Hannah stood up. “You can’t do this. He needs to go to the hospital. You can’t do this.” But the officers were already dragging Sean toward the door. He cast one look over his shoulder as they took him through the doorway, and Hannah’s last glimpse of him was of that frightened, battered face. Sean, who was so good. Sean, who was so warm and so clever. Fury boiled up inside her. She stepped up to the sheriff, chin raised high.
“I know who you are,” she said. “You think this bul shit is going to scare us off? You have no idea.” Her hand was in his face, pointing, aggressive. She laughed, laughed in his face, though she was crying too. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Initial y Pierce stared down at her, a look of sneering amusement painted on his face. But as she continued to rant at him the amusement disappeared and his expression changed to something vicious. He stepped forward, looming over her, and despite herself, Hannah took a step back. She was absolutely sure that he was going to hit her. Then she felt someone grab her arm and pul her away.
“Come on, Hannah,” said Sam. “Come on.”
Sean’s car keys had fal en onto the floor. She shook Sam off and bent to pick them up.
Pierce looked between Hannah and Sam and back again. “You should know better, Samuel, than to spend time with the likes of these people. Your grandfather is on the way to pick you up. I hope you have an explanation ready for him.” Pierce turned on his heel and walked for the door.
“You get Sean a doctor,” Hannah said. “You get him a fucking doctor, you hear me?” The door closed behind him and Hannah col apsed in on herself, sobbing. Sam moved his hand on her arm, stepped forward as if to comfort her.
“Hannah, I’m so sorry, I—”
She wrenched her arm from his grasp. “No,” she said. “No. Fuck you.” She stepped back, away from him. Every face in the bar was looking at her, and none of them were friendly. “I’m going to make you al pay,” she said. “Every single one of you.” The threat felt empty. She picked up her bag and coat from the back of the chair she had sat on when she’d eaten dinner with Sean just an hour before, and she turned and made for the door.
Hannah
FIFTEEN
SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 2019
Hannah burst out of the bar and into the parking lot. She saw the brake lights of a police car as it disappeared into the distance. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled with her phone. Her mind was blank . . . who could help her at eleven P.M. on a Friday night? She rang the number of the Project offices but no one answered. She didn’t have Rob Parekh’s cel number, but she did have Camila’s.
She tried Camila’s number once, twice, then a third time. No answer.
Shit. She was crying for real now. She hadn’t cried in years and years and now she couldn’t stop. She heard the doors open behind her and turned to see Sam coming out with his friends. They stood and stared at each other for a moment, and then Hannah turned away, started walking fast toward the highway. She couldn’t drive; she’d had two beers and she wasn’t stupid enough to give Pierce an excuse to pul her over. She would have to leave the car. She cal ed an Uber—she was tapping the accept ride button and standing at the entrance to the bar’s parking lot when a truck swept by. She got a glimpse of Sam’s face, pale and strained, staring at her from the passenger seat, and then they were gone. It took ten minutes for the car to arrive. She spent those minutes cal ing Camila’s phone number and sending group emails from her phone to the entire Project team, begging for someone, anyone, to cal her as soon as they got the messages. She thought about the men who had attacked Sean in the bar. They were stil inside. If they came out, if they saw her standing there alone, what would they do? When the car final y arrived, she al but threw herself into the backseat and answered the driver in monosyl ables. She wanted to go back to the inn, as quickly as possible. Beyond that she didn’t want to talk.
She had reached the inn when her phone final y rang. A number she didn’t recognize.
“Yes, hel o?” Hannah said.
“Hannah, it’s Robert Parekh. I got your email. Are you al right?”
He sounded calm, measured.
“Yes. No. It’s not me, it’s Sean. We were at a bar. I was talking to Samuel Fitzhugh. These three guys jumped Sean. They kicked the shit out of him. And then the police came—one of them was Jerome Pierce—and they arrested Sean. The guys who jumped him said Sean started it and everyone in the bar went along with the story. It was a setup.”
“Samuel Fitzhugh was part of a setup?”
“What? No . . . I don’t know.”
“Al right. That doesn’t matter for now. What matters is getting Sean medical attention. And bail as soon as we can get him in front of a magistrate. I’l take care of that, and I’l see if I can track his mom down. What about you? Where are you now? Are you safe?”
“I’m at the inn. I had to get an Uber—Sean’s car is stil at the bar.”
“But you’re al right?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” She was shaking, actual y. Her whole body was shaking so hard and she couldn’t tel if it was from cold or from fear.
“Okay,” he said. “Stay inside. Lock your door. I’l cal you back as soon as I know more.”
Hannah went inside. She used her key to unlock the front door and climbed the stairs to her room. She got into bed, ful y dressed, and pul ed the bedclothes over herself, hoping that if she could get warm, she could stop shaking, slow her body down, and start thinking again. But it got worse before it got better. The roaring in her ears, the spinning of the room. She closed her eyes tightly, pushed her fists against her forehead, and tried to concentrate only on her breathing. She breathed in and out, in and out, focusing on that until final y, slowing, the shaking started to ease and she came back to herself. Slowly, she sat up, looked about for her phone, and found it in the sheets. She checked it. No missed cal s, but it had been an hour since she spoke to Parekh. An hour? How was that possible.
She dialed his number. He answered immediately.
“Hannah?”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to know if you had been able to help Sean.”
“He’s being held at the police station over on Goodwin Neck Road,” Parekh said. “I’ve got a doctor on his way there now, but he’s driving over from Norfolk so it’s going to take him another fifteen minutes or so to get there. First bail hearing wil be at nine A.M. in the morning and you can bet your ass that Sean wil have the best representation in the county there with him.”
“You’re coming down?” Hannah said.
He paused, and when he answered his voice was dry. “While I appreciate your confidence in me, Hannah, given that the bail hearing is in the morning, I think we need someone there for Sean who is already familiar with the local judges. Particularly when we know that Pierce and Engle wil resort to dirty tricks. There’s no time for me to do any research.”
“I didn’t mean . . .” Hannah put a hand to her forehead. She stil felt stupid, as if her brain was on strike.
“No, that’s fine,” he said. “Look, I need to keep this line clear.
Sean’s mom is going to cal me back.”