‘Enough of your excuses. Cut the crap,’ said Lisa. ‘And just tell me. Where is Sydney? I thought he and she were with you at the hospital.’
‘He and she?’ asked Hannah. ‘Are you referring to your father and your daughter?’
Lisa spoke in a low tone that was almost a growl. ‘Don’t fuck with me,’ she said. ‘You know what I mean.’
Hannah clasped her hands and pressed them against her lips. She wanted to be careful what she said. She wanted to say exactly what she meant. ‘Lisa, you’re a supremely intelligent person. I have to ask you something because I can’t come to grips with it. Were you always this way?’
‘What way?’ Lisa demanded.
‘It’s as if you don’t care anything about other people. The people who love you just don’t matter. Do you feel any . . . tenderness in your heart?’
‘Of course I do,’ said Lisa coolly. ‘I care about Sydney. You thought you were entitled to take her away from me whenever you pleased. Just because you wanted her all to yourself. And Dad, on the other hand, wanted to have easy access to her. The way he did to me.’
Hannah felt her anger flare but, once again, she stifled it. ‘That’s not true, Lisa. Not a word of it. And you know it.’
‘Were you with us every minute? You often left me alone with him. How do you know what he did?’ Lisa taunted her. ‘What makes you think he wasn’t creeping into my room and pulling down my jammies every night?’
Hannah recoiled from the disgusting image but remained calm. ‘I don’t believe you, for one thing, my darling. You have told one lie after another. I don’t even think you know what the truth is. And for another thing, I know your father.’
Lisa looked at her, her brow furrowed, her gaze skeptical. ‘What does that prove?’ she asked. ‘You know him? What does that even mean?’
Hannah looked at her daughter almost sorrowfully. ‘You really don’t know, do you? To me, that’s the saddest thing of all. You seem to have no idea what it means to know someone. To trust them.’
Lisa threw up her hands and began to pace. ‘Of course I know what it means. You’re saying that you know him. But what do you really know about him? You know that his name is Adam Wickes, and that you’re married to him. You know where he was born, and how old he is, and all that crap. That doesn’t mean you know what he’ll do. Or what he’s done.’
‘Yes, it does,’ said Hannah earnestly. ‘That’s exactly what it means. I know his heart. I know his character. I trust him. I believe what he says to me.’
Lisa turned and pointed a finger at her. ‘Oh, I see. You believe him but you don’t believe me.’
‘Should I believe you?’
‘I’m your child.’
‘Lisa, you tried to kill me. You pushed me in front of a subway train.’
Lisa looked at her, exasperated. ‘I had good reason. You took my daughter.’
‘To protect her from you,’ Hannah said defiantly.
‘I’m not listening to this again. Where is she?’ Lisa growled. ‘You’d better tell me. I’m going to count to ten.’
Hannah sat back down and avoided Lisa’s malevolent gaze. ‘They’re gone. Far away. You’ll never find them.’
Lisa lifted up a wooden desk chair by its back and smashed it against the wall. It made a giant, jagged crack in the plaster. Hannah jumped and let out a cry.
‘You can’t do this to me,’ Lisa insisted. ‘She is mine. You will give her back to me.’
‘I don’t know where they are,’ said Hannah. ‘We’ve done it that way on purpose.’
‘You bitch. I don’t believe you.’ Lisa reached over and grabbed Hannah by the neck. Her long fingers pressed against her mother’s windpipe. ‘Where’s your phone?’
Hannah shook her head. She could hardly breathe. Lisa reached down and began to rummage in Hannah’s pockets. ‘You always carried it in your pocket. It must be . . . Ah,’ she exclaimed. ‘Let me have a look.’ She operated the phone with one hand, keeping her grip on Hannah’s throat.
Hannah’s fingers clawed at Lisa’s powerful hand. She tried to gulp in some air. Lisa was scrolling through the calls. ‘Aha!’ she cried. ‘This has got to be it.’ She punched in a number on the phone, simultaneously letting go of Hannah, who fell back down on the chair, gasping for breath. She rubbed her throat with her hand. Tears ran down the side of her face as she heard the call going through. Lisa held the phone at an angle from her face so that Hannah could hear the voice saying, ‘Hannah? Babe? Are you there?’
‘Hi, Daddy,’ said Lisa in a silken tone. ‘Guess what?’
There was a silence on the other end. ‘Where is your mother?’ he asked warily.
‘She’s here with me. Say something, Mother.’
Lisa held the phone out toward Hannah, who was still gasping for breath. ‘Adam,’ she whispered.
‘Are you OK? Are you all right? What is she doing there? Has she hurt you?’
Hannah wanted to speak but only a squeak came out. ‘Don’t listen to anything she says.’
‘Bitch,’ said Lisa. She pulled the phone back and spoke into it. ‘This is the way it is. Bring Sydney back and I’ll let my mother live. Otherwise I’m going to finish the job I started on the subway.’
Hannah could hear Adam protesting and trying to reason with her. Lisa ended the call.
‘That will bring him back,’ said Lisa. ‘Now we wait.’
THIRTY-FIVE
Frank Petrusa was on the phone with the VA Hospital, trying to locate Titus, who had not shown up for group. He had a bad feeling about the depressed vet, who seemed to careen from hopefulness
