"I don't understand… They said you went AWOL and broke protocol, that you're armed and dangerous." Her voice has a tremor as she speaks. "What are you doing, Sabine?"
"Sit down, please." I gesture to the empty chair. "You need to hear everything before you make any decisions."
Hannah sits reluctantly on the edge of the chair, looking like she could bolt at any second. I start with the facts I have about our mission in Afghanistan that went sideways. Her head nods intracking every detail as she learns what I've uncovered, and I tell her about Hamilton and how he's on my side now too, ready to testify.
"Okay, but that was two years ago. I don’t understand why you’re coming after him now," Hannah says when I pause to collect my thoughts. "And I have no way to prove what he did to me. It's my word against his…"
"No, you don't. I have proof of what he did to you. And it's not just Afghanistan." I lean forward and lower my voice even though we're far from other customers. "Bryan's been systematically eliminating everyone from our unit who knows what happened. Seven of us are dead, Hannah. He hired a hitman to do his dirty work because he's up for promotion to Major and he doesn’t want any of us to make trouble for him. And to top it off, they all look like accidents, so they can't be traced back to him."
Hannah's face goes pale. "I mean, I saw the reports… I thought it was a terrible coincidence that so many people from our unit were dying, but you're saying Bryan orchestrated all of that?"
"He hired the Mob to handle it." Jace speaks quietly, and Hannah's attention snaps to him. "I was the hitman sent to eliminate everyone on the list." She squirms a little as he continues. "When I got to Sabine's name on the list, she fought back and almost killed me."
Hannah stares at Jace with dawning comprehension and horror. "You're the hitman who killed all those people?" Her face drains of color as her jaw drops and her body tenses again, but I rest my hand on her knee, praying she doesn't run away.
"I am." Jace doesn't flinch from the accusation. "But I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to help Sabine protect you if you agree to help us take Bryan down. What he did to you was unspeakable."
"Why would I believe that?" Hannah's voice rises slightly before she catches herself and lowers it again. "Why would I trust the man who murdered my friends to suddenly have a crisis of conscience and decide to protect me?"
"You don’t have to trust him, Hannah. You trust me, okay?" Her eyes drift over toward where I'm sitting, but she's staring blankly. "I trust Jace to protect me now, and I know he wants to help you too. What Bryan did to us was wrong and we both deserve justice."
Hannah's eyes fill with tears and she wraps her arms around herself. "He called me two days ago to tell me how scary you were. I thought it was a friendly warning because of that memo Defense sent out. I had no idea… I'm scared, Sabine. He really wants to kill us?"
"You're not gonna die." I reach across the space between us and take her hand. "Not if you help us. We have evidence proving what Bryan did in Afghanistan and what he's been doing to women in our unit for years. And Ham is in too… We spoke to him last week."
There's a long, awkward silence as she drops her head, and I watch tears drip from her face to the tops of her knees where they dampen the fabric of her fatigues.
"He did it to you too…" Hannah says it as a statement rather than a question, and I nod confirmation.
"Look, that's not important, okay?" I squeeze her hand again. "What’s important is that we can stop him from doing it to anyone else."
Hannah pulls her hand back and covers her mouth, and the sound that escapes is part sob and part moan. "I thought I was the only one, that maybe I did something to make him target me, specifically. But he was doing this to everyone."
"None of the women knew Bryan was doing it to others." I lean forward, needing her to understand this crucial point. "He isolated each of us, made us feel alone and like nobody would believe us if we spoke up. That was part of his strategy, keeping the victims separated so we couldn't compare stories or realize we were part of a pattern."
Hannah wipes tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "He would corner me sometimes when nobody else was around and remind me that he could make my life miserable if I ever opened my mouth. So I stayed silent and tried to survive until I could get away from him."
"But you're not away from him." The warm baritone of Jace's voice comforts me. "He contacted you and told you he was coming for you. He's systematically eliminating everyone who knows the truth, and you're on his list. The only way you survive this is by helping us take him down before he gets to you."
All of this is so overwhelming to me now. After what Brooks gave up and how he'd never help me, I'm beginning to think Bryan's shame over Afghanistan isn't even the reason for this list. I wonder if he's sent other hitmen to take out other women he's worked with while stationed in other various places. What if this hit list is just a means to cover up the murders of the women who reported to him?
Hannah looks between us, searching our faces for deception or ulterior motives. "What do you need from me? What am I supposed to do that'll keep me safe from that fucker?"
"Testify." My gut is churning, but I maintain a steady tone. "I'm going to go to Defense and make this right, and I need you to come have my back. Along with Ham. We'll take them down together, and when we do, Bryan will be court martialed and never hurt another woman again."
"If I testify, my life's over." She sounds exhausted as she says, "The military will drag my name through the mud during court-martial proceedings. I can't, Sabine. I've worked so hard in therapy to?—"
"If you don't testify, you'll be dead." The brutal honesty needs to be spoken clearly. "Bryan's not gonna stop until everyone who knows what he did is gone. He's already had seven people killed, Hannah. They thought their silence would protect them too and it didn't. The only way you survive this is by helping us."
"What about protection?" Hannah looks at Jace. "You said you'd keep me safe. What does that mean? Where would I go and how long would I have to hide?"
"I'll put you somewhere secure where Bryan can't find you." Now Jace sounds confident. He's giving her the answers she needs, and it makes me feel at peace.
Hannah's quiet for a long moment, and I can see her weighing the options. Stay silent and hope Bryan doesn't get to her before we can stop him, or testify and accept the public scrutiny and personal cost that comes with speaking out.
Neither choice is good, but one gives her a chance at survival and justice while the other guarantees she becomes another casualty.
"There are more women." Hannah's voice is stronger now. "I don't know who they all are, but I heard rumors during my time in service. Whispers about women who reported assaults and had their cases dismissed or swept under the rug. If Bryan's been doing this for as long as you say, there have to be others who are still alive and might be willing to testify."
