“He knows you didn’t sign that release he brought over.”

“Then let him show up,” I said.

I held the photo to my chest while autumn leaves blew across the grass.

Sophie headed back to her sedan, leaving me alone in the gravel lot with the blue envelope tucked inside my purse.

By nine the next morning I was standing at the tall oak counter in Oakhaven Savings Bank.

The bank lobby was quiet and smelled of floor wax and wet wool coats from the morning rain.

The heavy brass clock on the wall behind the teller counter ticked past nine fifteen.