Grace said, “Why?”
Melissa’s fingers closed around each other.
“Because Victor Hale killed my father.”
The courtroom erupted.
Someone gasped.
A reporter in the back stood so quickly his notebook fell.
Victor shouted, “That is a lie!”
The bailiff moved toward him.
Judge Monroe struck her gavel.
“Order!”
Melissa stared at Victor.
Tears filled her eyes, but her voice did not shake.
“My father was Mateo Soto.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I knew Melissa’s last name.
Ward.
I had never known her mother’s maiden name.
I had never asked.
Why would I?
Victor certainly had not volunteered it.
Grace placed a photograph on the screen.
Mateo Soto standing beside a younger woman at a graduation.
The woman was nineteen.
Dark hair.
Bright smile.
Melissa.
I covered my mouth.
She looked so young.
Mateo had his arm around her shoulders.
Grace said softly, “Ms. Ward, why do you use the surname Ward?”
