Savannah looked at Sam, who was representing the local police, but he slowly shook his head. “We’re looking for a needle in a haystack, and we don’t even know which haystack it is. We need Megan’s help, Savannah.”
Savannah was discouraged. “I know. But I hate to pressure her.” She turned to the last person in the room, a counselor trained in rape therapy. “Do we dare push her?”
“I think we do,” the woman said, then corrected herself. “I thinkyoudo. She won’t have any part of me. She’s totally resisting the idea of therapy, individual or otherwise. But it’s been a week since she was let go. While the horror is still very real, it’s not as immediate as it was last Friday. You can push, but gently.”
Savannah didn’t want to push anyone anywhere. She had just completed a full day in court, and although she would be wrapping up her case on Monday, the pressure wouldn’t let up until the verdict was announced.
She planned to visit Megan over the weekend, though. And yes, she would push. She intended to solve this case.
Sitting forward in her chair, she went from one person in the room to the next, asking questions, asking each for additional resources to call on during the next week. Then, knowing that there wasn’t much more she could do, she thanked them for coming and adjourned the meeting.
Sam stayed after the others had left. “How’s the trial going?”
She raised her eyebrows wearily, but said, “Pretty well, actually. There have been one or two glitches, but one or two is nothing. I think we’ve got a good shot at winning.”
“If you hadn’t thought that, you’d never have gone to trial.”
She smiled crookedly. “True.” Then she studied him more closely. He was propped on the edge of the conference table, at ease physically. Still, he looked like a man with something on his mind. “I talked with Susan the other night,” she said. “She mentioned she’d seen you.”
“Did she?”
“Uh-huh. I got the impression that it was more than just a hello on the street.”
“It was,” he said in a way that said far more.
Pressing her fingers to her lips, Savannah covered a smile. “You don’t look decimated. I take it you came out the winner?”
“I’m not sure either of us won, or lost. In some respects, we’re pretty evenly matched.”
Savannah tapped her fingers against her lips and said nothing.
Sam faced her head-on. “Okay. What are you thinking?”
One of the nice things about her relationship with Sam was its honesty. Dropping her hands to her lap, she said, “I’m thinking that I love my sister and that you’d be good for her, but that she’ll be a handful if you decide to take her on.”
“I already have.”
His firm response took her by surprise. “Oh. Ah, well then, I guess I should give you a hug and wish you good luck?”
Sam thought of her doing that, thought of telling Susan about it, and found himself right at his reason for seeking out Savannah now. “I want to ask you something,” he said. “She’s really hung up on you. Do you know that?”
“Hung up?” Savannah didn’t like the sound of that. It sounded pathological. “I wouldn’t call it hung up.”
“Well, she is. She compares herself to you all the time. She gets uptight whenever I mention your name. At the beginning, she was convinced we were having an affair.”
“Well, we’re not.”
“I know that and you know that, but it’s taken Susan a while to believe it.”
“Does she now?”
“I think so. She still gets nervous when I talk about you. I didn’t dare tell her I’d be seeing you today, and God forbid she should walk in that door right now, there’d be all hell to pay.”
Savannah grinned. “You’re sounding almost henpecked.”
“It’s not funny, Savannah. She is unbelievably jealous of you. Has it always been that way, or do I bring out the worst in her?”
Savannah’s grin faded. “It’s not you. The situation may be complicated since we see each other at work. But there’s always been a sibling rivalry between Susan and me.”
