And for the first time all evening, my husband had nothing to say at all.

Chapter 9 — You Made It

Forty minutes later, the sedan pulled into the secure underground garage of an apartment building in downtown Baltimore, and my attorney was waiting by the elevator.

Her name was Victoria Sterling, and she had been representing me for eleven months, and when she saw me climb out of that car, eight months pregnant in the middle of the night with two children and three suitcases, she said three words that very nearly broke the composure I had held together all evening.

“You made it,” she said.

I held onto the car door, and she reached out and steadied my arm.