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Jesse’s phone dinged again, and this time the text was from the reserve deputy, Roger Norris.It’s definitely a woman, he said, adding the ranch hands onto the text.And she looks familiar.
Just as he read that, some of the clouds finally drifted away, giving Jesse just enough light for him to make out the woman’s face.
Hell. She was familiar all right.
Because it was Hanna’s mother.
HANNASTAYEDINthe doorway of the nursery, trying to hear any bits of info that Jesse was getting about this possible intruder, but she kept her gaze pinned to the baby monitor that she’d picked up. Since her back was to the crib, she couldn’t actually see Evan. Might not be able to hear him, either, because her heartbeat was crashing in her ears. So she watched the monitor to make sure he wasn’t stirring or waking up.
Every few seconds, she peered out, hoping to get a glimpse of Jesse, but he’d obviously moved to one of the windows out of her line of sight. He was no doubt getting updates from the hands and deputy, and even over her own loud heartbeat, she thought she would have heard any shots that might have been fired. Maybe that meant this was a false alarm, someone who’d maybe broken down and had come to her house looking for help.
Of course, that was wishful thinking, but Hanna held on to that hope until she saw Jesse making his way toward her. One look at his face and she knew something was wrong.
“What happened?” she managed to ask.
He had his gun drawn, but he used his left hand to take hold of her shoulder in what was usually a reassuring gesture. Not much would reassure her at this point though.
“It’s your mother,” Jesse told her. “She’s on foot, and she’s coming toward the house.”
“On foot?” She shook her head. That didn’t make sense. If Isabel had broken down, she had a cell phone, and she could have called. At least she would have if her phone battery hadn’t died. Or if she didn’t have something else planned.
Like getting close enough to attack.
Hanna still couldn’t see Isabel doing something like that, but if she was the militia leader and was desperate, she might be willing to do just about anything. Even get her own hands dirty by launching an attack to silence Jesse and her.
“What are you going to do?” she asked Jesse.
“I don’t want to pull any of the deputies away from Grayson’s operation, and I think we have enough manpower here to deal with whatever she’s trying to bring to your doorstep. My plan right now is to allow her to come closer to the house so I can find out why she’s here. I won’t let her in,” he quickly added. “And the ranch hands and deputy will keep watch to make sure she’s alone and hasn’t broughtfriendswith her.”
Good. Because Hanna didn’t want those so-called friends getting anywhere near the house so they could start shooting.
“Isabel will want to talk to me,” Hanna pointed out. “Does she have her phone with her? If so, she might call when she gets closer.”
“Can’t tell. She might be drunk. Or hurt.” He flexed his grip on her shoulder. “I can’t see any blood or anything, but she’s staggering.”
Jesse didn’t ask her if she’d ever known Isabel to get falling-down drunk. She hadn’t, as far as she knew, but then she only had six months of memories when it came to her mother. However, Isabel could be hurt despite there not being any signs of blood. If she wasn’t the leader of the militia, then she could have been attacked by one of them as a ploy to drag them out of hiding.
“I’m not opening the door to her,” Jesse said as if reading her mind. “Not turning off the security system either. But the reserve deputy, Norris, is frisking her right now to make sure she isn’t armed. If she doesn’t have any kind of weapon and wants to talk to you, I can have her brought onto the porch. You’ll be able to speak to her through the window.”
Hanna had no problems agreeing to any of that. She had to know why the woman was there, but she didn’t want that info if it put anyone at risk.
“Keep the baby monitor with you,” he instructed, and she followed him toward the front of the house.
He motioned for her to stay to the side so that she wasn’t directly in front of the glass. She did, but Hanna was able to look out into the yard and spot her mother and the deputy. Jesse had been right about her staggering. If the deputy hadn’t had hold of her arm, Isabel likely would have fallen.
“I think she might have been drugged,” the deputy said in a voice loud enough for them to hear.
Drugged. Oh, mercy. Hanna forced herself to stay put, but her worry skyrocketed. At least, it did until she reminded herself once again that this might all be an act. A potentially deadly one.
“Hanna?” her mother called out. “Please help me. Please.”
Jesse muttered some profanity that was laced with as much frustration and worry as Hanna was feeling. “I’ll call for an ambulance,” he told the deputy, and Jesse did that while Deputy Norris led Isabel onto the porch.
When Isabel passed under the overhead light, Hanna could see that her mother did indeed look dazed. Maybe because she was overdosing on something. Maybe having another stroke. But Hanna didn’t know if this was something Isabel had done to herself of if someone had given her drugs. If it was the latter, Hanna wanted to know why.
“The ambulance will be here in about ten minutes,” Jesse relayed to Hanna and the deputy.
On the porch, Isabel sank down next to the window, leaned her head against the wooden frame and looked up at Jesse. “I need to see Hanna.”
