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Hanna stepped out of her Toyota Prius and looked around The circular driveway of her father’s new house, a six-bedrooe, tay fros, tethered by feeble-looking ropes White Grecian colue fountain in the front yard burbled peacefully, and rows of perfectly manicured shrubs that looked like upside-down ice crearand abode seemed excessive for three people--her father, his neife, Isabel, and Isabel’s daughter, Kate--but it did see for United States senator Mr Marin’s careat shot at winning Unless, of course, A spilled Hanna’s secret about Tabitha
Hanna rang the doorbell, and Isabel whipped the door open almost immediately She was dressed in a Tiffany-blue cashmere sweater, a black pencil skirt, and sensible low heels The perfect doife of a senator-to-be
"Hello, Hanna" The pinched look on Isabel’s face said that she didn’t quite approve of Hanna’s boho Anthropologie dress and gray suede boots "Everyone’s in Tom’s office"
Hanna swished down the hall, which was adorned with silver-fra last suliest bridesreen, floor-sweeping nue and her skin look sickly She turned the frame around so that it faced the wall
Her father and his ca around the walnut desk in his office Her stepsister, Kate, was perched on a Victorian sofa, fiddling with her iPhone Mr Marin’s eyes lit up when he saw Hanna "There she is!"
Hanna sn consultants told hi public, she’d suddenly becohter
Isabel slipped into the room after Hanna and shut the French doors "This is why I called you here" Mr Marin pushed a series of flyers and website screen grabs across the table The pages said things like The Truth About Tom Marin and Don’t Believe the Lies and Not a Man You Can Trust
"These are all paid for by Tucker Wilkinson’s committee," Mr Marin explained
Hanna clucked her tongue Tucker Wilkinson was her father’s biggest rival for the party nomination He’d served as state senator for years and had oodles of cah places
She scootched forward to look at his photo Tucker Wilkinson was a tall, handsoh Jack, ultra-white politician smile, the kind that tried so hard to say Trust me
Sam, a senior staffbow ties, shook his head "I heard Wilkinson bribed a Harvard adh he had a two-point-oh GPA"
Vincent, who u he can to dig up the skeletons in everyone’s closets during ca on us" Mr Marin looked around at his staff "And he won’t--unless there’s so I need to know What Jereain"
Hanna flinched at the mention of Jeremiah, her father’s aide who’d recently been disn’s petty cash fund The thing was, Jeremiah hadn’t stolen the moneyHanna had But she’d had to It was the only way to keep Patrick quiet about the photos he’d taken
Kate’s phone chiled
"Kate?" Mr Marin sounded impatient "Maybe you could put that away?"
"Sorry" Kate turned the iPhone facedown and glanced pointedly at Hanna "Sean just texted "
Hanna bristled inside, but she tried not to let it show Kate had recently started dating Sean Ackard, Hanna’s ex Hanna didn’t htest, but it did hurt that he’d chosen to date the girl she hated most
Mr Marin stacked the printouts in a neat pile "So Is there anything anyone would like to come clean with?"
Hanna’s insides churned Would Wilkinson’s people find out about Tabitha? She glanced out theA car rolled slowly down the road She squinted toward the silhouetted trees that served as a barrier between her dad’s property and the neighbor’s For a split second, it looked like a shadow darted between the trees
Her cell phone beeped
Hanna pulled it out of the bag and hit the SILENT button, but then, glancing around to , she peeked at the screen When she saw the garbled letters and nu seeped into her bones She pressed READ
What would Daddy say if he knew his new favorite daughter was a thief? --A
Hanna tried her hardest to keep a co this to her? How did A knohere Hanna was right this second? She glanced at Kate--she had been fiddling on her own phone seconds ago Kate gave her an annoyed glare back
She shut her eyes and rifled through the other possibilities of who New A ht be At first, Real Ali had made so much sense She must have somehow survived the fire and the fall from the crow’s nest and coirl they’d killed was Tabitha, she realized how crazy it was to think Ali had made it out of the Poconos house But who else had they hurt? Who had seen what had happened in Jamaica, and the mess Hanna had made with Patrick, and God knohat else?
"Hanna?"