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“What is it that scares you?”
He’s there, she thought. She wanted to say the words but couldn’t form them.
“When Renee called me,” Hudson said, “I think she’d just been there. Maybe she talked to them.”
“The cult members.”
He inclined his head. “She said something about colonies of people. She was excited. She meant Siren Song.”
“And I look like them,” Becca stated flatly.
“Yeah, well, that could mean next to nothing. I just want to talk to them. See if Renee asked them about Jessie, or maybe something else.”
Becca felt ridiculous, being so stubborn, when she’d been so gung-ho earlier. But it was like Jessie’s warning was playing over and over again in her head, an endless reel. Had that been what Jessie had been trying to tell her? Siren Song? But there were too many syllables in that message. Three, instead of two. So Jessie had to be trying to tell her something else, and Becca was sure it had to do with him.
Hudson pulled her into his arms. “I can go see them by myself.”
She shook her head, unable to explain the depths of her fear. She wanted answers as much as he did, yet now, suddenly, she couldn’t take the last few steps. She was profoundly frightened in a visceral, nonsensical way.
“I don’t want anything to happen to our baby,” she whispered.
“I won’t let anything happen.”
She didn’t say it, but she wasn’t sure he would be able to stop the cataclysm she sensed was coming for her.
Hudson suggested, “Let’s get another night at the B and B. I’ll take you there, then go see the people at Siren Song.”
“No, I’m staying with you. Don’t leave me.”
“Would you feel safer back in Portland, or Laurelton?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” She turned toward him, burying her face in his jacket, clutching its leather folds with tense fingers. “I’ll go,” she said in a muffled voice against his chest. “I want to know, too. I’ll go.”
“What is it?” he asked again, holding her close. “Why now?”
“I can’t explain it.” She was torn between laughter and tears. “If I didn’t already know I was pregnant I’d be wondering, because my emotions are all over the place. I just feel something bad is going to happen. Like we’re prodding the beast. And though I want answers as much as you do, I’m afraid.”
“Maybe we should just forget about this for now.”
“No, you need to find out about Renee,” she said, steeling her courage. “And I want to know if Jessie met with them, and if Renee followed her path.”
He pulled back to look into her face, sweeping her wind-tossed hair from her eyes. “You sure?”
She nodded.
“Then we’ll drive over there and see how it goes. If you don’t feel safe, we’ll leave.”
“Okay.”
“Want me to drive?”
“No, I’m okay,” she said, turning toward the car. Ringo was standing on the front seat, his paws on the dashboard. He yipped at her and scratched at the dash.
“Sure?” Hudson asked.
She nodded tautly. “Sure.”
Mac shoved his cell phone into his pocket and made a sound of frustration.
