Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
“I need to call my parents,” Hannah stated to Chief Ricco.
The chief nodded. “Okay. We’re done here for the moment.”
“My phone is dead. It got ruined when I landed in the water.”
He pointed to the phone on the wall. “You can use that one. Dial nine first.”
Hannah’s knees wobbled when she stood. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her parents more than they already were over this whole Sebastián thing, but she needed to hear her mom’s voice.
She needed to tell her what had happened.
She needed Mom to tell her everything would be okay, but would it?
With shaky fingers, she dialed her mom’s cell number. No answer. She dialed her dad’s number. No answer. Dread laced every cell of her being. They always answered. Of all days to not answer, why today, when she desperately needed to hear their voices?
She hung up and spun at the waist to look at the chief. “They aren’t answering. I’m going to try my brother, Kane.”
The chief nodded.
Her chest tightened. Something just didn’t feel right.
She dialed her brother Kane’s number, and he answered on the first ring.
“Hello.”
“Hi, it’s Hannah.”
“The number came up as Iron County Police. Are you okay? I’ve been trying to call you,” her brother replied.
The tension in her unexcitable older brother’s voice let her know her heart was right. Something was wrong.
“What’s wrong?” she asked hurriedly.
The dead air scared her, but it was her brother’s audible swallow that horrified her.
“Are Mom and Dad okay? Is Lance okay?”
Kane cleared his throat. “Lance is fine, but Mom and Dad were in a car accident.”
“Are they...okay?” her voice squeaked.
Chief Ricco appeared in front of her. His curious gaze glued to her.
“No,” her normally confident brother’s voice cracked.
She felt hot. Her knees grew weak.
The chief grabbed her upper arm and steadied her as he yanked a chair from beside the table with his other hand and then motioned for her to sit.
Until she heard the chief speak, she hadn’t realized he’d taken the phone receiver from her.
“This is Chief Ricco from the Iron City Police Department. Who am I speaking with?”
Hannah heard her brother’s voice over the phone’s speaker.
“I’m Kane Rice, Hannah’s brother. Is she okay?”
Hannah nodded at the chief as if giving him permission to speak.
“She was involved in an incident today. She’s got a few scrapes and bruises, but physically she’ll be fine.”
“Incident?”
“We can get into that in a minute. I heard her ask you if they were okay. Who was she referring to, and what happened?”
“Our parents,” Hannah whispered in unison with her brother.
“What happened?” the chief asked.
Hannah drew in a breath, waiting for Kane’s response.
“They were...killed in an accident earlier today. From what I understand, they were run off the road. Their car rolled down a steep ditch, and the other driver sped away.”
Hannah buried her face in her hands and wept.
Her brother’s voice faded, and all she could hear were her uncontrollable gasps. Arms wrapped around her, and she clutched herself to the person.
“Shh. Oh my. I’m so sorry,” an unfamiliar female voice comforted.
The surrounding arms tightened, and she rocked her slightly in a soothing manner, like one would a baby.
Hannah let this stranger hold her. Stranger. Hannah pulled back and used her hands to swipe the tears from her eyes. The woman kneeling in front of her eased back, but kept her hands on her shoulders. Sympathetic green eyes studied her.
“Can I get you anything? Water?” the woman asked softly.
Hannah shook her head.
“I’m Clare Ricco, the chief’s wife.”
Though the woman wore a navy business suit, she stayed kneeling on the floor in front of her. Long, wavy red hair framed her pale face. Empathy emanated from her gaze. Where had this kind woman come from in this split second?
Hannah nodded, then turned her head to find Bianca, who still sat on the opposite side of the metal table. She stared into space, looking emotionless. Why hadn’t her friend come to her side to console her? Yet this woman she didn’t know, had seen fit to do so.
“Bianca,” Hannah said.
Her friend snapped out of her trance and looked at her.
“I gotta get out of here,” Bianca said, as she rose to her feet. “I need out of here now, and I need to call my dad.”
Hannah’s heart slammed in her chest. Her friend offered her nothing. No comforting words. No consoling hug. Nothing. She just wanted out. They’d lost their best friend today, and she lost her parents, and Bianca couldn’t see fit to help her through this devastating moment.
Bianca looked at her cell phone. “It’s dead.”
The word triggered Hannah, and she sobbed.
“Use this one,” she heard the chief say.
Clare rose, guiding Hannah up along with her.
“Let’s go to my office. It’s more comfortable.”
Not knowing what to say or do, Hannah followed the kind woman without question. She couldn’t think.
Clare held the upper part of her arm as they walked down the long, narrow corridor they’d been in earlier toward the back of the building.
They stepped through a glass door etched with white lettering.
The letters were just a blur to her through her watery eyes.
After walking past a couple of waiting room chairs, the kind you see in a doctor’s office, they passed through another doorway into an office.
Clare motioned for her to sit in an oversized leather chair, then she walked over to a small counter area and filled a glass of water from a dispenser.
She handed the water to her, and she took a sip of the cool liquid before setting the glass down on the square cocktail table in front of her. Clare sat in an identical chair opposite the table.
Hannah looked around the office. A desk sat in the corner, along with a couple of file cabinets.
The walls were painted a warm green color.
Her gaze was fixed on the framed degree hanging by the desk.
The woman held a Ph.D. in Psychology. This made sense.
This is how she knew how to comfort her.
Unlike Bianca. The thought of Bianca’s icy heart made Hannah angry.
The anger quickly disappeared, pushed away by overwhelming grief. Her parents. She sobbed. Any more pressure on her heart and it would surely explode.
Clare tried to comfort her.
How could she live without them? What was she supposed to do? She needed to get home. Be with her brothers. Kane was home in Minnesota, but Lance would have to come home from Germany. Would the Army let him?
Hannah plucked a handful of tissues from the box Clare handed to her and dried her eyes and wiped her nose.
“I need to get home.”
“I know, sweetie. When you’re ready. Just please take a few minutes to process what’s happened. Make yourself comfortable in here. I can sit with you, or leave you alone. There’s a phone on my desk you can use to call your brother. Just let me know what you want to do.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“I know. Do you want to call your brother again?”
She nodded and rose. Good heavens, her knees felt so weak.
Her brother answered on the first ring. “I just finished speaking with Chief Ricco. Jeez, Hannah, I don’t know what to say. This is all so unbelievable.”
“I know.”
“Between what happened to you and your friends today, and Mom and Dad, the chief thinks you are in real danger. Who would do this to you?”
“What do you mean about Mom and Dad? Someone intentionally did this to them?”
The question she asked made her head spin.
The longer the silence from her brother, the faster her pulse pounded.
“According to the witnesses, it appears the other vehicle intentionally ran Mom and Dad off the road. Who would do that to them? For heaven’s sake, they are...were, just your normal, everyday people.”
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“I don’t know. But what I do know is that we need to get you home. I need you here. I need to watch over you.”
Kane was always the overprotective older brother, as was Lance, and as a teenager, it drove her insane, but now, she wanted nothing more than to be with them. Comforted and protected by them.
But did she really want to be home? Home would be different now. Forever changed.