I scrolled back to Nora Chen’s name and pressed dial.

The phone rang three times before she answered.

“Maddy?” Nora’s voice was sharp, instantly alert. “It’s late.”

“I need a favor, Nora,” I said, walking toward the exit doors of the waiting room. “A big one.”

“Are you okay? Is it Clara?”

“Clara is in the hospital,” I said, pushing open the heavy glass doors. “Julian did this. I have a drive. It has the Thorne family crest on it.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Nora knew the Thornes; she had helped me look into them before I retired from the state attorney’s office.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“County General,” I said. “The parking lot.”

“Give me twenty minutes,” Nora said. “Watch your back.”

The rain was coming down harder now, drumming against the concrete overhang.

I stood in the shadows near the emergency room entrance, the plastic bag tight in my fist.

Headlights cut through the dark, reflecting off the wet asphalt.

A beat-up blue sedan pulled into the far corner of the lot, its wipers scraping against the glass.