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“Does he know about Leia?”
“No. When Maddie went to his place to tell him she was pregnant, he’d left, and she never saw him again.”
“So he’s not on the birth certificate?” Henry asks.
“Again, I don’t think so.”
“Do you think he’s going to want her when he finds out?”
“I don’t know.”
Henry glances at me in the mirror, then returns his gaze to the road.
We don’t speak again for the rest of the journey.
Chapter Eleven
Aroha
Henry parks out the front of the hospital. We find our way through the maze of corridors to the Forensic Pathology department, and James goes up to the woman on the front desk and explains why he’s there. He has to fill out a form, then she asks him to take a seat, and we sit with him in the visitor area. He’s gone pale again, and he’s breathing fast.
I touch his arm. “You okay?”
“Not really,” he says.
“Do you want me to do it?” Henry asks.
“I think it has to be a family member,” James says.
“It can be someone else who knew her, if you don’t want to do it,” Henry tells him.
James inhales deeply, then blows the breath out. I can see him steeling himself. “No, I’ll do it.”
“Would you like me to come with you?” I ask.
He looks at me. His turquoise eyes are dazzling. I can see him fighting with himself—the half of him that tells him he’s a man and he should be able to cope on his own, and the other half that craves support.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
I slide my hand into his. “I want to help.”
He swallows, then nods. “Okay.”
A man in a lab coat approaches us. “Mr. Rutherford?”
“James, please.” They shake hands.
“I’m Dr. Hemara. You’re here to identify the body of Madeleine Ann Rutherford?”
James nods.
“If you’d like to come with me, I’ll take you to the viewing room.”
He’s still holding my hand. “Is it okay if my friend comes?”
“Of course. This way.”
The two of us follow Dr. Hemara along a corridor, and then he pauses outside a door, his hand on the handle. “Okay, are you ready? I have to warn you that she has a few cuts and grazes from the fall.”
