AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hannah shook herhead vigorously.
“But that’s thewhole point, Jenny,” she insisted. “If we’re going to shake her out of hercomfort zone, it’s by making her face someone she has history with. It’s theonly way to know if she’s credible.”
“I don’t thinkshe’d even talk to you,” Jenny said skeptically.
“Why not?” Hannahasked, coming to a startling epiphany as she posed the question. “If she’sreally forgotten everything, then she’d have no reason to say no to talkingwith me. I’m just some girl. And if this is all a ruse, she’d betraythat by refusing to see me. After all, it’d look awfully suspicious to refuseto talk to some teenage girl you have no personal history with. Either way, herresponse will be revealing. That alone is enough of a reason to try.”
Jenny’s skepticismhad clearly subsided. In fact, she now looked as committed to the mission asHannah was.
"In thatcase, however, this goes, you're going to need more than just your personalrecollection of the encounter. Telling people that she coughed or blinked orsomething when she saw you won't be convincing, considering that you're notexactly objective."
“What do youpropose, Jenny?” Hannah asked, intrigued.
The nurse glancedaround, making sure no one else was in hearing distance.
"There's avideo surveillance system," Jenny whispered. "The security team usesit for observation when there's no one else in the room with Pierce, as asafety precaution to make sure she's not secretly trying to escape herrestraints. The system is normally just in "monitor" mode, but itdoes have a "record" function, which isn't typically used. But whenyou head that way, I could activate it. However, she responds, you'll have arecord of it."
Nurse Jenny,”Hannah said, unable to hide her excitement, “you are an unexpected delight.Let’s absolutely do that.”
“Okay,” the nursesaid, her tone more grave. “Just make sure you don’t waste the opportunity. Idoubt you’ll get another chance at this.”
“Don’t worry, Iwon’t,” Hannah promised.
“She is in room522,” Jenny told her. “The officer in charge is named Gaston. Tell him the samestory you told Ernie. That’ll get you close. The rest is up to you.”
Hannah nodded,then turned in the direction of the room. As she rounded a corner and saw thecontingent of officers outside Pierce’s door, her heart started pounding again.This was it—potentially her one and only opportunity to find out if Ash Piercewas on the level. She couldn’t blow it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Stop!” barked thethick-trunked officer with the name Gaston pinned to his uniform. “This is asecure area.”
Hannah instructedher body to quake in something approximating fright. It wasn’t all that hard.When she replied, she reminded herself to keep her voice high-pitched andquavery, like the uncertain teenager she wanted him to see.
“I know,” she saidhesitantly, though she kept advancing, “but I’m doing a school project, and Iwas told it was that it was okay to be here.”
“Who told youthat?” Officer Gaston demanded, “and stop moving forward.”
“Um, Nurse Jennyat the station,” she explained. “She’s a friend of the family. I want to be anurse and she said I could come check out the hospital.”
“And she gave youpermission to walk in this area, unaccompanied?” he asked skeptically.
“Well no,” Hannahreplied, not wanting to put the woman’s job in any more jeopardy than italready was. “She got busy working and I just thought I’d check stuff out on myown. Is that cool?”
“No, it is notcool,” he retorted. “Officer Braden, search her.”
Another officerapproached her, his right hand uncomfortably close to his gun holster.
“Ma’am, I need youto extend your hands out to the side,” Officer Braden said. “I’m going tosearch you.”
“Why do you needto search me in a hospital?” she protested even as she raised her arms, doingher best to seem oblivious to the nature of the situation.
“As I said before,young lady, this is a secure unit,” Gaston retorted in disbelief. “Didn’t Jennyexplain what that meant?”
Officer Bradenbegan to pat her down as she maintained a vibe of cluelessness.
“She saidsomething about it,” Hannah conceded, “but I wasn’t paying super-closeattention. I guess I just thought it meant that you take extra care of yourpatients up here, like maybe they were famous celebrities or something. But areyou saying that you keep, like, criminals here?”
“She’s clean,”Officer Braden said, stepping away. “You can put your hands down, ma’am.”
