“So you’re keeping your nose in. Have they come up with anything?”
Savannah hadn’t spoken with anyone since the afternoon before, but she was sure she’d have been notified if any leads had come up. “I think,” she said, “that they’re counting on Megan giving them something.”
“Why won’t she?”
“She’s too upset.”
“Maybe her breaking down on the phone with you is a good sign.”
“Lord, I hope so. For her sake. She’s going to have to get it all out before she can heal. The sooner she starts talking, the better.”
When they arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, though, Will told them that Megan hadn’t said much after she’d handed him back the phone, and she’d requested a sedative soon after. She wasn’t sleeping, just quiet.
“Hi, Meggie,” Savannah said softly.
Megan’s eyes fluttered, then opened, but they were heavy.
Susan grinned. “We couldn’t get going until we’d seen you. Either we’re devoted, or we’re nuts.”
Megan looked from one sister to the other, then closed her eyes and whispered, “You’re nuts.”
Savannah wished she’d seen sign of a smile, but there’d been none. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired.”
“Lots of people coming in to visit?”
She opened her eyes. “Can you stop them, Savvy? Tell them to leave me alone? They keep coming and coming and asking questions. I’m so tired of the questions.”
“They’re only trying to help. They want to find the men who did this to you.”
Turning her head away, Megan closed her eyes again. “They won’t find them.”
“Not if they don’t get some help. Can you tell us anything, Meg? There may be something you saw or heard that seems inconsequential to you but may have significance to us. Were they speaking English?”
Without opening her eyes, Megan nodded.
“Did you notice any idiosyncratic speech patterns?”
Megan shook her head.
“Did they sound educated, talk in complete sentences?”
Megan shrugged.
Savannah took a different tack. “Do you have any idea where you were held? Maybe there was some sound, like water or traffic or a banging noise, like machinery?” When there was no response at all, she said, “Did you hear other people talking nearby? That would tell us something.”
Susan scowled. “For God’s sake, Savannah, Megan’s tired of questions. She just said that, now here you go off with a bunch of your own.”
“I’m trying to help.”
“You’re always trying to help, but sometimes the best way to help is to back off.”
“But time is important. We’ve already lost so much.”
“If you’ve already lost so much,” Susan said with deliberate slowness, “it won’t hurt to lose a little more.” She patted the air with one slim-fingered hand. “Take a deep breath, Savvy. Relax.”
“Susan—”
