“So Dean Van Meter never knew I was her daughter?”

“As far as I know, Casey never learned who adopted her child.”

“Then how did I get the scholarship to the Academy? After what you’ve told me, I don’t believe it was chance.”

“Henry arranged for the scholarship after your father was murdered. He also talked to someone at Brucher, Platt about putting you in his will shortly before your father was murdered, but he had his stroke and Casey was hurt and he never got around to it. He asked me about drafting a new will for him when he hired me to find you. Then he died.”

“Why would he care about me all of a sudden? He’d never done anything for me before.”

“He changed after the stroke almost killed him. He became very religious and he developed a social conscience. When he was younger, Henry had no sympathy for or interest in the poor. He believed in a class system run by men like his father who had started with nothing and became rich. The Academy started as an elite boys’ school and he didn’t let in girls until Casey was old enough to attend. In recent years, he started giving scholarships to deserving minority students and children of the poor.”

“That was big of him,” Ashley said bitterly. “And now he’s trying to manipulate me from the grave to get me to rescue a selfish bitch who thought nothing of giving me away so I wouldn’t interfere with her fucking and partying.”

“Like it or not, Casey Van Meter is your mother. If she comes out of her coma who knows what might happen between you.”

“Why should I care if anything happens? She never gave a damn about me.”

“Ashley, I know this has hit you hard. It’s overwhelming. Don’t make any decisions now. Give yourself some time to think it through. The hearing is next week. We’ve got some time.”

“If I go back, Joshua Maxfield will know where I am. Why should I risk that? What’s the chance that she’ll come out of her coma, anyway?”

“Henry invested a lot in a biotech company that’s working on a drug that offers some hope. It’s being administered to Casey as part of a trial.”

Ashley’s face was tight with anger.

“She gave me away, Jerry. I was nothing to her. Did she ever even try to find out what happened to me? Has she ever shown any interest in me at all?”

“I don’t know,” Jerry answered softly. “Look, you’re right. Casey was selfish…”

“Is selfish. Being unconscious doesn’t change her. She’s a self-centered bitch. I’m not going to risk my life to save her. I don’t care if she dies.”

Jerry could think of no argument to persuade her, so he said nothing.

“And my father, Terri… They lied to me my whole life. How could they do that?”

“They did it because they loved you. Don’t let your anger poison you. Your father was courageous. Think about it. He could have forgotten about you. It would have been easy. I bet you ninety-nine out of a hundred guys in his situation would have breathed a big sigh of relief when they found out that Henry Van Meter was tidying up their mistake and it wasn’t going to cost them a penny.

“He was poor, Ashley. To finish school he had to work all day and go nights. He gave up his scholarship, his normal life. He did it all for you. And Terri came through for you, too. How many young women would have run as soon as Norman told them that he had a kid? But she didn’t. She took you in, she made you her daughter.”

As Jerry talked about her family, Ashley’s anger faded. When he finished, she looked exhausted.

“It’s been so hard, Jerry, hiding all the time, living from moment to moment. Now this.”

“I know. I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through.”

The waiter walked out with their dinner, and they stopped talking. As soon as the waiter left, Jerry dove into his food. He was famished and he wanted to give Ashley time to think. Ashley picked at her dinner, as she tried to grasp what Jerry had just told her.

“This was good,” Jerry said when he was finished.

Ashley snapped out of her trance and looked at Jerry’s plate. There wasn’t a strand of pasta left.

“I guess you were hungry,” she said.

Jerry smiled sheepishly. “I told you I was starving.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and drank some more wine. “I need a place to stay. Is there a hotel you can recommend?”

“I have an apartment just north of Siena. It’s not far away. You could stay with me. There’s a guest room.”

“I don’t want to impose.”

“I’d really like it if you stayed. I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

“That settles it then.”

“You’re very kind, do you know that?”

Jerry blushed. “I’m just doing this so I can up my billable hours. I’ve got to pay the rent, you know.”

Now it was Ashley’s turn to reach across the table and lay her hand on top of Jerry’s.

“Thank you,” she said.

It was dark by the time they arrived at Ashley’s apartment. It was above a butcher shop, and the butcher was her landlord. She gave Jerry a tour. There was a small front room, a smaller kitchen, a bathroom with a narrow shower, a bedroom, and another room with a pullout sofa and a small dresser.

The apartment was sparsely furnished. There were no pictures or posters on the walls, or knickknacks on the shelves. It had the feel of temporary occupancy, a place that could be vacated on the spur of the moment.

Ashley kept a few pictures on her nightstand. Jerry thought he might have seen them in Ashley’s dorm room at the Academy. In one photograph, Terri and Norman Spencer smiled at the camera from the front lawn of the house in which Norman was murdered. In another, Terri and Norman flanked Ashley, their arms over her shoulders, large smiles plastered on the face of each member of the family. The last photograph had been taken after the district soccer finals. It showed the Eisenhower team with Ashley front and center holding the championship trophy. The pictures made Jerry sad. He tried to imagine what life must have been like for Ashley since she fled to Europe. Lonely was the first word that came to mind. Ashley had not known Italian, she had no friends, and she could not confide in anyone or get too comfortable in one place. Yet she had survived. She was tough.

Ashley found a pillowcase and some sheets and led Jerry into the room with the pullout sofa.

“You’re in here,” she told him. “I’m going to wash up while you settle in.”

Jerry put his clothes in the dresser and set up his bed. When he was done, he joined Ashley at the kitchen table. She had changed into a T-shirt and shorts and was sipping some wine.

“Want some? It’s a good local chianti.”

“No thanks. I’m exhausted. One drink would put me out.”

“I’m strong. I’d get you into bed.”

Jerry laughed. “How long have you been living here?” he asked.

“Five months. It’s the longest I’ve stayed in one place.”

“Made any friends?”

“A few. There’s a women’s football club. I’ve been playing for them. They don’t know my real name or anything about me. They think I’m taking a year off from college.”

“That’s good, that you have friends.”

“It’s made me feel like I belong, but it’s hard living a lie. I have to be careful to keep my fictitious life straight. I’ve made my story simple but I always have to be on guard.”

“Where do you play?”

“There’s a men’s pro team in town. We use their stadium. There’s a league. We play games on the weekends. Our crowds are small, but they’re enthusiastic. It’s fun.”

“Do you still have your old stuff?”

“I’m rusty but I’m holding my own.”

During the next hour, Ashley filled him in on what she’d done since fleeing the States. At some point, Jerry started to yawn. A few times, his eyes closed.

“It’s time for you to go to sleep,” Ashley said.

“Good thinking. I’m so exhausted I’m afraid I’ll pass out.”

Jerry stood up.

“It’s good seeing a familiar face again,” Ashley said.