Page 54 of Special Agent Anastacia

“Don’t know what’s next. Never had to deal with two emergencies like these at the same time before. Guess Ana might know better’n me.”

“What will I know?” Ana slipped into the room, heading for her hot drink, stopping to add a good amount of the sweetener first.

“What’ll happen to our prisoner?”

***

Ana hadn’t given that much thought. After leaving the others at the dock, her only thought had been to find Hanna and make sure the girl had come through the disaster okay.

Thankful to find her making sandwiches with Nan to feed to the sheltered, she’d rushed to the girl. Both reaching for the other, Hanna spoke first. “Thank God you’re okay. I told Auntie Diana not to worry, that we’d gotten news that you were with Nash, and were both safe. She’s hysterical with worry.”

“Thank goodness you were able to speak with Mom. Since Dad died, she’s fragile. I’ll give her a call on the way back to the sheriff’s office. I just needed to see for myself that you were okay. How did it go with the firemen?”

Hanna’s eyes shone with sincerity. “They were so cool, Ana. I’m having a change of mind about being a cop. I’m thinking we’ll be needing firefighters in my country too.”

Chuckling, Ana gave her cousin a loving squeeze before releasing her hold. “You go, girl. You can be whatever you want. Thankfully, in the US, women have the right to follow their dreams.”

Ana glanced around. “Where’re the rest of the boys from the firetruck?”

“Oh, Nash gave them orders to clear the road heading out of town. He’s not letting them get too far from the lake though. Tiger said he’d be vigilante about the flames still hanging on around this area. They should be back soon.”

“Are you okay here with Nan and the rest of the families?”

“Sure. I’ve been busy helping wherever I can.”

From the corner of her eye, Ana spotted Justin sitting with a family, including Tracker and Jack. “I see some people we picked up on the boat over there. And Carly’s brother Justin is withthem too. I’ll just stop to say hi before going to find Nash. Wanna come along and meet them?”

“Sure.” Hanna’s open smile made Ana thank God that her cousin had survived this disaster so well. After what she’d suffered in her young life, one could understand her having a nervous breakdown from all this recent stress.

Chapter Thirty-eight

After Ana left, Hanna fixed a plate filled with sandwiches and cookies and went back to where her newly acquainted friend sat alone on the floor leaning against the wall. Knowing Carly as well as she did, it seemed right for her to befriend her brother too. “Justin, I’m really sorry to hear about your dad having to be in the hospital. I hope he recovers. Fire is a horrible thing.”

Justin brightened when he saw Ana’s cousin and her offering. “Hi Hanna.” He took the plate and laid it on his knee. He seemed to take a minute as if wondering if he should tell her what really happened. Noticing the look of grief in her eyes, sorrow that had reared it’s ugly head again after the recent fiascos, he appeared satisfied. Questioning her in a tinny voice, he said, “You wanna know what really happened?”

“Of course.”

“My dad didn’t get caught in the fire. He was beaten. By the same monster who hijacked Carly. Then the shithead threatened to kill me to get my dad to talk. But he couldn’t. My mom kepttelling Vlad we had no idea about the info he wanted, and the psycho wouldn’t believe her. He said he’d shoot me if they didn’t give up where the money was hidden.”

Hanna’s shock made her stomach tighten. Her voice squealed with indignation. “Oh, my God. It’s Vladimer?” She sputtered, her rage building. “That-that monster… went to your house and attacked you?”

“Yeah. We were lucky he didn’t kill us all. If Ana hadn’t saved us, he would have. I know it. We owe our lives to your Ana. And Nash. Except I’m kinda mad at him. He should have left Vlad inside the burning house instead of saving his life. The creepy dude didn’t deserve to live.”

Stumbling backwards from where she’d been crouching, Hanna collapsed next to Justin, leaning against the wall beside him. “Can you tell me happened?”

After taking a huge bite, with his mouth still full, he chewed frantically and then mumbled, “Sure. No one else will believe me anyway. I tried telling my friend Jack, and he looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Says I gotta stop watching cop shows on TV.”

Hanna scoffed. “He’s wrong, isn’t he? Look, I get it, Justin. I was with Carly when she escaped from Vlad, and he searched for us. She told me what he did at your house with your mom and Beth.” Hanna’s serious expression convinced him that she would trust whatever he told her, and so he began the story. “After the alarms blasted on our phones, Dad made us gather our gear. He wanted to leave the house before we got caught by the fire.”

“I wish me and Ana had been that smart. We got caught, and if the fire truck hadn’t saved us in time, we’d have been burned alive.” She shivered, pushing the memory away, and then poked at Justin. “Never mind about me. I want to know about you. What happened next?”

“Right. Okay. Just as we had everything gathered by the door, Dad went to step out, but this horrible man rushed at him andpushed him back inside. He had a gun. And he was scary and – and mean as hell.” Justin looked at her, the tears lurking in the back of his eyes. “I was terrified.”

Hanna soothed him with her gentle touch, and her soft voice. “He wanted you to be scared. I’ve seen Vlad in action. He’s rotten all the way through. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“We almost weren’t. He kept smacking on my dad, kicking him and hitting him with his gun, screaming shit like ‘tell me where the money is hidden’. Stuff like that. My mom tried talking sense to him, make him see we had no idea what he was ranting about. But he didn’t believe either of them. Finally, when he could see my dad wasn’t talking, he grabbed me, held me up and put the gun to my face.” Justin’s voice cracked over his last words. “I was sure I was going to die.”

Hanna leaned into him and took his hand, clinging tight. “Sweet Jesus. You poor guy. How horrible!”

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