Page 79 of Blade

My cheek pressed against her body and that fucking blue puffer coat.

Her desk is meticulously organized. Stacks of papers in black wire organizers. Matching cups to hold pens. Slowly, I walk around the desk to her chair and the sweater that’s folded over the back. She always wore one when she worked here. When she called us in to tell us something good. Something bad. We never knew.

And then I see her skates resting against the far wall. The beige leather with the gold blades. I remember—the edge pressed against my neck, my temple.

I walk toward them, these relics from my past, but just as I reach the wall, I hear a whimper coming from the office next door. From Dr. Westin’s room.

“Grace?”

I step into the hall, then to the room next door.

Where I find Grace, standing in the shadows.

“Grace,” I whisper. Her body shakes as she sobs, and I move toward her, slowly, not making a sound, until I’m there and reach out to take her in my arms. But she shoves me, hard, and I fall to the ground.

“Stay away from me!” she screams.

Soaking wet from melted snow, shivering in the clothes she was wearing before, beneath an open coat and unlaced boots, she braces for a fight.

On her face is the same rage I saw in that video.

Chapter Thirty-One

Excerpt from Testimony of Marta Lyons

Ada Olson: Ms. Lyons, you were working at the women’s clinic in Colorado Springs when Jolene Montgomery came in for a termination procedure, correct?

Marta Lyons: Yes. I was a nurse practitioner there for seven years.

Ada Olson: Do you remember Ms. Montgomery?

Marta Lyons: Yes. After reviewing her file, I remember.

Ada Olson: She asked to terminate the pregnancy, correct?

Marta Lyons: Yes.

Ada Olson: But on the first visit, she had to comply with the law at the time, correct? Which required parental notification for minors forty-eight hours before the procedure?

Marta Lyons: Yes, that’s right. And our clinic had its own guidelines to ensure the well-being of our patients—the ultrasound and informed consent information.

Ada Olson: Right—their well-being. And did Ms. Montgomery say why she wanted the termination?

Marta Lyons: She said she was afraid of her father.

Ada Olson: And did you ask her to elaborate?

Marta Lyons: No. It wasn’t unusual for a teenage girl to say that.

Ada Olson: How did you know she was underage?

Marta Lyons: Her ID was clearly a fake. And she was a skater.

Ada Olson: How did you know about the skaters?

Marta Lyons: Because my sister lived in Echo. In a condo unit where a lot of the skating families stayed. She was friends with a skating mother. She used to tell me stories about that place. Some of the skaters were in the Olympics.

Ada Olson: Yes, they were. Ms. Lyons—was your sister’s friend named Mrs. Finch?