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But his gun was loaded and close at hand.

CHAPTER 10

Jenna jolted awake, her heart pounding a mile a minute. Where was she?

She bolted upright and the thick comforter fell away. That’s right. She and Brody had come to stay at Sergeant Dawson’s friend’s place. She couldn’t make herself call the burly cop Kenny.

She glanced at the clock near her bed. Five fifty-two. It wouldn’t be light out for another hour and a half. Would they stay that long?

It had been great sleeping in a real bed and eating a good meal, but she was anxious to get this over with. All of it. Meeting her grandmother. Finding out why her parents were killed and who wanted her dead now. And getting the killers behind bars, along with whoever hired them.

About the only thing she wasn’t looking forward to was telling Brody goodbye.

Ridiculous. They’d known each other one day. And that whole day, he’d been protecting her. Of course, she felt attached to him. She knew enough psychology to know such feelings might not be real.

They sure felt real, though.

Grumbling under her breath, she tossed her legs over the side of the bed and flipped on the lamp on the bedside. She reached out and removed her hearing aids from the charger. Once they were on, she placed them into her ears, sighing happily when she had access to sound again.

She hadn’t told Brody, but by the time they had arrived last night, her left hearing aid had already died. She knew it was only a matter of minutes, an hour at best, before her right one ran out of power, as well.

When this was over, she was going to do two things. First, she’d invest in learning sign language. Her parents had never seen the need as she grew up because she did so well with her hearing aids, but she could think of several situations in school and afterwords where she would have benefitted from the ability to use an interpreter, especially in classes that moved rapidly and were content heavy.

Looking back, she wished she’d brought the subject up with her parents.

Well, she couldn’t change the past, but moving forward, she intended to learn. What if her hearing declined? No, she needed to be proactive. The second thing she wanted to do was figure out how to read lips, at least a minimal amount.

It would be difficult. She knew that. She’d once read that in the English language, less than half of the speech sounds are visible on the lips.

She picked up her phone off the nightstand. Zane had texted her late, concerned that she hadn’t called him. She sent him a quick text telling him she was fine. Hadn’t been able to text last night. Also, she’d decided to spend Christmas with a friend and would call him soon.

She should text her boss. Although he’d told her she didn’t have to come in if the weather was bad, he’d been so kind, he might worry about her.

Her fingers hesitated. If Andy was behind this, could he use a text from her to find her location? It wouldn’t be hard for him to get hold of Matt’s phone and see the texts.

No, she wouldn’t risk it. If she lost her job, she’d find a new one. Once this was over, she didn’t think she’d be able to work for Matt again, anyways. Not knowing what his brother had done. Nor would he want her there, not if his kid brother was spending the remainder of his life behind bars.

She dropped her phone back on the table. Her screen lit up. Zane hearted her message then responded.

“Have fun and stay safe. Lots of love!”

She texted back a fun emoji, then left. Zane wasn’t a huge texter. Now that he knew she was safe, he’d stop worrying and focus on his family, assuming she’d reach out when she returned home. She didn’t feel guilty for not telling him what was going on. He had a new baby. No sense in dragging him into this mess.

Jenna grabbed her overnight bag and went into the bathroom. After cleaning up and getting into fresh clothes, she felt ready to face the day. When she peaked out into the main area of the house, she found Brody already awake, sitting at the table with a cup of steaming coffee in front of him.

“You’re awake!” She sauntered in and poured herself a cup, adding a substantial dose of cream to it. “I was worried that I’d startle you.”

He saluted her with his mug before taking a sip. “Nah. I’ve been up for an hour. We’ve had a bear roaming the premises. I didn’t see him, but I heard him out by the garbage cans.”

She stopped in the middle of the room. “A bear? We have a bear close by?”

He shrugged. “A bear typically won’t bother you. I’m more concerned with those hunting you.”

She sank into a chair, the relief from sleeping at last fading fast. “So not only do we have to worry about people, but now I have to worry about the wildlife, too.”

“You’ve lived in Pennsylvania most of your life. Surely you’ve seen a bear before.”

She rubbed her hands down her face. “I know they’re around. I’ve never seen one up close and personal.”