soft glow.
After finding a liter of Evian, Jackie came back to the bedside. Hannah returned her head to the pillow without opening the bottle. Her eyes moved to the digital clock. It was twenty minutes past eight. But did that mean morning or night?
Jackie was looking at her pityingly. She reached out and smoothed a strand of hair off Hannahâs forehead. âDid you manage to sleep at all?â
Hannah didnât answer. The hand on her brow felt cool, soothing, almost matronly.
âWeâre all a little shook up,â Jackie said. âYou more than anyone, I bet â¦â
It was an understatement.
In reality, Hannah hadnât let herself shut down until the moment that the doctor had given her the shot. Until then sheâd kept herself superficially togetherâall through the long wait on the tower platform, and all through the conversation with Jackie and the sleepy-eyed Turk, as she had described the incident to the best of her ability. Yet on the inside, where it counted, she had shut down right there on the third-story landing.
Witnessing the murders had been enough trauma. Having the man-child come after her had been even worse. The three hours spent trapped on the platform, as theyâd tried to figure out how to jury-rig a ladder to bring Hannah back down to earth, had been only the icing on the cake. Sheâd watched as the Epsteinsâ bodies were covered with blankets and then laboriously removed from the prison tower. Sheâd kept watching, trapped, as the shakes had come and gone.
â⦠but youâll be glad to know,â Jackie was saying, âeverythingâs been worked out now. I donât know if you heard the announcementâbut weâve decided to skip the rest of our islands. Weâre going straight to Istanbul.â
ââIstanbul,ââ Hannah repeated dully.
âThe FBI spent the afternoon conducting a preliminary investigation on the island, and theyâve decided to let us go on ahead. In a case like this, jurisdiction is determined by the first port at which we dock following the incident. Of course, the incident took place at a port. But we put in a call to the head office, and they spoke with the State Department, and now everybodyâs on the same pageâthe company, the FBI, the Greeks, and the Turks. Weâll go straight to Istanbul.â She paused. âOnce we get there, Vicky, the FBI is going to want to interview you. Since youâre a witness.â
Hannah kept her face blank. âWhy not now?â she asked.
Jackie picked an invisible speck of lint off her tan slacks.
âWell,â she said. âItâs not clear just whatâs happened. But evidently the Bureau is satisfied that there arenât any more answers to be found on Methoni. And the Greeks would be just as happy not to have an incident like this, now, on their soil. Theyâve put a lot of effort into breaking up this terrorist group, November 17, recently, and arenât eager to have their international relationships complicated. Weâre already in bed with the Turks, of course, so theyâve got to welcome us regardless. Itâs a tragedy, whatâs happened with the Epsteins. Thereâs no getting around that. But now we need to look ahead, and make things as easy as possible on the rest of us.â
Hannah nodded.
âIâve discussed the situation with Chief Security Officer Yildirim. We both agree that the important thing now is for you to get some rest. So that once we do reach port, youâll be ready to help as much as possible.â
Hannah nodded again.
âIt seems that Mr. Epstein was sort of an important person,â Jackie said. âDid you just meet him on the boat?â
âYesâjust on the boat.â
Jackie gave Hannah a searching look. Then her face, once again, turned kindly and professionally blank.
âWell. I just thought you ought to know the whole