There was no answer to that. Ellie knew that if she were in his shoes, no force on Earth would keep her from her child.
She nodded.
The three of them headed for the house. At the front door, Ellie knocked.
Anything to put off the inevitable.
Then she opened the door.
Julia sat on the sofa with Alice tucked beside her. At the foot of the sofa was a small red suitcase.
Julia looked up at them. Her beautiful face glistened with tear tracks; her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. She didn’t move. Ellie was pretty sure she couldn’t. At the knock, Julia’s legs had probably given out on her. Max stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders.
“Mr. Azelle,” Julia said in a shaky voice. “I see you’ve brought Dr. Correll.” She nodded at the doctor and got to her feet. “Your reputation precedes you, Doctor.”
“As does yours,” Dr. Correll said. There was no hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I watched the tapes. Your work with her has been phenomenal. You should publish it in the journal.”
Julia looked down at Alice, who looked scared now.
“Jewlee?” Alice said, her voice spiking up in fear.
“It’s time for you to go now,” Julia said in a voice so quiet they all moved a little closer to hear.
Alice shook her head. “No go. Alice stay.”
“I wish you could, honey, but your daddy wants to love you, too.” She touched Alice’s tiny face. “You remember your mommy? She would have wanted this for you.”
“Jewlee Mommy.” There was no mistaking the fear in Alice’s voice now. She tried to hug Julia more tightly.
Julia worked to uncoil the girl’s spindly arms. “I wanted to be . . . but I’m not. No Jewlee Mommy. You have to go with your father.”
Alice went crazy. Kicking and screaming and growling and howling. She scratched Julia’s face and her own.
“Oh, honey, don’t,” Julia said, trying to calm the child, but she was crying too hard to be heard.
Dr. Correll swooped in and gave Alice a shot.
The child howled at that. A huge, desperate wail that came from all the dark places she’d seen in her life.
Ellie felt tears in her own eyes, stinging, blurring everything.
Julia held onto Alice, who slowly quieted as the sedative took effect.
“I’m sorry,” Julia said to her.
Alice’s eyes blinked heavily. She coiled her arms around Julia and stared at her. “Love. Jewlee.”
“And I love Alice.”
At that, Alice started to cry. It came with no sound, no shuddering, no childlike hysterics, just a soul deep release that turned into moisture and dripped down her puffy pink cheeks. She touched her tears, frowning. Then she looked up at Julia and whimpered two words before she fell asleep. “Real hurts.”
Julia whispered something none of them could hear. She looked ruined by those quietly spoken words and Alice’s tears.
They all stood there a moment, staring at each other. Then Dr. Correll said, “We should hurry.”
Julia nodded stiffly and carried Alice out to the Ferrari. She looked down into the passenger seat, then turned to George. “Where’s her booster seat?”
“She’s not a baby,” he said.