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“Thank you,” Hannah says, tears pricking her eyes.
The Deputy Director smiles. “Among all the swirling emotions you’re probably feeling, Hannah, I hope one of them is pride in how brilliantly you handled yourself today.”
46
HANNAH
“I’ve never been so exhausted in my life,” I murmur to Henn as we traipse down the short distance from my mom and sister’s hotel room to ours.
“We’ll get you into bed, and you can sleep as long as your body needs.”
“You’ll stay with me?”
Henn squeezes my hand. “I’ll never leave your side again, if you don’t want me to.”
I smile. “Well, that won’t be necessary. But I appreciate the sentiment.”
I’ve showered by now. All physical traces of today’s trauma, other than my bruises, have been washed down the drain. I’m wearing comfy pajamas and slippers Maddy brought for me, and my hand is firmly joined with Henn’s, the same way it’s been since we were reunited at the FBI building. Well, other than during my shower and when I wolfed down a meal from room service.
To my surprise, I’m doing amazingly well emotionally. Spending three relaxed hours with my family—Mom, Maddy, and Henn—did wonders for my soul. So did that cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate shake with extra whipped cream. I’m sure I’ll have some nightmares and other after-effects to overcome in the coming weeks and months, but I’m determined to address that sort of thing in therapy. As it stands now, however, I’m feeling confident I’ll wake up tomorrow after a good night’s sleep feeling almost like myself.
Henn and I reach our hotel room and head straight to the bathroom to brush our teeth before sliding into bed. Henn doesn’t have pajamas like me, so he strips to his underwear before crawling under the covers next to me. When he gets himself situated, he takes me into his arms, and I cuddle against his chest.
“You’re safe now,” he whispers. “Sleep as long as you can.”
I yawn. “I really want to tell you some things—stuff I haven’t had the courage to tell you before now. I want you to know everything about me. But I’m too tired to say it all now.”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“When I thought I was going to die, in that moment, I knew the only things that mattered to me in the whole world were you, Mom, and Maddy. That’s what my whole life boils down to—my love for you three. And Kat, too. She’s like a sister to me. I love more people than that, but when I thought I was going to die, those are the faces that flashed before my eyes.”
Henn pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. “When I thought you were going to die, I knew for a fact I wouldn’t survive the loss.” He kisses the top of my head again. “I’ve got some things to tell you, too—things I’ll never tell anyone else. Literally. But I want you to know everything about me, too.”
“I can’t wait to hear all of it.”
He kisses my head a third time. “Not now, though. Sleep. You’ve been through a lot. When we wake up, we’ll order a huge breakfast and talk all day, if you want. All week.”
“That sounds good. I’m gonna order blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Bacon, too.”
Henn chuckles. “Sounds good.”
I exhale, close my eyes, and snuggle closer. But sleep doesn’t come. “Henny?” I whisper. “Are you awake?”
“Yes.”
“How many departments of motor vehicles in how many states did you have to hack to make them think all those cars were registered in Greg Smith’s name? That was brilliant of you.”
“Yeah, brilliant, except for the part where it pushed a serial killer into having a full-blown psychotic breakdown and coming after you.”
“Bah, no plan is perfect.”
Henn chuckles. “It wasn’t a hack. I bought a whole bunch of shitty used cars the old-fashioned way and registered them all in his name. Immediately after each purchase, I always made sure the car would get ticketed and/or impounded by ditching it in a high-profile red zone, usually at the nearest airport.”
I lift my head, utterly floored. “You did what?”
Henn snickers. “I did it over and over again, in every possible city, even when I was only in a city for a short layover. And when I got too busy to keep doing it myself, I hired a hacker buddy who lives in a van to take over the job. And, man, did he come through for me. I think he’s bought close to a hundred-fifty cars in twenty states under Greg’s name. Oh, shit. I need to message him and tell him he can stop buying cars now. Ha!”
Henn slides out of bed, grabs his laptop, and clacks on his keyboard for a minute. When he crawls back next to me, his nearly naked body is cold as ice against mine.
“Oh, honey. Come here. Let me warm you up.”
