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She smiled a little, her eyes softening. “They will be fine. I will be fine.”
“But you won’t be fine, will you?” I said. It wasn’t to be cruel, and she knew that. Her nervous system would continue to break down. There was nothing to be done about that.
“My health will decline whether you are here or not, Maggie. Do you think you getting caught by either Yorov or this agent will help me?”
“No, but that’s not the point. I am so tired of them, in a sense, running my life.”
She nodded and then sighed. “I get that. You are, of course, free to do as you wish. To go where you choose.”
I’d only come to Ashport five years ago because the last judge I’d worked for knew Gerard. It had made it easier to settle here, continuing working as a mender. It usually took years to establish yourself as someone people could trust.
“I’ve never met or heard of anyone else with the same ability as yours,” Annalise continued. “I suspect that is because people like you are either taken and controlled…or simply killed.”
What was there to say to that? She was likely right. It was at least what certain people had tried with me throughout the years. I drained the mug and sat there, keeping it between my hands, feeling the last of the heat retained by the porcelain.
“Let me know when Eddie’s ready,” I said after a while. “But I’m not leaving until I’m done with my work here.” I could not leave before Andrea and the three young men were safe. I didn’t have it in me to walk away. I also knew this likely meant one or the other of my enemies catching me. It was a chance I’d have to take, though.
“That’s understandable,” Annalise said. “I expected that.”
She probably didn’t like it, but she knew I wouldn’t be persuaded otherwise, either.
“I won’t like seeing you go, kid,” she added, “but I’ll be glad to know you’re safe.”
I shrugged. “For a couple of years, maybe,” I began as we heard someone pounding on the door. Excellent timing, I thought. The detective must have gotten himself into a cab.
“Is that the cop?” Annalise asked as she got up. She didn’t look happy.
“I suppose so,” I said, leaning forward and putting the now cold coffee mug on the table. I didn’t get up or turn around for their awkward, and frankly speaking, a little hostile meeting. She didn’t like him on principle, and he was pissed. I saw that after a few moments when he came into the room, eyes narrowed and looking at me. Yeah, he wasn’t too happy about me leaving him behind. Maybe a little miffed about the handcuffs, too.
I simply shrugged and pointed at the coffee mug. “Needed some coffee,” I said as a way of explanation.
“Since you’ve given my name and address,” Annalise said as she came over, “I hope that means he’s tame.”
“Nope,” I scoffed and shook my head. That’s when I noticed her eyes widening in shock. I was up and standing before Hansen managed to finish his sentence.
“Wait, that’s what Rob asked when—”
I heard myself shouting “No,” but Annalise didn’t even flinch. She turned toward Hansen and raised her hand a little before flinging him against the wall. I had seen her do things like this before, but it was absurd seeing him fly over the coffee table and hit one of the bookshelves, face first, as books piled down around him.
“Annalise, what the hell?” I shouted at her. She turned back toward me, hand stretched out toward Hansen, keeping him in place a couple of feet above the floor.
“Clearly, he can’t be trusted,” she said, voice steady, but hard. “And you bring himhere?”
“You guys told me to—”
“Not to do this,” she chided.
“Will you let me the hell down?” we heard Hansen say.
Annalise simply made a little flick of her hand and he was turned around, his back crashing into the bookshelf, a few more books dropping to the floor. I could see his face turning red. He was having trouble breathing.
There was little I could do. One step and she would do the same to me, no matter us being friends. She’d dealt with cops in her youth, and as far as I knew, she didn’t have particularly good memories.
“Annalise,” I said, trying for reason. “He isn’t here to make your life difficult. We’re here about those three men, remember?”
She looked at me and the disappointment in her eyes was unmistakable. The kind of disappointment kids dread from their parents, I guess. I wouldn’t really know, as all I could remember from my own was fright.
“The police need to be tame or somewhere far away,” Annalise said. At the same time, the look in her eyes became uncertain, like something was wrong. It took me a moment to realize her hand had started shaking. She tried overlooking it, but the small tremors manifested themselves on Hansen who started shaking as well. Then Annalise lost control and he fell to the floor.
