“Is Daddy coming here?”

“No, honey,” I said.

She nodded and shut her eyes.

I checked the clock and then the door.

Nine o’clock was still two hours off.

At nine, Arthur stood waiting by the elevator with a gray folder tucked under his arm.

Judge Raymond took the bench at ten on the dot, put his paper cup of coffee down without taking a sip, and had the clerk read out the docket number twice.

Nathan Byers stood up for Julian.