Chapter 145

• It was late afternoon when Claudia came into my office, her laptop balanced in one hand and a folder tucked under her arm. The light outside had that soft, fading quality, the kind that made the gold lettering on the boutique’s front window glow against the street. She didn’t knock, just leaned her head through the doorway and asked if I had a minute.
• Her tone was even, but there was a brightness in her eyes I recognized immediately. Claudia only got that look when she had been thinking about something for long enough to convince herself it was worth saying aloud.
• “Come in,” I said, closing the sketch I had been working on.