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Lemmon took a shaky breath.
“He told me he killed her,” she said.
"He hit her in the head, but she's still breathing," Jessie assured her. "I'm going to go check on her now."
She was headed for the door when Dr. Lemmon called after her.
“How did you know I was in danger?” she asked.
Jessie shrugged.
“I guess I just got lucky.
Lemmon shook her head.
“I keep telling you, you make your own luck, Jessie Hunt.”
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Hannah could picture Ash Pierce in the bedroom closet, peeking out at her through the sliver of the door opening. As casually as she could, she sat back down on the bed, hoping to give the impression that she felt completely comfortable in this space, that she suspected nothing.
She scanned the rest of the room, looking for anything she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing. The best that she could come up with was the reading lamp on the end table, which was made of cheap plastic and probably weighed less than ten pounds total.
She thought about quickly rolling over the bed to get to the door, yanking it open, and running down the hall, screaming bloody murder. But then she remembered that she’d locked the door. By the time she rolled over the bed, got to it, then unlocked and opened it, Pierce would have time to shoot her, stab her, or whatever else she wanted. It was an untenable option. Still, she couldn’t just sit here.
She decided that her best bet was the lamp and some loud screaming. It was likely futile, but at least she'd go down fighting. She scooted over in the bed, hoping she appeared relaxed, aggressively not looking at the cracked closet door. Then, as quickly as she could, she popped off the far side of the bed, grabbed the lamp, and ripped the cord out of the wall.
“Don’t be stupid, Hannah,” a horrifyingly familiar voice said from behind her.
She turned around to see Ash Pierce, dressed all in black, wearing a hoodie. Her hair, now bleached blonde, peeked out from underneath it. She was holding a hunting knife in one hand and had her other one resting near a shoulder holster, where a gun was clearly visible. Hannah was frozen in place, but her vocal cords weren’t, and she opened her mouth to scream.
"I wouldn't do that," Pierce said quickly. "Think about what happens if you do. I'll have to deal with you forcefully. Once I've done that, I'll have no choice but to end your new friend downstairs. Right now, he still has a chance to come out of this unscathed. But if you start wailing, that's over. His death will be on your hands."
Hannah closed her mouth.
“You might as well put that thing down too,” Pierce continued, pointing at the lamp with her knife. “It’s not going to do you any good and it’ll make this whole experience as embarrassing for you as it will be traumatic.”
“What do you want?” Hannah growled. “You could have killed me already and been gone by now.”
“That would ruin all the fun,” Pierce said, pushing back the hoodie to reveal her short-cropped hair in its entirety. “Slow is better.”
Hannah thought about the cops, who were probably less than five minutes away by now, and agreed that slowmightactually be better for her, too. How slow could she make this go? But before she could consider that any further, there was a knock on the door.
"Hannah," Rufus said. "I know you heard what Grover was saying, and I get why you're upset. I would be too. But can I please come in so we can talk about it?"
Quicker than Hannah thought possible, Pierce moved closer so that they were now only separated by the bed. She held her finger up to her lips.
“Get him to leave,” she whispered. “If he comes in, he dies. If you warn him, he dies.”
“Hannah?” Rufus called out through the door, “Please talk to me.”
Pierce twisted the hunting knife in the air so that it gleamed in the light.
“I’m fine,” Hannah said. “I know it’s not your fault. He’s your boss. You have to do what he says.”
“Still,” Rufus replied, “I’d like to talk it out.”
Hannah was about to shut him down hard when another idea popped into her head. It was one that could put them both at risk, but if she sent him back downstairs clueless to the situation, she was pretty sure that Ash Pierce would still end up killing him. She had to warn him somehow.
