07/03/2026 07:37

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I pretend she's mine-ours. Freckles, a bruised cheek, blank eyes. I can't imagine anything worse thanwhat's gone through my mind in the last twenty-two hours. Someone has to be on hand if the phone rings.

You know she'd been seeing a cardiac specialist at Abbott-Northwesternfor years, she said quietly. He wanted to push her away, out of his way, away from the dark territorythat was his past. I wish I could. He couldn'thave planted the jacket.