Chapter 12Julia Lawrence woke early, dressed, and made breakfast for her nearly two-year-old daughter, Gabriella. After breakfast, and without waking her sleeping mother, the two of them snuck quietly out of the house. Loading Gabriella into the stroller, they walked briskly down to the park. It was a weekend ritual, when she could manage a weekend off from work, that was. As a cop she didn't have the luxury of Monday through Friday, nine to five.
Gabriella loved the swings best. She laughed and laughed the higher, and harder she was pushed. Tiny hands gripped safety-plastic wrapped chains, and little legs kicked out at air as she swung back and forth. Julia never took time with her daughter for granted. The last few years flew by, especially the nine months spent pregnant.
When her boyf
