Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
As we waited for Sam and the rest of the collection of law enforcement to descend on Hannah, Kola explained what had happened to him and Jake.
Apparently, when the party was raided, everyone was taken downtown. At the station, the teens sat in holding, not in jail, because some of the kids were underage. When Kola and Jake had their turn to take their breathalyzer and it came up clean, the officer pushed them off to the side. When Kola smartly asked them to call Duncan Stiel, the officer’s attitude changed.
“I explained that Duncan was a close personal friend of my father’s, who is the chief deputy of the Northern District of Illinois.”
I nodded. “And that was that.”
“Pretty much,” Kola told me. “I mean, in a sea of drunk teenagers, Jake and I were the only sober ones, so that helped as well.”
“We just didn’t know where Hannah was,” Jake said, putting his arm around her and giving her a squeeze. “That was really the only scary part.”
She put her head on his shoulder, hand on his thigh, and snuggled in.
“Not getting arrested?” I asked him.
“We were detained,” Kola pointed out. “It’s not the same as arrested.”
I would have to ask Sam about that.
“I know for a lot of people that getting picked up by police is a big deal,” Kola told me. “But I’m lucky in that Dad is Dad, so I always have the parachute, as does any one of my friends who is with me.”
I agreed and so nodded, but the reality of everything was getting to me. Pretty soon, in a matter of one summer, Kola would be off to California—after the pandemic delay of two years—and Hannah would be going to the University of Chicago. And yes, Hannah would only be across town, but there would be more and more experiences that I was left out of. It was hard to tell myself that I would not be present in the day-to-day lives of my children anymore. The house would be so quiet without them. I’d devoted my life to them, and now they were leaving and I had to figure out where the next step of my own life would take me.
“Pa?” Kola prodded me.
“I wonder if when your father retires, if he’ll want to travel.”
All three of the kids turned to me at the same time.
“You’re all leaving me, so I have to figure out what I’m going to do.”
“Are you having a panic attack?”
I turned to my son. “I just have to figure out what the next step is for me. You guys don’t need me anymore and––”
“Ohmygod, I will always need you!” Hannah gasped, and suddenly she was bawling.
The adrenaline—I was guessing—had completely dissipated and how scary everything was came crashing down on her at once.
“There will never come a time when I don’t need you,” she wailed, turning into me, wrapping her arms around my neck and sobbing hard.
Kola was shaking his head at me. “Are you proud of yourself?”
“What happened here?” Sam grumbled as he walked up to us, flanked by Duncan and a lot of other law enforcement, like ATF and DEA and the FBI.
“Pa’s having a meltdown,” Kola tattled on me.
“Well, why wouldn’t he?” Sam growled at his son. “You all are gonna give him a damn heart attack.”
“Pot to kettle,” Kola volleyed back.
“What do you mean by that?” Sam groused at him.
“Maybe we wait on this part until we get home?” I suggested gently.
Sam’s glower was dark, but he didn’t say another word. Agent Blaire Thompson from the ATF asked Hannah to start at the beginning and take them through everything that had occurred.
It took a few moments for her to get herself under control. There was nose blowing and eye wiping, and her father had her drink some water before she began.
“Okay,” she said, smiling at everyone, sitting up a bit straighter. “You see, I was at this party, and there was a lot of smoke and everyone was drinking and I needed some air.”
I was surprised that no one said a word to interrupt her or tell her to skip to the important part, but I was guessing, from my husband’s crossed arms and lethal scowl, that no one would dare to say even one word to Hannah Kage.
“And then I saw this little lost dog and––”
“Speaking of,” Agent Thompson chimed in with a smile, “we have animal control on their way to check for a microchip, and if the little guy has one, we’ll make a call.”
“And if not?”
“Then you can take him home and foster him until you find his family.”
Hannah nodded happily. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
“Can we get––” The man, a DEA agent, was caught in Sam’s icy glare. “––sorry.”
Hannah explained how one man had tried to grab her after she put three on the ground, and then another man––