Page 48 of Wishing Stone

Krystina

“You mean, turn myself in?” Hannah asked hesitantly.

“Well…” I trailed off as I scrambled to find the right words. I was terrified that a confirmation would have her pointing the gun at my chest once more. Nevertheless, honesty hadn’t steered me wrong so far, so I stayed the course. “I’m afraid I don’t see any other way. So yes, it means turning yourself in—but only so we can get this all sorted out.”

I studied her face. A civil war battled in her wide, chocolate-colored eyes, torn about accepting my offer to help. When her lower lip began to tremble and tears began to fall, I held my breath. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I silently hoped the display of emotion was a sign of surrender.

Without warning, Hannah dropped to her knees. The gun fell to the ground as she brought her hands up to cover her face. When she began to sob, her cries were loud and heart-wrenching.

So many emotions swirled inside me—relief, anger, sympathy, sadness. I didn’t know what to do, so I let my instincts guide me. Kneeling on the floor next to her, I discreetly kicked the gun out of reach, then draped my arm over her shoulders.

“Shhh,” I whispered. “Everything will be okay.”

I stroked her back while she sobbed. We stayed like that for a few moments before Hannah eventually raised her head to look at me with a tear-stained face.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen after I walk out of here,” she said. “I know you think you can use your connections to help me, but knowing my luck, I’ll still face time.”

“You don’t know that. I can—”

“No, listen. Please,” she interrupted. “I know I fucked up, and I’ll do whatever it is I have to do to make it right. If a judge wants me to volunteer my time dancing in a chicken costume in Times Square, that’s what I’ll do. But if he gives me prison time, I have no family to take care of my daughter. I grew up in foster care, and that can’t happen to Eva. She’s too good—untainted. So if I have to go away for a bit, I need to know she’ll be somewhere safe. Can you make sure of that?”

I blinked, not entirely sure what she was asking of me.

“I can try, Hannah. I don’t know if I’ll have much sway with Child Protective Services, though.”

“I doubt CPS will dare tell someone like you that you can’t take Eva into your home.”

My brow furrowed in confusion, and I frowned.

“Wait. Me? You wantmeto take her in?”

“Only if I have to spend time in jail. I need to keep Eva out of the system. You can understand that, can’t you?”

I thought about everything Alexander had told me about his childhood. He’d spent most of his youth living in poverty. If his grandparents hadn’t taken him and Justine in after the tragedy with their parents, he might have ended up lost in the system too. Given the burdens he was carrying at such a young age, who knew how he would have fared?

I momentarily considered Alexander’s thoughts about possibly taking in Hannah’s daughter but quickly dismissed any pondering of that. At the end of the day, I knew Alexander would want me to say whatever I had to if it meant getting out of here in one piece.

Slowly, I nodded my head. “I understand your concern. I’ll do what I can, but let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

She closed her eyes, and I watched her shoulders visibly relax. It was as if she could finally breathe, knowing that her child would be cared for if anything were to happen to her. When she opened her eyes, they were clear. Her resolve was evident in her spine as if she were preparing to take on any challenge the world threw at her.

Sucking in a shaky breath, she glanced toward the door and said, “I’m ready to go out. It’s time to face the music.”

Not wanting to delay another second to get out of the building, I stood up from my crouched position. Hannah followed suit, and we both left the conference room.

Following the long corridor to the main vestibule, I paused just before reaching the glass doors. From my vantage point, I could see several police cars on the street in front of Stone’s Hope. People in uniform lined the curb, blocking the crowd gathered behind them. I assumed the group included Claire, the staff, and the mothers and children who managed to escape earlier.

“Let me go first,” I said to Hannah. “Put your hands up and follow me out.”

As soon as the two of us stepped out into the cold, Hannah was promptly surrounded by police officers. Orders were shouted from my left and right, instantly sweeping me up in total chaos. Only one thing was able to bring me back into focus—a pair of piercing blue sapphire eyes.

Alex.

I’d never been so happy to see him, and my shoulders sagged with relief. I wanted to run to him, but the rage in those gorgeous blues rooted me to the spot. His gaze was frigid and empty of the usual affection he showed me. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him appear so angry. Instinctively, I reached up to replace my masks that had been hooked under my chin—not because I thought that was the sole reason for his fury, but because I thought it might give him less reason to be so mad.

Flanked by two police officers, he stood rigid with his arms behind his back. He wasn’t wearing a winter coat, having only his immaculately tailored black suit jacket for warmth. His red tie was knotted with precision as usual, but there was something off about his appearance as well. He seemed uncharacteristically disheveled. I hesitantly took a couple of steps forward, only to stop again when I realized why he stood so still.

Is he in handcuffs?

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