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“It’s still not foolproof,” Jesse heard Hanna murmur.
She was watching the baby monitor since it was nearing the time for Evan to wake from his nap, but she was obviously listening to the conversation as well. Hard for her not to hear it, though, considering the small size of the guest room.
“It’ll be as safe as we can possibly make it,” Jesse assured her in a whisper.
That, of course, wasn’t foolproof at all.
Bull could have assembled his own team who would try to kill every lawman on scene. He wouldn’t be able to have that team in the immediate area since Grayson already had deputies posted there, but Bull’s cronies could come storming in by using the trails.
But Bull could have something else in mind.
Something that was twisting Jesse up inside.
Because Bull could be planning a different kind of attack. One where he would use this so-called surrender as a diversion so he could come after Hanna. Jesse had tried to cover all the angles there, too, by arranging for more than a dozen armed ranch hands to be on the grounds. That was in addition to having his uncle Mason and cousin Noah and two more reserve deputies there as well.
Jesse’s mother would be inside the house with Hanna and Evan, and because Melissa was a former cop, she would be armed with a gun that she most definitely knew how to use. His mother would lay down her life to protect Hanna and Evan, and yeah, that was twisting him up, too. He didn’t want it to come down to his mom having to step in to assist because it would mean Bull and whoever he’d brought with him had managed to get past multiple lines of defense.
“Any questions?” Grayson asked when he finished the briefing.
No one said anything. Grayson had made clear everyone’s positions. Had made it equally clear that they wouldn’t be giving Bull any chance to fire at any of them. They also wouldn’t be letting Agent Shaw in on it. Too risky, since the man could be dirty.
Jesse ended the call and checked the time. “I’ll have to leave in about an hour,” he told her.
He also checked Hanna to see how she was handling this. She didn’t seem to be on the verge of a panic attack, nowhere close to that, but her nerves were definitely showing. Even though he wasn’t even sure it would help, he went to her and pulled her into his arms again.
“It’ll be okay,” he tried to assure her. Of course, they knew it wasn’t something he could guarantee, but he would do whatever it took to keep them all safe. Bull was the expendable one here.
Hanna didn’t move away from him, and she didn’t go stiff from the close contact. The sigh that left her mouth was long and laced with fear and worry.
“You think Bull will actually surrender?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.
It could go either way. If the man was truly an ATF agent, a clean one, then the chances were high that he’d give himself up. He would want to clear his name. But if he was truly a killer or a dirty agent, then all bets were off.
She nodded, her hair brushing against the side of his face. That gave him a kick of memories he didn’t want at the moment. Memories not of the damage that Bull could do but of Hanna and him together. Oh, man. Even with everything that’d happened, she could still fire up his body and make him remember things best put on hold.
Obviously, they were on the same page about that “on hold” part because she cleared her throat and stepped back. Her gaze automatically went to the monitor where she could see that Evan was still sleeping.
“I’m not sure how soon he’ll be waking up,” she said, her voice a low murmur, “but I can go ahead and start looking at that enhanced feed from the security camera that Theo mentioned.”
That yanked him out of the haze from the heat, and Jesse couldn’t shake his head fast enough. “I don’t want you to have to deal with that now. Like I said, I have to leave in about an hour. If you see something that upsets you or triggers a panic attack, I want to be here.” And it might take more than the hour to get her steady.
“I want to get started on this.” She paused, and he could see her mentally regroup. “Ineedto get started on it. I need to do something to help so I don’t just feel like a victim who needs protection. If we can put an end to the danger, then Evan will be safe.”
Jesse couldn’t dispute any of that, but the timing sucked. He’d seen that footage. Not the enhanced, but the original one. Hell, he’d studied it frame by frame, and he knew it was going to bring all that terror back for her. For him, too.
“I won’t fall apart,” she assured him. “I can’t because I need to take care of Evan when he wakes up.”
She would definitely need to do that, and their little boy could be the ultimate, good distraction. Still, he debated it for another moment before he finally went to his laptop and located the file in his inbox. He had Hanna sit in the chair, and he pressed the keys to get the footage started.
At first glance, Jesse couldn’t see much of a difference in the enhanced footage in the first few frames. He watched as Hanna pulled to a stop in front of the gate and then opened her window to punch in the security code Jesse had given her. However, before she could do that, Arnie’s truck came to a fast stop behind her, and both Arnie and Bull barreled out, heading straight for the gate.
Or maybe Hanna’s car.
Because of the angle of the camera, Jesse couldn’t see Hanna’s expression, but at that moment, she wouldn’t have necessarily been scared. The men didn’t have weapons drawn. Not yet. But Jesse was betting the terror came and skyrocketed for her once she saw the rage on Arnie’s face.
Jesse adjusted his own position so he could see both the laptop screen and the side of Hanna’s face. That way, he could stop this if things got too intense. Better yet, maybe Evan would go ahead and wake up so it’d put an end to this. A temporary end anyway. Jesse knew that eventually Hanna would see every second of what the camera had captured.
