“Daniel knows I’m here?”

“He does,” Richard said.

“Whether he comes is his decision.”

I turned my face toward the window.

Rain slid down the glass in thin silver lines.

Beyond it, the city was dark except for blurred parking lot lights and the occasional flash of headlights.

I had met Daniel only three times.

He was polite, quiet, and observant in a way my family mistook for dullness.