25
Standing in the darkness near the docks, watching as moonlight played in the waves along the boats, Hannah called Eleanor, pressing the phone to her ear and telling herself to breathe. Julien hung back behind her, his arms crossed, watching over her. She had to learn to trust people more, to lean on them when they told her they cared for her. Maybe Julien was her first chance at real, unending love. Maybe Nantucket was her first chance at community.
Maybe she was doing the right thing. Maybe.
But when Eleanor answered the phone, Hannah’s voice shook with panic. “Okay,” she said, before Eleanor could say anything else. “But I don’t want him to die. Please, Eleanor.”
Eleanor didn’t speak. Rather, she hung up, leaving Hannah in yet another moment of panic, her legs shaking beneath her. Julien hurried up behind her to take her into his arms.
“I’m going to call the cops,” Hannah said. “Not Nantucket cops, but mainland cops. Maybe he took her to Boston or New York or…” Her thoughts reeled. She knew that Kendall probably had bank accounts all over the world, that he could set up shop wherever he wanted. Every time she imagined Kendall handingMinnie that blond wig and telling her to put it on, she wanted to throw up. How could he do this to their daughter?
But just then, just as Julien prepared to sway her one way or the other, Hannah’s phone rang again. It was an unknown number, an area code she didn’t recognize. But Julien saw it and said, “It’s the mainland. Answer it.” Hannah did.
Thank goodness she answered it. It was the call that changed everything.
“Mom?” Minnie’s voice was so small and frightened, coming to Hannah from who-knew-where. “Mom, I’m scared.”
Hannah nearly melted on the spot. “Honey, where are you?”
Minnie began to sob. They were enormous, heart-wrenching sobs that took Hannah out of her body. “I’m in the bathroom. At a hotel,” she said finally, gasping. “Dad’s staring is freaking me out, and all these cops just broke in. They’re arresting him.”
And it was true, Hannah realized now, because she could hear the brash voices, ordering Kendall around. Hannah ached with the need to be there for Minnie.
“Mom, I’m so sorry,” Minnie whispered. “I wasn’t thinking. I don’t know why I let it all happen like it did. Mom, I’m so, so…”
“We can talk about it later,” Hannah told her. “Stay on the phone, but tell the cops that you’re in the bathroom, that you want to be taken to the station. Call me when you get there.”
“Okay,” Minnie breathed.
Hannah squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus enough for both of them. She heard Minnie banging on the bathroom door to alert the cops to her location. She heard the screech of the door, then Minnie saying, “My mom's on the phone. Can I say goodbye to her before we go?”
Someone else grabbed the phone. “Is this Hannah Moore?” he asked. Hannah was amazed that he knew her name.
“It’s Hannah Moore,” she affirmed. “Please, take care of my girl. And tell me where you’re headed.”
The cop told her that they were in a little town about an hour north of Boston called Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “A crummy hotel,” the cop stated. “But we’re taking them to the station. You can pick your daughter up there after we file a report. But your husband, we’ll have to keep him.”
“Yes,” Minnie breathed. “Please, keep him.”
“Until the state of Florida comes to pick him up,” the cop added, then hung up.
Hannah stood, mind boggled, her arms hanging on either side of her. She gaped at Julien, realizing that she was on an island in the middle of the Atlantic, that she didn’t have the capabilities to get to the mainland tonight. All the ferries were finished and wouldn’t begin till tomorrow morning.
Julien seemed to know what she was thinking. With a tilt of his head, he said, “Come on.” He took her hand in his and led her to the far end of the dock, to a smaller, speedier ferry. Hannah stalled, watching as he lowered the ramp.
“You can take that?” she asked, glancing at the sailboats, wondering if there was a better and more legal option.
“Sailing on a sailboat would take three to four hours,” Julien said. “The ferry takes an hour. I’m guessing you want to be there sooner rather than later?”
Hannah nodded, then hurried aboard, following Julien to the cockpit. As he worked, he explained that he’d been a ferryboat driver for a good seven years before he’d trained as a harbor master. “I know these waters like the back of my hand,” he said, before turning on the engine, then hurrying down to untie the boat.
Slowly, he brought the ferry out onto the black, open water and sped it toward Hyannis Port. Throughout, Hannah sat beside him, checking her phone nonstop to see if Minnie had called. She prayed that one of the cops was a woman, that thewoman would see her daughter, make her a cup of hot chocolate, and wrap a blanket around her shoulders.
She prayed that they wouldn’t let Kendall say anything else to Minnie.
Oh, she could just imagine how he’d gotten Minnie off the island. Kendall had always been so manipulative, so good at drawing a boundary between Minnie and Hannah. She wondered if, during his time away from them, he’d been on a beach somewhere, plotting his kidnapping of Minnie. She wondered if he was disappointed in himself. She hoped he was.
Still, she was grateful that Eleanor had decided to take Hannah’s suggestion to have him arrested and charged for the crimes he’d committed, rather than doing away with him.
