Chapter 60: Hostage, Part 20

Klempner

At the door, standing ajar, I hesitate, my stomach suddenly dropping away.

Have I done enough?

With muscles oddly reluctant to move, I tap on the door, very quietly.

"It's open."

I push, and too slowly, the door swings wider.

Jenny's sitting in a rocking chair by the window. Her hair, so like her mother's spills over a thick shawl pulled around her shoulders. A warm blanket covers her lap. And her face, while pale, has lost that sheen she had when Michael and I found her.

And held in her arms, wrapped in layers of knitted woollens...

Cara...

Your daughter.

My granddaughter.

I want to say something. Something appropriate, but I'm not sure what it should be.

I abused you...

Mistreated you...

Took my revenge on you...

For something you had no involvement in.

And as your gaze rises to me, you smile... "Father..."

When did I ever think to see you smile at me?

"May I come in?"

"Of course you can."