“Why didn’t your mother just call me?” Daniel asked softly.
Grace wiped her eyes with her mittened hands.
“Because she’s too proud,” she whispered. “She wanted to ask you herself, but she’s too sick to come. So she sent me.”
Daniel felt something tighten painfully in his chest.
“Where do you live?”
“Four blocks that way,” Grace said, pointing through the falling snow.
Daniel stood and made a decision.
“Can you take me to her?”
Grace nodded and stood, wobbling slightly. Daniel realized she must have been sitting outside for quite some time.
He removed his overcoat and wrapped it around her small shoulders.
“Come on,” he said, offering his hand. “Let’s go see your mom.”
They walked slowly through the storm, Daniel matching his pace to her smaller steps. The wind had grown stronger, and visibility was getting worse. He couldn’t believe this child had managed to walk through the blizzard alone.
The apartment building she led him to was old and worn, located in a struggling part of downtown. The brick walls were cracked and weathered. The front door stuck before finally opening.
They climbed three narrow flights of stairs before Grace stopped at apartment 3C and knocked.
“It’s me, Mom,” she called. “I found him.”
The door opened almost immediately.
Daniel barely recognized the woman standing there.
Rachel Carter looked painfully thin, her face pale and exhausted. She leaned heavily against the doorframe as if simply standing required effort. Yet her eyes were the same—intelligent and determined.