Hannah turned back to the door again, staring at it, suddenly feeling uneasiness rising up in her chest. She knocked again, a little louder this time, just in case Sarah was listening to music through headphones or something, but there was still no reply. Pressing her ear to the door, she couldn’t hear anything. She was pretty sure the office was empty. Which meant it wouldn’t be a big deal at all if she just pushed the door open and checked to make sure everything was okay.
She should just leave it alone, but her instincts were telling her that something was wrong and she needed to check it out. She tried the handle, and it was unlocked. When she pushed the door open and stepped through, she gasped at what she saw.
The office was completely and utterly trashed. Paintings hung askew on the walls, one of the chairs had been ripped open, and white stuffing overflowed like a twisted version of a snowscape. Pens were scattered all over the floor, and papers had been knocked to the ground. The desk drawers were torn open where someone had clearly been searching through them and the computer that usually sat on the desk was upside down next to it.
“Oh my God,” Hannah gasped out loud, a cold grip of terror taking hold of her. Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Who would have done this? One of the clients could have just freaked out and gone on a destruction spree, but that didn’t sound or feel right. This seemed deliberate, like a weird sort of organized chaos.
Someone was looking for something. But what? And why here in Sarah’s office? And where was Sarah?
Hannah was just about to turn around and go in search of Xavier or Lawson for help, when she heard a noise.
“Hannah?” a tiny voice squeaked from underneath the desk.
Hannah dropped to her knees to look underneath it.
Sarah looked back at her, wide-eyed, trembling and clutching her knees to her chest.
“Sarah, what happened?” Hannah gaped at her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m… I’m okay,” Sarah replied, her voice shaky.
Hannah rushed around the desk and offered her a hand to help her to her feet.
Sarah took it gratefully, grabbing on to the side of the desk for support as she tried to gather herself.
“You need something to drink? Do you need me to call River to check you over?” Hannah fussed over her urgently.
Sarah shook her head. “No, nothing like that,” she replied. “I—I’m okay. Physically, I mean. I just…” She cast her gaze aroundthe office, taking in the extent of the damage for what seemed to be the first time. She pressed her lips together, the distress written all over her face. “I…” she began, but then, the tears fell down her cheeks, the shock clearly getting to her.
Hannah had never seen her so shaken up before and instantly pulled Sarah into a protective hug, hating that she had been through something so scary.
Once Sarah managed to catch her breath again, Hannah pulled back slightly and raised her eyebrows. “What happened here?” she asked gently. She knew it was going to be hard for Sarah to talk about, but if the person who had done this was still loose in the building or on the property, it was important they figured it out before something else happened.
“Jed,” Sarah finally breathed.
Hannah’s heart dropped slightly. She knew there was something off with that guy. “What did he do?” she asked.
Sarah shook her head, clearly having a hard time going through the details again, even in her head. “He…he came in here for an appointment,” she explained. “And I thought everything was normal. But he walked in, and as soon as the door was shut, he locked it, and he just started trashing my office. Started going through my files, going through the desk, the computer, everything. He told me that if Xavier didn’t have it, then it had to be in here.”
“It?” Hannah replied.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Sarah admitted with a shrug. “I have no idea what he meant. There’s nothing in here worth taking.” She trembled hard as she looked back up at Hannah. “I think Xavier might be in danger.”
Now the break-in to Xavier’s room made sense. Jed was searching for whatever he thought Xavier had in his room. Was that why Hannah had gotten such weird vibes from him right from the beginning? Why others had seen him lurking around?Had he just turned up here because he thought Xavier had something he wanted?
Hannah tried to remember what Xavier was supposed to be doing right then. He had been with Aaron, right? And then he was supposed to have an appointment with Sarah. She needed to go find him. Now. Tell him she was right about Jed and he was the one who had been in his room and about him trashing Sarah’s office because he was searching for something he thought Xavier had.
None of this made sense to her, but hopefully Xavier would be able to make sense of it all. First, she had to find him.
“You call Lawson,” Hannah instructed Sarah, pulling herself together. “Tell him what Jed did and that he’s looking for something but we don’t know what. And then call Bailey and tell her what happened. She’ll send people up or she’ll come herself. I’ve got to find Xavier and tell him what’s going on.”
“You sure?” Sarah asked. “Jed could be somewhere close watching and waiting to see what we’ll do. He could even be listening in right now.”
“After this,” Hannah replied, looking around the room at all the destruction. “I doubt he’s still around since he didn’t find what he was looking for. Plus, he’s got to know that you’ll report him. But we can’t wait around either way. The guys need to know what’s going on and everyone needs to be on the lookout now.”
“How can we be sure that it’s just him?” Sarah replied nervously.
Hannah frowned. “Did he say anything that might make you think otherwise?” she asked, her heart sinking. How many of them were there around here? How many of these guys had managed to infiltrate the sanctuary? She mentally flicked through all the people she had registered at the lodge in the last few weeks, trying to remember if any of them had given her a strange feeling the same way Jed had, but she couldn’t think ofanyone else. She would need to go through the files, see if there was anything suspicious in there.
