Page 40 of The Perfect Revenge
The couple's geolocation data would still need to be checked, and their alibis for the murders had to be confirmed, but Jessie wasn't optimistic that anything they might discover would change her conclusion: these two weren't who they were after.
Susannah hung up, and Jessie was about to share what she'd been thinking when a call came through.It was from Jamil.She put it on speaker.
“You’ve got me and Susannah, Jamil,” she said.“What’s up?”
"Detective Hernandez is in the middle of interrogating a suspect in his case, so he asked me to reach out to you on his behalf."
“Is everything okay?”Jessie asked.
"I'm afraid not.He asked me to tell you that a call just came in.A body was found in Westwood, and the scene bears a striking similarity to your two murders.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
“Can we stop for a minute?”Hannah asked, trying to hide her panting.
Even though she'd been drinking consistently, the mid-afternoon sun was beating down on her, and she felt on the verge of dehydration.
“Of course,” Dallas said.“Let’s move over near that tree.It’ll offer a bit of shade.”
He led the way, and Hannah trudged after him.The tree, just off the trail, provided only the barest hints of protection, but she was happy for anything.She leaned against the trunk and took another glug of water, waiting for her breathing to regulate.Dallas wisely let her recover in silence.
While she regrouped, Hannah allowed herself to take in the harsh beauty of their surroundings.There were mountains on every side of her, making her feel small amid their majesty.When they intermittently trekked to higher elevations, she could see the Pacific Ocean in the distance.Then they would drop down into a valley, and the topography would change, like now.They were currently surrounded by giant mountains covered in craggy rock, with brownish-yellow brush as the primary vegetation.
As her body started to regulate, she closed her eyes to let her mind drift a little.With only the wind passing through the leaves of the tree to break the silence around them, Hannah came to an unexpected discovery.Maybe it was the exhaustion or the isolation, but somewhere along the route, her anger with her sister had dissipated.
It was still there, gnawing at her a bit.The fact that Jessie had hidden Finn Anderton’s location and health status from her for months felt like a gut punch when she first learned the truth.But the pain had faded somewhat.She wasn’t sure that she was ready to forgive her sister, but she could see where Jessie’s instinct to hide his situation had come from.
Finn’s attacker was still on the loose, likely hoping for any information that could lead to his location, so they could take him out for good.And though she didn’t want to admit it, Hannah had to concede—at least to herself—that if shehadknown where Finn was, she would almost certainly have tried to visit him, with or without permission.And if Finn’s attacker was watching her movements, she would lead them right to him.That didn’t excuse Jessie’s lack of faith in her, but it made her reticence to share understandable.
Hannah realized something else.Even though she was enjoying the physical challenge of what had turned into a pretty strenuous hike, she had started to regret leaving town.The nurse with Finn had said that he might regain consciousness at any time.What if he woke up and asked for her?Not only was she far away, with the lack of cell service out here, she wouldn’t even know about it.Unfortunately, since she’d been sworn to secrecy, she couldn’t mention any of this to Dallas.
She opened her eyes, only to get momentarily blinded by the sun boring into them.Whatever cover the tree had briefly offered was now gone.They’d had some serious shade a while ago, first at Split Rock, which was covered by a canopy of thick trees, and later on a challenging stretch with a forty-five degree incline that was mercifully protected by overhanging trees that created a natural tunnel.
But they'd been fully exposed to the sun for close to an hour now, and she was really feeling it.Her thighs were burning, and she felt a little wobbly as she tried to reposition herself on the tree trunk.Plus, she felt the beginnings of a hotspot on the top of her left pinkie toe.That would have to be addressed soon.Lastly, she needed a jolt of energy.She wasn't quite operating on fumes, but she feared she'd crash if she didn't get some calories ASAP.
“You have any more of those energy bars that we had earlier?”she asked.
“Sure, lots,” Dallas said.“What would you prefer?”
“The one I had earlier with peanut butter was pretty decent.”
“Coming right up, ma’am,” he said formally.
“Glad you’ve still got a sense of humor,” she said.“Mine left me about a half hour ago.”
“Your spirits will improve once we reach that ridge up ahead.On a clear day like today, we might be able to see some of the Channel Islands.”
“Speaking of, where are we exactly?”
He pulled out his phone to show her.As he scrolled to the map he’d downloaded, she noticed that he didn’t have any cell service either.
“We’re here, still on the Mishe Mokwa trail.But soon we’ll split off to the stretch of the Backbone Trail that leads to Mt.Boney Peak elevation.Our planned stopping point to crash for tonight is near there.So we’ve still got another couple of hours to go.”
“No wonder we haven’t seen anyone else in so long,” Hannah noted, studying the map.“We’re almost off the main loop.”
“Exactly.We might run into some hardcore hiking randos, but mostly, we should have the trail to ourselves.”
“So what happens if someone turns an ankle and we’re stuck out here without access to help?”
