“Where is your mother?” he asked gently.
The girl’s lip trembled.
“She’s at home. She’s really sick. She told me you leave work around this time on Wednesdays. She said if I waited here, I would find you.”
A cold feeling ran through Daniel that had nothing to do with the weather.
“How does your mother know when I leave the building?”
“She used to work there,” the girl answered simply. “Before she got sick.”
Daniel’s thoughts raced.
He employed hundreds of people. Without a name, it would be impossible to know who she meant.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Grace,” she said. “Grace Carter.”
The last name stirred a memory.
“And your mom?”
“Rachel Carter,” Grace replied. “She used to be your secretary before Miss Laura.”
Suddenly Daniel remembered.
Rachel Carter had been his executive assistant three years earlier. She was quiet but extremely capable. She had suddenly resigned, explaining that family issues required her to leave.
“Why didn’t your mother just call me?” Daniel asked softly.
Grace wiped her eyes with her mittened hands.
“Because she’s too proud,” she whispered. “She wanted to ask you herself, but she’s too sick to come. So she sent me.”
Daniel felt something tighten painfully in his chest.