Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN ON THE STEPS
The bride's bouquet hit the church steps before Daniel Voss understood why his hands had started shaking.
A ragged woman stood three feet in front of him, blocking the path through a storm of white rose petals. Her brown coat was stained at the cuffs. Her hair looked as if the wind had been fighting with it all morning. Security was already moving toward her.
Daniel lifted one hand. "Don't."
The woman opened her palm. A folded piece of paper rested there.
"Move," Daniel said, embarrassed by the hundred guests watching from behind him.
She put the paper in his hand.
Open the photo hidden in your favorites.
His new wife, Emily, leaned closer. "Daniel?"
He pulled out his phone. One old scanned photo sat in Favorites. He opened it.
A five-year-old boy stood outside a brick apartment building, smiling with a crooked front tooth. Daniel knew the coat. He knew the scar under the boy's chin.
And he was holding the hand of the woman standing in front of him now - only she was younger, clean, laughing, and looking down at him with unmistakable love.
A woman singing while rain tapped a kitchen window.
Someone carrying him down a dark hallway while he burned with fever.
The woman swallowed hard. "You used to call me Mom."
"Mom?"
A sharp voice exploded from the top of the steps.
"Get away from my son."
Victor Voss, Daniel's father, came through the guests with two security men behind him. His face was not confused.
It was terrified.
The woman looked straight at him. "Hello, Victor."
Daniel turned. "Dad, who is she?"
Victor didn't answer Daniel. He pointed at security.
"Remove that woman now."
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"Before they drag me away, Daniel, ask your father what happened at St. Catherine's Hospital on October 14, 2004."
And Daniel knew, before anyone said another word, that his father had just been caught remembering the same day.
