Clay searched for a way to distract the woman on his right who sat staring straight ahead, as rigid as the principles of right and wrong that had brought her to this juncture.He glanced again in the rearview mirror. His line of vision shifted from the vacant area beyond the rear of the car to the small figure in the back seat. Alex was secured in place with a seat belt, but the boy was still of an age where car seats were the norm. He’d seen the look of concern on Ilene’s face when she’d strapped her son in.“My father has an old car seat in the garage.” Clay remembered stumbling across it not that long ago, wondering if his father was saving it for his first grandchild. “I think it was Rayne’s.”For a second, she didn’t realize that Clay was talking to her. Lost in her own thoughts, in fears that she was struggling to make sense of, it took Ilene a moment to replay the words that had been directed toward her. “What?”Watching the car in the rearview mirror as he made a left-hand turn, Clay waited until it continued straight before answering.
