Hannah paused for a second. The Liv she knew was loud and proud, a force to be reckoned with. Hearing her so frightened and out of her depth wasn’t a Liv that Hannah recognised.
“I know. But you’ve no need to be.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to hang up now. Okay?” Hannah hated having to cut her friend off, but the quicker she did, the quicker they could get her out of there.
“Okay.”
“I’ll speak to you soon.” Ending the call, Hannah immediately clicked to video call Carl. As she waited for him to pick up Dorothy placed a cup of tea in front of her. “Thank you,” she said as the ringtone continued.
At last, the phone screen came to life and Carl appeared.
Hannah jumped to attention. “Finally.”
Carl eyed her, suspicious. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Pleasure is the last thing on my mind right now.”
“That sounds ominous,” Carl said.
“I need your help.”
Carl smirked. “And I thought you’d rung to properly congratulate me on my new engagement.”
“Congratulations, again,” Hannah replied, her tone flat. “Now will you listen to me?”
Carl took a seat and gave Hannah his proper attention. “Go on.”
“Liv’s been arrested.”
Carl suddenly appeared confused. “And the reason you’re telling me this is?”
Hannah wasn’t in the mood for games. “Because I want you to do something to help.”
Carl let out a laugh. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not exactly in the office right now.”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten.”
“Then what am I supposed to do? Carry out a client consultation via Zoom?” He continued to show his amusement. “I doubt any custody sergeant on the planet would go for that.”
Hannah couldn’t believe he found the whole thing funny. “This isn’t something to joke about, Carl. A friend of mine is in trouble. Who happens to be innocent, by the way.”
“Ha. That’s what they all say.”
Hannah didn’t appreciate Carl’s condescension at the best of times. “She was at some rally and got caught up in something. A wrong place, wrong time kind of thing.”
Carl rolled his eyes, reiterating he’d heard it all before.
Seemingly getting nowhere, Hannah tried to appeal to his better nature. “Carl, I’m not asking you to fly back. But can’t you at least give the police station a call? Talk to the custody sergeant on her behalf.”
“And say what?”
“I don’t know. You’re the expert. It’s not like you haven’t dealt with cases like this before.” Hannah scoffed. “Or is this below your pay scale these days?”
Carl smirked. “Actually, yes, if you–”
Hannah cut him off. “Don’t be so arrogant.” She recalled how she’d supported him at the beginning of his career. How he’d cut his teeth on cases just like Liv’s. He might have gone on to represent the rich, famous, and probably downright guilty, but the foundations on which he built his career, were made from the Livs of the world.
Carl relented. “I’m sorry.”
Hannah held her breath, anticipating what he’d say next.
