Veracity (45 page)

Lilly retrieves the disk and hands it to her friend. Reginald takes it to a screen posted on the wall and pops it into the reader. Immediately, an image appears. It's the room I've dreamt of. A living room holding a chair, a tall brass floor lamp with a neck that extends, a small side table with curved legs. Soft light is coming through the window, turning the room yellow just like in my nightmare.

John walks in and comes to stand in front of the camera. He gets down on one knee so I'm staring at his face. "Hello, Harper." He smiles and I put a hand over my mouth.
It's a good sign.
"I wish there was time for me to tell you everything that's happened . . ." He pauses to look down at some spot on the floor. "And how much I'm looking forward to seeing you when you arrive in Washington. But I have to go back almost this minute, and there's someone I've had the luck to
find who'll be coming back with me." John looks to his right, smiles back at me, and ducks out of the picture.

"Oh, Harper!" Lilly puts a hand on my thigh.

There is my daughter. Taking the same seat as in my dream. Her hair is long, now darker and thicker. Her face less round. More like a woman's.

"Mom." Her eyes go slowly to the camera. She's shy, not sure how to talk to me from so far away. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you in Chalmers. And I'm sorry I didn't take your call." She pauses to wipe away a few quick tears. "I know you were just trying to keep what happened to Hannah from happening to me."

Veracity sits back to pull a tissue from her hip pocket. "I understand what you're doing. I don't have to go by Sarah anymore," she says. "You were trying to give me back my name . . ."

I put a hand out and touch the screen as my daughter's voice fills the room.

". . . Veracity."