Source One

CHAPTER 1
     
    “Consider yourself lucky, Miss Clark. Very lucky. If it were up to me, I’d be prosecuting this.”
    Amber Clark looked down at her hands and twisted them in her lap.
    “All right. That’s enough,” her lawyer said.
    Amber watched the other attorney’s jaw clench. But he didn’t say another word.
    Amber and her lawyer rose and exited the office. Walked out of the courthouse into the July heat.
    When they reached Beth’s car, Amber hugged her. “Thank you for everything.”
    The attorney studied Amber. “Thank me by promising me. Never again. The only time I want you in a courthouse again is for work or to get married. Something like that.”
    Amber nodded. She smiled a small smile. “Never again. I promise.”
    “So what are you going to do now?” Beth asked.
    Amber bit her lip. “I don’t know.” She had lost her job for obvious reasons. No one wanted a nurse with an arrest on her record.
    The lawyer frowned. Dug into her bag and pulled out a card.
    “Call this agency. They help women get a fresh start.”
    ***
    “You’ve had a big day. You must be tired.”
    Katie’s chin was quivering as Brian tucked her in.
    He smoothed her hair. “What’s wrong, baby?”
    As if he didn’t know.
    “I missed Mommy today.”
    “Me too,” Brian whispered. “But I’m sure Mommy’s happy that your grandparents are here to visit us.”
    “Do you think Mommy can see me?”
    Brian’s heart tugged. He closed his eyes for a moment to ward off the moisture welling up. Opened them and smiled at Katie. “I really do.”
    He took a breath. “You’re going to the zoo tomorrow. That’ll be fun, right?”
    “Are you coming with us?”
    “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I have to work.”
    “Do you think I’ll get to see a giraffe?” Katie whispered.
    “I’m sure you will.” Brian leaned down to kiss her. “Goodnight.”
    “’Night, Daddy.”
    Brian walked out of Katie’s room and into his bedroom. He picked up his and Diana’s wedding picture and ran his thumb down her image. “God, we miss you, Diana.”
    Three months since her death, and it was barely any easier. For him or for Katie. It was way too much for a six year-old to have to process.
    ***
    Amber turned into the driveway of her mother’s house. She and her mother lived in a three-bedroom ranch home in San Rafael, California.
    Amber walked up the steps and opened the front door.
    “Amber?”
    “Yes. I’ll be there in a second, Mom.”
    Amber set the grocery bags onto the counter and walked into the bedroom.
    Her mother, Mary, pressed a button on the remote, and the television switched off.
    Amber took a breath. It was still a shock to see the blue scarf wrapped around her mother’s hair.
    Mary ’s hair was blonde like her own. But she’d lost most of it in recent months, because of the cancer treatments.
    Amber sat down beside her. “How are you feeling tonight?”
    “I’m all right. How did it go, honey?”
    “Fine, Mom. Just like my lawyer said it would. It’s over now.”
    Mary sighed and shook her head.
    Amber squeezed her hand. “What is it, Mom?”
    “You shouldn’t have, Amber. Now it’s on your record.”
    “What’s done is done, Mom. I had to and you know it.”

CHAPTER 2
     
    Amber entered the Starbucks in Larkspur on a Friday morning several weeks later.
    T he mother of one of Amber’s childhood friends was seated a few feet away. Amber’s heart began to beat faster.
    Mrs. Steele looked up. Saw Amber. Then she turned back to the woman she was with and bent her head in a conspiratorial whisper.
    Amber lowered the hand she’d begun to raise in a wave. She let out a sigh and walked to the back of the store. She was early and had time to use the restroom.
    Amber checked her reflection in the mirror after she dried her hands. She reentered the seating area and walked to a bistro table far from Mrs. Steele. Pulled out a chair and sat down.
    Brenda was nothing like her mother. But Amber hadn’t spoken to her since before her arrest. Brenda had left a couple of messages, but Amber had been too embarrassed to return the calls.
    Amber pressed her lips together and tried to put the thoughts out of her head.
    An attractive woman with long, dark hair approached her table ten minutes later. She looked like she was in her early thirties.
    “Are you Amber?”
    Amber stood. “Yes.”
    “I’m Michelle Lowell with Second Street. It’s nice to meet you.”
    Amber shook her outstretched hand.
    Michelle held a