Page 123 of Torin

24

Hannah

The sheriff’s department is much busier than usual.

Deputies move between desks carrying folders and takeaway coffees. Phones ring somewhere deeper inside the building.

Conversation falters as I walk through the front door.

Heads turn.

“Hannah?”

The voice belongs to Mike Reynolds. He’s worked for my father for as long as I can remember. When I was six, he used to let me sit in his patrol car and switch the lights on for a few seconds while my father pretended not to notice.

He stares at me as though he’s seen a ghost.

“Oh my God.”

His chair scrapes backwards across the floor. “Hannah...”

The room erupts.

People spring to their feet. Someone calls for my father. Another deputy grabs his radio.

Linda hurries out from behind reception. I’ve known her since I was little enough to sit at her desk coloring while my father finished work.

She catches both my hands in hers. “Oh, sweetheart. We’ve been so worried.”

Her eyes fill with tears as she looks me over, taking in the bruises on my face and arms. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m okay.”

Behind her, a deputy speaks rapidly into his radio.

“Tell the Sheriff she’s here. She’s safe.”

Safe.

The word catches somewhere deep inside me.

They really believe I escaped.

I look around at the familiar faces. People I’ve known most of my life. Every one of them looks relieved to see me.

Nobody doubts my father.

As far as they’re concerned, the sheriff’s missing daughter has finally escaped from Professor Bennett.

Then the conversations die away.

My father steps out of the corridor leading to his office and stops when he sees me.

I spent most of the drive here imagining what would happen when he saw me. I still don’t know whether he’ll shout at me, threaten me, or pretend none of this ever happened.

For several seconds, he simply stares at me. Then his face crumples with relief.

“Hannah.”