“And for four months, you protected a friend instead of telling the people investigating what you knew?”
His throat tightened.
“Yes.”
For a moment, she looked as though she might strike him.
Then she stepped closer.
“You sat with my niece for three hours yesterday. You let her believe you were safe.”
Hammer looked toward the floor.
Mara's voice broke.
“Were you?”
He swallowed.
“I didn't hurt her.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Hammer looked up.
“No.”
Mara stared.
His eyes were wet.
“I wasn't safe enough for her if I was still protecting the silence around the man she feared.”
For a moment, the anger in Mara's face faltered.
She hadn't expected him to answer that way.
Hammer continued.
“I can't change what I failed to do. I've spoken to Detective Fields. The club has authorized an independent review, and I'm stepping aside from leadership while my conduct is examined.”
Mara looked away.
“Do you expect me to thank you?”
“No.”
“Forgive you?”
“No.”
She looked back.
“Then why are you here?”
Hammer held out the bag.
“Because she made these with me. And I didn't want her to think they disappeared.”
For several seconds, Mara stared.
Then she took the paper bag.
Her hands trembled.
Hammer nodded.
“I won't come back unless you or Lucy want me to.”
He turned toward the corridor.
Then Mara spoke.
“Mr. Dawson.”
He stopped.
She looked toward the paper cranes.
For a moment, her eyes filled.
“Lucy asked about you this morning.”
Hammer turned slowly.
Mara swallowed.
“She wanted to know whether the muddy man was angry with her.”
His face crumpled.
He shook his head.
“No.”
Mara nodded.
“I told her that.”
Hammer looked toward the closed hospital-room door.
For a long moment, he struggled to speak.
Then whispered.
“Please tell her she didn't do anything wrong.”
Mara studied him.
Then answered quietly.
“I will.”
Hammer walked away.
He hadn't been forgiven.
He hadn't repaired the past.
But for once, he had left without asking anyone to make him feel better about what he'd done.
And that was the beginning of a different kind of responsibility.
Lucy didn't ask to see Hammer again for eleven days.
During that time, she continued attending her appointments, visiting her mother, and participating in carefully structured activities with Dr. Shah. Some mornings she was cheerful. Others she refused to speak until lunchtime. On one difficult afternoon, she became frightened when a maintenance worker walked past the playroom wearing a black jacket with an embroidered bird on the shoulder.