Into the Fire

“Shit!” Heather snapped.

Hannah wasn’t supposed to be there yet. Was she early? No. Heather looked at her watch and realised that the trail run had taken longer than expected. Hannah was right on time. That wasn’t exactly a problem except Hannah didn't expect Heather, and Ashley didn’t want to bring her friend along anyway. She might take this chance to just interrogate Hannah herself. Again, not a problem so long as Ashley got the confession from her and Brandon got it recorded. But Heather had a bad feeling. There was still time. Maybe she could still make it.

“Start recording,” she ordered Brandon, seconds before she took off in a sprint towards the hotel.

“Is…is everything alright?” Ashley blinked, unsure of what to do. The plan had been for her and Heather to go up to Hannah’s room together, not to meet her in the lobby. If her sister saw Heather now, she might just call the whole thing off. But Heather might be mad if she went up to the room alone and didn’t wait for her. Ashley chewed her bottom lip and wringed her hands.

“Yeah, you look lost. Like you’re waiting for someone,” Hannah assessed, looking around the hotel lobby again. “And it doesn’t seem to be me.”

“No, I…I’m just waiting. And troubled. Still. From our talk earlier,” Ashley scrambled, swallowing and focusing on her sister.

She couldn’t wait. Hannah was getting suspicious already and the main priority was the mission. Regardless of what anyone thought of her, whether her parents disowned her or praised her, she had to do the right thing, she had to free the innocent. Heather might be mad at first, but she would understand that there were bigger things than her feelings at stake.

“Well, I suppose that is what you came here to talk about,” Hannah said with an exasperated sigh. Turning towards the elevators, she said, “Honestly, I’d much rather be soaking in the tub with a glass of wine after the day I had.”

“Robert riding you hard?” Ashley grimaced when she heard what she’d said out loud.

Hannah laughed. “I wish. That’s the kind of hard work I can get on board with. No, the Silver Lake project going up in smoke has everyone clambering to try and fix it. Robert is talking about scraping the whole thing, but the board are warning that doing nothing with all the land that was bought will cause stocks to fall. They’re suggesting shelving it until the buzz with the environmentalists dies down and the issue with Carlos is resolved. The thinking is that if he’s in prison, his wife will become the executor of the property, and she might be easier to convince than he was.”

“Or she’ll refuse out of grief because that’s what her husband would have wanted,” Ashley suggested, following Hannah cross the lobby to the elevators, her sister’s heels clicking against the shiny, marble floor with each step.

“You make it sound like he’s dead,” Hannah replied, bemused, waiting while an usher pushed the button to call the elevator. Luckily one opened up just several seconds later. They waited for the occupants to exit, then stepped inside themselves. As they entered, Hannah continued, “But everyone is working to figure this out. Whoever can figure out a way for the company to end the project and still look good is gonna earn the full favour of Ravers’ Enterprises.”

“And you want to be that person,” Ashley added, not even bothering to ask because she knew it was a foregone conclusion.

“Of course. You know what it would do for my career if I figured that out as a lowly intern?” Hannah asked as she reached over and pushed the button for her floor. “I would be thee shit.”

“HOLD THAT DOOR”

Without thinking, Ashley threw out her hand at the sound of Heather’s voice, but the usher outside the elevator was quicker. The doors opened again at the motion, seconds before the dark-haired cheer captain came dashing into the elevator, so fast she nearly slammed against the back wall. Instead, she slumped up against it, holding herself up by the hand rail and panting heavily to catch her breath. Being a cheerleader was one thing, she was flexible and toned, but the 100-metre dash was a whole other thing entirely.

“You!” Hannah growled as the doors closed and the elevator lumbered into movement, and then to her little sister. “I thought you were coming alone.”

Ashley looked sheepishly at her older sibling. “In fairness, I never said that.”

“Don’t get smart with me.” Hannah glared, leaning back against the side, opposite the other two girls. “You know you intentionally hid this from me because I’d never agree to meet if it was the two of you.”

“Well, we’re all here now,” Ashley surmised, almost pleading. “Can we just talk about this in your apartment?”

“What makes you think I even want to talk to either of you now?” Hannah countered, folding her arms across her heavy chest. “Maybe I should just go take that bath and drink instead.”

Heather looked worryingly at Ashley. Maybe she had made a mistake coming back. If she’d trusted Ashley to get the job done, maybe the sisters would already be in Hannah’s apartment, half way towards another confession already. Instead the sisters stood on opposite sides of the elevator, almost five feet apart, staring intensely. Ashley broke eye contact first, glancing down at Heather, who nodded to show that she was alive, though still catching her breath.

