“WELL, HERE WE ARE,” ROB PAREKH SAID. HE WAS IN HIS
USUAL space, sitting at the top of the room on the edge of his desk.
“Al of our written motions are filed. Our expert witnesses are lined up. Today is about going through our pleadings and making sure every motion, every exhibit is in order and in the right place.”
Hannah was standing on one side of the room, Camila on the other. They hadn’t spoken for the rest of the walk into the office.
Hannah had half-expected Camila to burst into loud accusations as soon as they reached the Project office but she’d said nothing. She couldn’t be confident enough yet in her theories to want to share them with anyone else. Stil , Hannah was now very aware that she was operating on borrowed time.
“What about Neil Prosper?” Sean asked.
“Jim tried cal ing him yesterday,” Parekh said. “And we sent a process server to his house this morning. No luck. Looks like the family has decamped.”
“Shit,” Sean said, an expression of dismay on his face. “We should have stayed. We should have watched him, made sure he couldn’t run again.” He looked at Hannah, not with blame or suspicion but in a kind of wretched solidarity.
“The preliminary hearing won’t take more than a day, two at the very most,” Parekh said. “We’l do what we can to track him down.
I’m almost encouraged that he’s run. I was more afraid that we’d put him on the stand and he would lie. Now I feel like, if we get him there, we’l get the truth. That’s encouraging.” He sounded like a man trying to make the best out of a bad situation.
“Right, moving on. As you know we’ve been particularly concerned about Samuel Fitzhugh’s potential evidence. The prosecution is likely to use him on Monday to establish their case.
He was a compel ing witness as a child; he could be even more convincing as an adult.” Parekh paused, spread his hands wide. “Or not. We don’t know because we haven’t spoken with him. Jim and I have discussed it and we think the best chance of a positive outcome—and let’s be clear here that our expectations are low. I don’t want anyone getting their hopes up about this. But the best chance of a positive outcome is if a person close to Sam’s age approaches him. We think we need to take some of the formality out of it. Two guys in suits showing up would likely send him running for the hil s.”
There was a general murmur of agreement from the team.
“So we’d like you, Sean, and you, Hannah, to go to Yorktown tomorrow and see if you can track Samuel down. See if he’l talk to you. Everyone else, the hearing is on Monday, so today is the last working day. I want you to take the weekend off. Let’s go into Monday with our heads up and clear, ready to think on our feet. Al right?” He clapped his hands and stood up and people started to move.
“Sean, Hannah, a moment please,” Parekh said. They found a space in the corner of the room and Parekh lowered his voice, gave them a level gaze, his eyes very serious. clearly intended to convey serious intent. “Yorktown. Pierce is stil the sheriff. I want you to keep a low profile. Don’t take any risks. If Samuel doesn’t want to talk to you, you walk away, got it? I want absolutely no trouble.”
“Of course,” Sean said.
“Right. I know you know that this matters. I know I don’t need to ask you to do your best. Now, I want you both to take the rest of the night off. It’s already late. Get some rest and start fresh in the morning.”
Sean and Hannah picked up their coats and backpacks. Camila sat at her desk and watched them leave.
“You okay with this?” Sean asked.
“Fine,” Hannah said.
They’d just stepped out in the cool, fresh air when Hannah’s phone vibrated in her pocket. It was her mother.
“I need to take this, Sean.” She stepped away, pressed her phone to her ear. “Mom? Hel o?”
“Hannah, how are you?” Laura’s voice was tired, a little gravel y and strained, but she’d obviously sobered up a little.
“I’m fine.” Hannah emphasized the first word in the sentence. I’m fine. Did Laura realize she had answered the phone when Hannah’d cal ed her just a couple of hours earlier? Was that the reason for this cal ? There was a long pause on the other end of the line and Hannah’s grip on her phone tightened. She turned around on the path, looked back the way she had come. Sean was standing about fifteen yards back. He was on the phone too. “Mom, I can trust you, can’t I?”