still don't know who she is.
Suddenly, I see her again. This time, I see her face. Brown eyes. Somehow, they look like they're about to cry. And thin red lips. I see her black hair flowing past her shoulders. She holds the pink marble in one hand and mutters something. I hear a name.
Leo?
"Antonio."
Triss's voice jolts me back to reality, like the snap of a finger drawing me out of a spell. The memory vanishes like a cloud of smoke.
"What are you doing holding Lara up like that?"
I realize I haven't put her down, though she doesn't seem to mind. Triss takes her and puts her on her lap.
"Sorry," I mutter.
"It's okay. What were you thinking of?"
"A flashback," I answer honestly. "Do you remember when you cooked curry and Lara laughed for the first time?"
"Yes. I'll never forget it."
"I had a flashback then. I was thinking of it now, and somehow the memory just expanded."
"Really? Why don't you think of it some more?"
I try, but I can't get anything else. I shake my head.
"It's Lara, isn't it?" Triss says. "Lara helps you remember. Maybe we shouldn't give her back."
I turn to Triss with furrowed eyebrows. "Triss, we've talked about this. Giving her back is the right thing to do."
"Is it? Her father left her with me. What kind of man does that?"
I shrug. "Maybe he didn't have a choice."
"Why wasn't he with his wife? Shouldn't she have been with her? And why didn't Ned hear anything about a missing baby? Doesn't that mean they're not looking for her?"
"We don't know that," I tell Triss. "We don't know anything. That's why we need the help of the police."
"What if the wrong people come forward? Like they're just pretending to be her parents."
"Child Services will be able to tell. Maggie isn't the only one who can get a DNA test done. They're not going to hand a baby over to some random couple just like that."
"What if her parents are bad?"
I let out a sigh. Triss isn't going to stop, is she?
"Triss, we've made our decision," I remind her. "We're going to hand Lara over to the authorities and they will find out where she truly belongs."
She ignores me. "What if someone tries to kidnap her again? What if she's taken from Child Services?"
I pause. Come to think of it, that is possible. I thought before that it was Jim who tried to take Lara because she was his daughter, but now I know that's not the case. Who tried to kidnap her? I'll be sure to ask Ned's friend tomorrow.
I squeeze Triss's hand. "Lara will be fine."
She shakes her head. "You don't know that."
"This was what you were planning on doing, too, remember? You were going to leave Lara and then I was going to contact Child Services."
"That was before someone tried to kidnap her. And before I got to spend time with her."
"Hey." I move closer to her and wrap an arm around her. "Everything will be fine. You still have me."
"I know that." Triss hugs Lara. "I just... can't stand the thought of not seeing her again."
I hug them both. "You don't know that for sure, either. You may yet see her again."
Triss doesn't answer. She just holds Lara tight. I notice someone staring at us so I pull away.
"Maybe we should go back to the hotel room," I suggest.
Triss nods. "Okay."
She stands up. I frown because she still looks gloomy.
"We can order room service," I say in an effort to cheer her up as we start walking. "They have ice cream on the menu. You love ice cream, don't you?"
Triss stops. "Actually, I think I want something else. Sally said something about a cafe that sells chocolate strawberry cake. She said it was the best she ever tasted. I think she said the name of the cafe was 'Whip and Wish'. Something like that."
"Sure," I say. "I'll put you and Lara in a cab and I'll go look for the cake."
Finally, she smiles. "Thanks."
~
I walk across the lobby of the hotel half an hour later. The cafe was just a block away from the park so I was able to reach it by walking. The problem was that there was no chocolate strawberry cake on display. I had to wait ten minutes for the baker to finish one.
I glance at the box I'm carrying. I hope this cake is as good as Sally said.
I step into the elevator and press the button for the tenth floor. When it