Caitlin’s phone rang, and she stared at the device.“It’s from the same number I received the message from last night—the one saying you were on your way,” she said with a frown.
“It’s my landlady on Jacobsbaai.Let me answer it,” Hannah said and, with a feeling of apprehension, she stood up and took the phone.
“Hallo, it’s Hannah,” she said, trying to sound calm.
“Hannah, my dear, I…I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, but the neighbors called me early this morning.The house…there was a fire, and the bedroom part of the house has been completely destroyed,” she ended tearfully.
Hannah could feel all the blood leaving her face.The words penetrated her stunned brain.She understood what they meant, but she couldn’t process the message.“A fire,” she whispered.“In the bedroom where I would have been sleeping…”
Cursing, Darryn got up, but Don had already taken the phone from Hannah’s limp fingers.
Hannah turned to Darryn.His face was even paler than before.
“What the hell happened?”He growled and pulled her close.
“There was a fire.”She swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in her throat.
Her mother rushed forward, taking her hand.“Sweetheart.”She couldn’t get more out.
“The…house in Jacobsbaai, the bedroom where I slept…” Hannah inhaled quickly when she remembered.“I left the light on by accident, and only noticed it as I was driving away.I didn’t want to waste time going back and switching it off, but I told the landlady about it.”She stared at Don, who was still talking to the landlady.And the implication of what had happened finally sank in.“It’s all my fault her beautiful home is ruined.Stephen figured out where I was, saw the light…” Hannah whispered, appalled by what had happened.
Darryn hugged her close.Everyone was now standing and staring at Don, who was still on the phone.
“Thank you for letting us know.”Don ended the call.
“That means—”
“He knew where you were and thought you were still in the house,” Caitlin barely got out.Her eyes were big.“He wanted to kill you,” she whispered.
They all stared at Caitlin.Hannah tried to make sense of what she was hearing.Kill her?He had scared her, scared her sisters, and had hurt Darryn.And then he tried to kill her?
“What the hell more proof do you want?”Darryn growled, turning to the policemen.“There’s a crazy man out there, and you need to find him!”he nearly shouted.
The policemen moved toward the front door.“We’ll call the police stations in the neighboring towns of Saldanha and Vredenburg.Jacobsbaai doesn’t have a police station.Let’s see what we can find out.”
Don got up and walked the policemen out.The rest of them stared at one another.David sat down and fiddled with his phone.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s code for we don’t believe you and you won’t hear from us again,” Darryn grumbled.
“What about that private detective?”Rosa asked Don.“Have you spoken to him?Does he have a plan?”
“We’ve spoken,” he said, taking out his phone.“I’ll find out what he knows.”
“I’ve been searching on the Internet and there is an article on News24 about the fire,” David said, scrolling down on his phone.“It clearly states that nobody was injured in the fire.”He looked at Hannah.“So White will know you are still alive.”
Hannah stared at David, her mind sluggishly processing what she was hearing.
“They didn’t take your phone with them!”Zoe called out and picked up Hannah’s phone that was still lying on the coffee table where the policeman had left it.“Let me see if they’re still outside—”
“No, wait,” Hannah said, finally coming out of her stupor.She put her hand out for the phone.Like yesterday morning, a calm settled over her.“He wants me, right?Well, let him find me.”She closed her hand over the phone.“Where is the phone’s battery?”she asked Caitlin.
“Are you completely crazy?”Darryn tried to take the phone from her.
But she moved away quickly and turned to face all of them.“You saw the policemen.They don’t believe a word I’m saying.They will probably phone the police in Saldanha and wherever, but it’s not going to happen today.And I’m done being scared, done running, done being the victim.This time I’m not alone, but Stephen doesn’t know that.Let him find me,” she repeated.
Darryn opened his mouth again, his hands fisted.
Dale put a hand on his shoulder.“She’s right, you know?He’s not going to stop before he does what he’s set out to do.In his screwed-up mind, Hannah is the reason he lost his job and he—”
