Hanlon's Razor

Hannah stared blankly at her sister, Ashley unable to read her expression. She pouted, almost peevishly, as if she were annoyed at even being accused. But the younger Woodsen could almost see the gears in her sister’s head turning, like she was considering HOW to answer rather than WHAT to say. Ashley, for her part, simply held her gaze, like she did often during family game nights of poker, waiting to see if Hannah would call or fold. But Ashley knew her sister, and her sister didn’t fold easily, sometimes even stubbornly playing the hand she was dealt to the bitter end. This time, with a sigh and a shrug, Hannah relented.

“Alright, you got me,” the older blonde confessed, smirking as she leaned back in the chair. “How’d you figure it out?”

It was Ashley’s turn to stare at her sister, blinking as she processed the fact that Heather was right. Hannah Woodsen, her own sister, was involved in Lisa’s arrest. She took a few breaths, soothing her panicking mind. She couldn’t unravel at the first hurdle. There was still so much that she still needed to know, questions that only Hannah might be able to answer, that could lead them on to the next piece of the puzzle.

“Ok…ok…hold on a second…let me just…you’re saying…I want to make sure I understand this…” Ashley stammered and blustered, trying to straighten out her whirling thoughts. “You…planted the **** on Lisa?”

“That’s right,” Hannah confirmed, bemused at how off-guard the revelation had caught her sister. Though it was nice in a way; it showed that although she’d asked, she hadn’t really believed it to be true.

“And they were Robert’s pills, right?” Ashley jumped to the next question that popped into her head. “For his knee injury?”

“That’s right. They were in his car and I grabbed them when I went out to vape. I stuck them in some clear fruit bags I found in the kitchen.” Hannah casually informed her sister, as if she wasn’t talking about framing someone for **** possession. “From there it was just a matter of finding a moment to plant them in Lisa’s bag, which turned out to be pretty easy with all you teenagers hopped up on **** and hormones.”

“How did you make sure that Lisa didn’t find them in her bag?” Ashley furrowed her brow. “She got changed in the morning.”

“I just shoved them right down at the bottom. She’d have needed to practically empty her bag out to find them,” Hannah explained, with a shrug. “Even if she had found them, the police would still have taken her away for questioning.”

“I don’t understand,” Ashley groaned, rubbing her temples. “Who put you up to this?”

“Put me up to this?” Hannah chuckled, baffled at the suggestion. “Put me up to what?”

“Planting the ****? Getting Lisa arrested? Getting Carlos Rivera arrested?” Ashley listed, Hannah’s confusion confusing her. “Is it someone on the board of Ravers’ Enterprises trying to make Robert look bad? Is it Daniel Ravers?”

“Daniel Ravers? What the hell are you talking about?” Hannah shook her head as she straightened up. “I’ve never even met anyone on the board of directors at Ravers’ Enterprises. This whole thing was just me.”

Ashley swallowed hard, looking vacuously at her sister, trying to comprehend Hannah’s words. How could it be all her? What reason did she have to make Robert look bad, to have Lisa and Carlos arrested, what was the motive? Hannah had no stake in any of this, even if she had the means. She and her friends, some of the smartest, most intelligent people she knew had sat down and worked this out. It had to be Daniel. It had to be the board. Anything else just didn’t make sense.

Breathing purposely again, Ashley collected herself again and asked, very simply, “Then why?”

“I wanted to get Lisa back for messing with you. It was just supposed to be a stupid prank, a way of getting her out of your way, and getting some **** for tricking my sister. I started formulating the idea after you told me how she’d tried to steal Zack out from under you,” Hannah said, seriously. “I saw how hurt and embarrassed you were in the bathroom, even though you tried to hide it, and I wanted her to feel just as bad.”

“Please, Hannah, tell me you’re fucking joking,” Ashley seethed, recoiling back in her seat. “Tell me you didn’t do this for me. Over fucking Zack Bishop.”

“We’re family, Ash. I know you messed up, and you made mistakes, but you’re still my little sister, and hearing how that little Latina bitch tried to take advantage of those mistakes…it just made me see red,” Hannah said, note of fury underlining her words. “I’ll admit it worked a little too well, but honestly, it was only intended as a practical joke.”

“This is definitely a joke,” Ashley buried both hands in her hair, elbows leaning on the table. “How can you possibly think that getting Lisa arrested is funny? Or getting Carlos arrested?”

“Yeah, well, the Carlos thing was something I didn’t see coming. I thought getting Lisa arrested would hit two birds with one stone. She’d get put in her place and it would stick it to Carlos after all the stress he caused Robert. Honestly though, I actually thought Lisa being Carlos’s daughter would mean that they’d go easy on her. And this was her first offence,” Hannah replied, smiling weakly. “But I don’t think I can be blamed for that.”

“How the hell can’t you be blamed for Carlos’ arrest?” Ashley screwed up her face incredulously at her sister. “He was arrested as a direct consequence of you going after his daughter.”