“You still owe me.” Ashley lifted her eyes back to her sister and once again held her gaze. “Nothing has changed, whether Heather is here or not. You did this for me, then I deserve to be heard.”

Hannah wrinkled her nose and half frowned, without moving her eyes from Ashley’s. She contemplated Ashley’s words in silence. The only sounds were that of the elevator mechanism pulling it upwards and Heather’s laboured breaths, both amplified by the tension in the quiet. A moment later, as Heather’s breathing finally seemed to return to normal, the elevator trundled to a stop, a bright, high ping, alerting the trio that they’d reached their destination.

Hannah swept from the elevator, calling behind her, “Come on then.”

Neither Ashley nor Heather argued with the abrasiveness of her command, preferring not to chance their luck. They’d gotten the meeting they wanted, so instead simply followed, both the order and the blonde, out of the elevator and down the corridor. They caught up with her just as the older girl reached the door to her apartment and swiped the card, gaining entrance. Hannah stepped through first, holding the door open for her guests as Ashley and Heather stepped through into the short entrance hall and deeper still into the apartment proper.

Ashley marvelled at the apartment, designed in an open plan ‘L’ shape. To the immediate left was a kitchen area with a long breakfast bar running along it. Around the corner, stairs led up to the second floor, where the bedrooms were no doubt situated, and beside it, the living area, consisting of a sofa, a cabinet and a large television mounted on the wall. But by far the most spectacular attraction of the room were the large window panel that covered the wall that ran from the kitchen along to the living room. It created the illusion that the apartment was completely open to the world, so wide and clear were the panes of glass.

Heather, however, was less impressed. It was a nice apartment, she could see that, but there was a penthouse suite reserved for her father at the top level of the building, barring the roof. When you’d been to an apartment that took up an entire floor and had the same amazing, clear view of a wall of glass but higher, it was difficult to see Hannah’s apartment as anything but a pale imitation. Normally she might even rub that fact into the older blonde, but seeing as they’d come to get something from Hannah, she decided it would be wise not to get thrown out before discussions even began.

“So,” Hannah said, drawing their attention as she entered the room behind them. She made a beeline for the kitchen, taking out a single glass and producing a bottle of wine from the fridge. “What is it that you want?”

“Ashley says you’re behind everything to do with Lisa and Carlos,” Heather said, wetting her lips as she lied. “But I can’t believe that’s possibly true. At least not alone.”

“Believe her or don’t,” Hannah scoffed as she poured the deep, red liquid into a large wine glass. “That sounds like your problem, not mine.”

Heather cleared her throat and replied, “I just want to hear it from your own mouth. That’s all. For my own peace of mind.”

Leaving the bottle open on the counter, Hannah lifted her glass and, looking into her wine, said, softly, “So, you want me to confess.” It didn’t sound like a question, so neither Heather nor Ashley spoke, waiting instead as they watched the older girl drink her wine and walk around the breakfast bar. She came to a stop in front of the window, beside Ashley, looking out at the buildings, the dimming sky peaking out between. “Okay then.”

Heather’s eyes widened, and she swallowed, but she tried to contain her excitement. If she overreacted too soon, Hannah might get spooked and back out, and for this to work, she needed to think that she was in control, that this was her choice. The confession would be inadmissible if it seemed **** or ****. So, Heather coughed a second time, and squashed down her emotions, setting her poker face. This was it. Hannah was going to confess. They were going to free Lisa. She couldn’t let anything stop them now.

Beside Hannah, Ashley fidgeted anxiously. She too, like Heather, recognised the significance of this moment but she hadn’t expected to be standing this close to Hannah when she finally confessed again. She supposed it must be good for the recording, the nearer she was, the clearer to audio it might pick up. But being right beside her sister made her actions seem all the more treacherous. Her parents flashed in her mind again, imagining family photos with Hannah erased or dressed in a prison jumpsuit. No more Christmas’ together, or birthdays or New Years. This was going to change everything.

She reminded herself what she was doing this for. Or rather, who. A Christmas Hannah spent with her family was one that Lisa and Carlos wouldn’t. They wouldn’t even be able to visit since they would be held in different sections, and Lisa’s mother, Carlos’ wife would have to visit them one at a time. And for what? For nothing they’d done. As disloyal as this made Ashley feel, she reminded herself that it was the right thing to do, and steeled her nerves.

Hannah took a deep breath and turned to face the room.

“I stole the Vicodin from Robert’s car and I planted them on Lisa Rivera,” Hannah announced, clear and loud. “I called the police and later lied to them when questioned. I alone framed Lisa because she hurt and embarrassed my sister. And that’s the truth.”

“Got cha,” Brandon exclaimed with a fist pump in the air, accidentally punching the roof of the car.

He turned off the recording and kept listening.