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Gesturing toward the counter, Hanna indicated, “I was up early this morning and went to grab some breakfast at The Early Bird. It’s only the best coffee and doughnut shop in town.”
When she opened the lid on the box, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to turn her down. The treats looked far too delicious.
I plucked one out of the box. “Thanks.” After taking a single bite, I marveled, “Wow. These are excellent.”
“If I had known you were going to stop in this morning, I would have grabbed you a cup of coffee, too. It’s incredible,” Hanna replied.
“What’s the name of the place again?” I asked her, after swallowing another bite.
“The Early Bird.”
Nodding my understanding, I said, “I’ll have to stop in there one day soon to grab a cup.”
“You won’t be disappointed,” she assured me. “So, is there something I could help you with this morning?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly. I have somewhere I need to go this morning, but I thought I’d stop in on my way out to let you know that I looked at the calendar of events for this week here at Short and Sweet.”
There was no missing the change in her expression. It was clear she was feeling hopeful without trying to appear as such. “Oh? Did you have a question about something that’s on the schedule?” she wondered.
“No. I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking I’d like to join you here tomorrow night for game night,” I told her. “I wasn’t sure if you had an official sign-up sheet or anything like that.”
Surprise washed over her. “Really? You’re going to come to game night?”
I nodded. “Yes. You’re still planning to have it, right?”
Hanna couldn’t respond fast enough. “Yes. Yes, game night is still on. There’s no sign-up sheet for it, but it’s definitely happening.”
Smiling at her, I replied, “Perfect. I’m looking forward to it.”
The look on her face matched mine as she declared, “Me too. I’ll see you then, Ellery.”
“Sounds good. Have a great day, Hanna.”
“You, too.”
With that, I turned and walked out.
Once I was in my car, I couldn’t manage to wipe the smile off my face. It felt really good to do what I’d just done. I’d didn’t know what it was—maybe it was that she reminded me so much of my younger self, even if I didn’t think we were very far apart in age now—but I wanted to do something nice for Hanna.
I couldn’t miss the despondency in her tone yesterday, and I just wanted to do something to brighten her day. The truth was, she had already given me something I’d desperately needed by being willing to host me for such a long time, and I thought it would be nice to return the favor.
Plus, I was new in town. There was no question that I didn’t necessarily need to find myself caught up in a million different things that might take my focus off of what my ultimate goal was here, but I didn’t think it would be a bad idea to make a friend while I was doing that. I couldn’t say for sure, but based on Hanna’s reaction, I wondered if she might have been in a similar situation when it came to having friends.
But game nights and new friendships would have to wait, for now.
Because I was on my way to the place that I believed was going to become like a second home to me over the next several weeks and months.
Harper Security Ops.
Being in the position that I’d been in for so many years, I’d often thought about what it might be like if I ever attempted to walk away. Not once had I imagined that I’d be in such a dire situation, but when it became clear just how bad things were, I knew that I couldn’t make any rash decisions.
If there was any chance I’d be able to get out of my situation and do it safely, I needed the help and expertise of professionals.
Sure, I could have gone to the authorities about what I knew, but I was terrified. While I believed they would have done what was necessary regarding Patrick, I wasn’t convinced they’d do anything to protect me from the fallout.
And the truth was that there could be significant repercussions for any involvement I had in taking Patrick down.
So, I started doing research. I never imagined, though, that I’d find a place so close to where I lived.
