Chapter 14 - THE FIRST QUESTION
The next afternoon, Vincent arrived at the Bellwether Children's Foundation.
He did not bring security into the building. Marco waited outside in the car, and Vincent entered alone.
The receptionist recognized him immediately.
“Mr. Moretti. Do you have an appointment?”
“No. I'd like to speak with Anna Bennett.”
“I'm afraid she's not available.”
“Please tell her I'm here.”
The receptionist studied him.
“Did she agree to see you?”
Vincent looked down.
“No.”
“Then I can't help you.”
He almost argued. The old instinct rose in him: make a call, give an order, have a door opened.
Then he remembered Anna's expression at the gala.
He stepped back.
“Would you give her this?”
He placed a plain envelope on the desk.
The receptionist didn't touch it.
“I can't promise she'll accept it.”
“I understand.”
Vincent left.
Anna received the envelope twenty minutes later.
Inside was a short note.
Anna,
I know I have no right to ask for your time. I won't come to your home or approach Noah without your permission.
I need to know that you are safe. I need to understand what happened after the landing, and I need to take responsibility for what I did before it.
If you never want to see me again, I will respect that.
Vincent.
Anna read it once, then folded it.
Rachel, who had come to help with the foundation's exhibition, watched her carefully.
“You don't have to answer.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to?”
Anna looked through the glass wall toward the children's art room. Noah was coloring a blue dinosaur.
“I want answers.”
“Then make the rules.”
Anna called the number printed on the envelope.
Vincent answered on the first ring.
“Anna?”
“You have ten minutes.”
“I'll take whatever you can give me.”
“Tomorrow. Two o'clock. The café across from the foundation. Public place. No security at the table. No Sophia.”
“Agreed.”
“And you will not bring up Noah's paternity until I decide we're ready to discuss it.”
A pause.
“Agreed.”
“If you break any of those rules, there won't be another meeting.”
“I understand.”
Anna ended the call.
The next day, Vincent arrived fifteen minutes early. He chose a table near the window and left his phone in his pocket.
Anna entered at exactly two.
She wore a simple gray coat, and her hair was tied back. She looked older than she had at the time of the crash, but not in a way that diminished her. She looked like someone who had survived.
Vincent stood.
Anna remained standing.
“Sit,” she said.
He obeyed.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Vincent said, “I am sorry.”
Anna's expression did not change.
“You're going to have to be more specific.”
He swallowed.
“I chose Sophia first. I left you on that plane. I promised I would come back, and I didn't reach you in time.”
“You didn't reach me at all.”
“I tried to run back.”
“You ran after the explosion.”
He looked down.
Anna leaned forward.
“I was still inside when you left. I was pregnant, Vincent. I was terrified. I asked you whether there would be time, and you told me yes.”
“I know.”
“No. You remember saying it. That's not the same as knowing what it did to me.”
Vincent's eyes filled.
“I can't undo it.”
“You can't.”
He looked at her.
“Why didn't you contact me?”
Anna's face went still.
“I did.”
“What?”
“I asked the hospital to call you. I left messages through the emergency liaison. I gave them your name, your office, and the number I had memorized. They told me you had identified me as dead.”
Vincent stared at her.
“I never knew.”
“Then someone made sure you didn't.”
He sat back slowly.
Anna placed both hands around her coffee cup.
May you like
“I didn't disappear because I wanted revenge. I disappeared because I was told my husband had buried me while standing beside the woman he chose to save.”
Vincent could not answer.
