🚨 THE MAN WHO WAS LOOKING FOR NORAH — PART 2
🚨 THE MAN WHO WAS LOOKING FOR NORAH — PART 2
The child had stopped shivering. Then the questions began.
By the time we reached my townhouse, Norah had stopped shivering.
I should have been relieved.
Instead, I watched her from the front seat and felt something cold settle beneath my ribs.
She was too quiet.
Curled against the leather, she kept my coat wrapped around herself. Her damp shoes barely touched the floor. The stuffed rabbit remained locked against her chest.
Arthur glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
The city slid past outside.
Christmas lights blurred across the glá´€ss.
Red.
Gold.
Blue.
Everywhere, people were going home.
Norah had nowhere to go.
Arthur finally cleared his throat.
“Hospital?”
I looked at him.
He kept his eyes on the road.
“I can take us directly there.”
“Not yet.”
His eyebrows lifted slightly.
I looked down at Norah.
She was staring out the window.
“Norah?”
She didn’t answer.
“Sweetheart.”
Her eyes slowly turned toward me.
“Do you know where your mother is?”
Her fingers тιԍнтened around the rabbit.
“She told me to hide.”
The words stopped me cold.
“Hide from what?”
Norah looked toward the front windshield.
Then toward Arthur.
Then she leaned closer to me.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“He was angry.”
I felt every muscle in my body тιԍнтen.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“The man.”
“What man?”
Norah’s eyes filled with tears.
“The one who came to our house.”
Arthur’s hands тιԍнтened around the steering wheel.
I sat completely still.
“What did he do?”
Norah pressed her face into my coat.
“I don’t know.”
Her voice trembled.
“Mommy told me not to look.”
I stared at the child in my arms.
Three years ago, I had learned exactly what helplessness felt like.
It felt like watching doctors close a hospital door.
It felt like hearing a machine become silent.
It felt like signing papers with a hand that no longer felt connected to your body.
Now that same helplessness was crawling back.
But this time, I had a chance to stop it.
“Arthur.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Change direction.”
“To the hospital?”
“No.”
I looked through the rear window.
A black SUV had appeared several cars behind us.
It had been there at the last intersection.
And the one before that.
“Take the long way home.”
Arthur’s eyes met mine in the mirror.
He understood immediately.
The SUV stayed behind us.
Norah hadn’t noticed.
She was stroking the rabbit’s torn ear.
I lowered my voice.
“Norah, did that man hurt your mother?”
She stopped moving.
Slowly, she nodded.
My stomach turned.
“Is he looking for you?”
Her eyes lifted to mine.
She didn’t answer.
She didn’t have to.
The fear in her face was enough.
Then her little hand suddenly grabbed my wrist.
She squeezed hard.
“Don’t let him find me.”
I looked at the black SUV again.
It turned when we turned.
My pulse slowed.
Not from fear.
From anger.
Someone had hurt this child’s mother.
Someone had left her alone in the freezing cold.
And now someone was following the car carrying her.
I pulled Norah closer.
“You’re safe.”
But as the SUV disappeared around the next corner, I realized I had made a dangerous promise.
Because whoever was hunting Norah had just chosen the wrong man to follow.
And before the night was over, I intended to find out why.
