Gone Girl

Jennifer White wasn’t gone quite as long as Zack had been, or perhaps it just didn’t feel as long when he wasn’t the one on the other side of the table. However, after only fifteen minutes the park ranger returned, almost pushed back into the waiting room as the hall outside came alive with activity. There was a clock in the waiting room and it still read as being in the early hours of the morning. This wasn’t the normal pick up of activity as the day shift began. Something had happened.

“What’s with the panic?” Though he knew it might seem suspicious, Zack couldn’t help but inquire about what had happened in the interrogation room. “What did you say to them?”

“Nothing,” Jennifer shook her head, and looked through a glass panel in the door at officers rushing past. “They asked about my whereabouts yesterday, I told them about meeting you, Kurt and Victoria at the lake. Then they asked about tonight, and why I’d come, and I told them Ashley rang me to meet at the Lake Hotel, because she had this evidence and wanted some help in bringing it to the police.”

“Okay…I wonder what happened then,” Zack half frowned. “Maybe this has nothing to do with Lisa.”

“No, I think it’s definitely related,” Jennifer noted. “As they were wrapping things up, an officer came in and whispered something to the detective. She looked at me while she was listening, and then had that officer bring me back here. The way she looked at me…I’m sure whatever he said to her was about this case.”

Zack’s frown deepened as he thought about the possibilities. The big one was if they’d managed to find the other copy of the video that was still out there. That didn’t implicate Lisa, so she’d still go free, but it would be trouble for Heather and her father…but that was why they’d made him CEO, to account for that possibility. He also considered that maybe they’d picked up Heather and Ashley already and were separately holding and interviewing them. Had he said something that contradicted with what they’d told the police?

As if called by his thoughts of her, Detective McClane entered, striding confidently and authoritatively into the middle of the room. Behind her, Roy McRose, Chloe’s father, followed, though he stood much closer to Zack and Jennifer, allowing the Detective to address all three.

“First of all,” she prefaced, looking between them. “I need you to tell me where Hannah Woodsen is staying?”

“At Ravers Empire hotel,” Zack answered sincerely. “I don’t know the room number though, but Robert Ravers put her up in a room while she’s working for him as an intern during Spring Break.”

She watched Zack carefully, as she asked, “would it surprise you to know that we send some officers there to check on her, and she wasn’t there?”

That didn’t surprise him, because Ashley had already informed him of Hannah’s decision to run. He wasn’t sure how he should react though. Feinting surprise might work, but this Detective was quite intuitive and could possibly see right through it. But to not react at all…well, that might make her suspicious. And now he was taking too long to reply, lost in his thoughts. Thankfully, however, he was saved, quite unintentionally, by Jennifer White by his side.

“Did you check her parent’s house?” The ranger asked the detective. “Perhaps she went home for the night.”

“In fact, that was the first place we looked, since it was the only address on file,” Det. McClane replied, still keeping an eye on Zack. “Her parents were the ones who informed the officers of her current living arrangements, but when we arrived at the hotel, she was nowhere to be found.”

“At this hour…” Roy looked at his watch. “Do you think she’s still out?”

“There was that Charity gala,” Jennifer nodded, looking to Zack as well. “That’s where I found you.”

“No, I was there all evening with Robert and Heather, and Hannah wasn’t there. I was told by Heather that Robert gave her the night off,” Zack said, before looking the detective dead in the eye. “Sorry, I don’t know where she is.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie. After all, he really had no idea where Hannah had went when she ran, or where she currently was, only where she wasn’t. He held the Detective’s gaze, their staring contest like a game of chicken, with the truth as a prize. Her eyes narrowed, clearly trying to deduce whether to believe him or not. Instead, she offered another piece of evidence.

“We recovered her laptop and phone from the apartment,” the Detective noted, adding almost as a casual aside, “in fact almost anything that could be used to track her was left in the apartment, though a number of clothes and all money had been taken.”

Zack pursed his lips. She clearly was aware that Hannah had run, all but saying it. She was testing him again, trying to measure his reaction to these developments. Instead, Zack chose to deflect, replying, “So, you think she ran? Doesn’t that prove that she’s guilty, and Lisa’s innocent?”

“I agree,” Roy nodded along. “Your case against my client seems to be unravelling. If you want to continue to advise the DA to bring charges against Lisa Rivera, this current round of evidence doesn’t work in your favor.”

Detective Joan McClane sighed and frowned, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Upon reopening, she pointed at Jennifer and Zack and told them curtly, “don’t go anywhere,” before sweeping from the room in a much less confident fashion than she had entered. Once she had left, Roy turned to them, smiling.

“This is very good news,” He informed them, explaining further. “Hannah’s absence doesn’t exonerate Lisa, but it is suspicious. It’s something we can point at to suggest the absence of guilt on Lisa’s part. Truthfully, there’s always been a question about the **** ending up in her bag, because the cabin was open to everyone staying there, but, because it was Lisa’s bag, it was quite up in the air which way a judge might rule. This, on the other hand; the judge won’t be able to ignore the recording as evidence and that suspect implicated can’t be found.”

“That’s very good news indeed then,” Jennifer agreed.

“But…um…” Zack thought carefully about how to word his next question. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep Chloe’s father in the dark, but it might be easier for the lawyer to do his job if he didn’t know certain things. “That Detective, the way she was talking, sounded like she was implying that we might have tipped her off, or that she ran because we framed her.”

Roy didn’t stop smiling, but something in the way he looked at Zack became more analytical, as he said, “You already knew she had ran away, didn’t you?”

Zack swallowed hard, his eyes widening. If Roy McRose had picked up on that then the Detective most definitely had as well. “I-,” he began, but Roy waved his hand, quieting him.

“I don’t actually need to know, but I guessed as much from your reaction. I wouldn’t worry about any charges being brought against you; if it came to that we could argue that Hannah had plenty of time to run because of the police’s incompetency in chasing after the wrong suspect. We’d turn it into an absolute PR nightmare for the ****,” Roy replied, as he began walking towards the door. “And if this recording is genuine, then we don’t have to worry about Hannah being framed.”

Zack nodded, understanding. “Yes, it’s genuine.”

“Good, now, I’ll see you in a bit,” he said, reaching for the door handle.

Two more hours Zack waited after Roy left before finally the door opened. Zack was on his feet, pacing the room once again, while Jennifer had fallen sleep, awoken by the door just as before. Detective Joan McClane led the way, like last time as well, with Roy behind her, beaming for some reason. This time they were joined by a third, bringing up the rear-

“ZACK!”

The Latino flew across the room faster than anything he’d ever seen, into his arms, embracing him tighter than he’d ever been hugged before, the hug of a woman who feared she might never see him again. He wrapped his own arms around her pulling her close to him, feeling her warm body on his as her cold, wet tears of happiness struck his neck. He reached up and stroked her head, hardly believing that Lisa Rivera was right here in the flesh, back in his arms.