“He made his own choices. He didn’t have to go threatening judges. That’s on him,” Hannah countered pointedly. “I’ll admit responsibility for planting the **** on Lisa and being a little too rash about the whole thing to think it through properly because I was only concerned about getting back at her for you, but anything that happened afterwards. That’s on them.”

“Fine, I guess it doesn’t matter what you think you’re liable for,” Ashley relented, rubbing her eyes, suddenly feeling very drained and tired. “That’s for the police to decide…”

“The police?” Hannah interjected, Ashley looked up at her surprised face. “I’m not going to the police.”

“What? Of course, you are. You just said you were responsible for Lisa,” Ashley replied, her mind torn in two by anger and confusion. “You have to turn yourself in.”

“I’m sorry, Ash, I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Hannah stated unequivocally. “I admit to what I’ve done, to you, because I know you need to know. If I didn’t tell you the truth you’d keep searching for it and eventually you’d figure it out anyway. When you came to me I thought you had anyway, but at least it can end here. I realise I made a mistake, an error in judgement even, but I can’t let my whole life be ruined by one act of human error.”

“And Lisa’s life should be ruined…when she did absolutely nothing wrong?” Ashley hissed through gritted teeth, leaning as far over the able as she could without jumping over it and literally pouncing on her sister. “Is that fair?”

“I never said anything about fairness. It’s not fair. But I did what I did because I was looking out for you. It sounded good at the time, but I can see that it was short sighted. But the fact that I didn’t mean any harm isn’t going to matter in a court of law. Beyond that, I lied to the police when they came to the office yesterday to talk to me and Robert,” Hannah appealed to Ashley, her eyes watering. “It was a mistake. A mistake that could cost me everything.”

“A mistake that’s already going to cost Lisa everything,” Ashley retorted firmly, unmoved by Hannah’s silent tears running down her cheeks.

“So, if it’s between me and her, you’d sell your own sister down the river?” Hannah shot back, wiping her eyes.

“If it’s between the innocent and the guilty,” Ashley surmised, and then, softening her expression. “I don’t like it. I love you, Hannah, but I can’t just sit back and shut my mouth, knowing this. I can’t go back to Zack and pretend not to know why Lisa has to do jail time or go to **** rehab. Knowing this will gnaw at me and keep me awake at night. I won’t even be able to go back to my friends and lie. They’ll keep looking. They’ll have to know the truth, just like you said, and once they do, they won’t keep quiet either. How is this not just tearing you apart? How are you able to hold this inside?”

“Because I’ve made a lot of mistakes, Ash. You get used to it,” Hannah said, holding back the tears and hardening the voice once again. “You get used to the lie.”

“I don’t want to get used to the lie. I can’t live like that, keeping it from everyone else. I’d drive me insane,” Ashley looked out the window at Heather and Chloe, sitting on a wall across the street. “What’s to stop me just going to the police and turning you in myself?”

“You can, but you have no proof,” Hannah slumped down in her chair, deflated by Ashley’s insistence in pursuing her elder blonde’s guilt. “The police won’t do anything without new evidence and your word will only count for hearsay, which won’t hold much weight. The fact of the matter is that there’s nothing tying me to Lisa any more than any one else in the cabin. Even if you consider motive, my reasons for doing so only casts suspicion on you as well, dear sister.”

“I’ll find a way,” Ashley assured her. “You’re my sister and I love you, but I am going to find a way to free Lisa. I’m not going to allow her innocence to be punished for your recklessness.”

Sighing, Hannah stood and began collecting her handbag, “It’d be better for everyone if you could just let it be, but I wish you all the luck in the world.”

She sounded oddly confident to Ashley’s ear as she strolled out of the café, her sexy, thick body moving with her firm, determined steps. She left her petite, little sister alone at the table with her thoughts, still trying to align her mind with the truth. Hannah had framed Lisa as part of a stupid prank, all to get back at the girl for both Ashley and Robert, and out of that, the whole thing had just spiralled out of control. Somehow, that seemed more ludicrous than a conspiracy where Robert’s own brother orchestrated events to tarnish the Ravers Enterprises’ CEO’s reputation. But, life was just strange like that sometimes.

Ashley felt her mouth go dry as the reality of the situation sank in fully. Her own sister. Ashley had thought she knew Hannah quite well. They’d grown up together and while her sister could be mischievous and loved to play games, she’d never done anything so hurtful and malicious. Though Ashley understood that Hannah’s intentions may not have been bad, just protective and borne of loyalty, she would never have thought her sister capable of anything like this. But then, maybe there was things she didn’t know about her sister. Like, what were these mistakes she mentioned getting used to?

The clatter of Chloe and Heather collapsing into the seats around the table shook Ashley from her stupor, both the red-head and the brunette looking at her, waiting for her to reveal what Hannah had just told her, for better or for worse. Ashley felt herself shaking as she accepted the task of telling the two girls the truth. She had to. Just as she’d told Hannah, she couldn’t keep this to herself without it ripping her soul asunder. Yet, she wasn’t sure how Chloe or Heather would react to this news. For once though, she just simply glad that Zack wasn’t with her.