“Really?” Rick sounded shocked. “Then you want to keep it?”

“You bet I do! That cot on the wall doesn’t look very comfortable and I was afraid I’d be up all night. A couple pages of this and I’ll be so bored, I’ll go right to sleep.”

Hannah was on her fourth week of bad knock-knock jokes when she heard her mother’s voice. She looked up to see Delores and Andrea standing at the front desk. Andrea was carrying two large bags of food, and Delores was equally burdened.

“This one’s for you, Rick,” Delores said, handing him one of her bags. “Sally said you liked her prime rib dinner so she sent it for you.”

“Thanks!”

Hannah couldn’t see Rick’s face but she knew he was wearing a big grin.

“It’s okay if we take Hannah’s dinner back to her, isn’t it?” Andrea asked him.

“Sure. I’ll let you in and you can talk to her while she eats. Follow me and I’ll show you where she is.”

Rick led the little procession and Hannah watched her mother and sister follow him down the hallway. When they arrived at the holding cell, Rick unlocked the door.

“There you go,” he said. “I’ll lock you in and then I’m going to get a cup of coffee and dig into my dinner before it gets cold.”

“You’re going to lock us in?!” Andrea turned to glare at him.

“Well . . . yeah, Mrs. Todd. I have to. Hannah’s a prisoner and I can’t leave the cell door open.”

“But I’m the wife of your boss! Bill’s not going to be happy with you if you lock my mother and me in a cell with my sister!”

Hannah watched as a myriad of expressions crossed Rick’s face. First he looked as if he were about to object, and then he looked as if he’d thought better of it. He vacillated between the two extremes and Hannah knew exactly what was running through his mind. It’s true. She’s Bill’s wife and I don’t want to make her mad. But that doesn’t mean she can waltz in here and tell me what to do. My boss is the only one who can tell me what to do. But will he be mad at me if I don’t follow procedure? Should I play it by the rules and tell her that I can’t do that? She’s got me between a rock and a hard place and I don’t know what I should do. Bill suspended Mike without pay for not doing his duty, and I sure don’t want to end up like that! Jessica will kill me if I come home suspended without pay!

“I’ve got an idea,” Hannah said, feeling sorry for Rick and his obvious dilemma. “Why don’t you bring me the food, lock me up again, and get a couple of chairs so Mother and Andrea can sit right outside in the hall and visit with me while I eat.”

“Yeah, that’ll work!” Rick looked very relieved as he took the food from Delores and Andrea and carried it inside the cell. “Hold on, ladies. I’ll get chairs for you.”