Page 25 of Firefighter Midlife Wolf

He turned to see Jason standing there once again. “What’s up?”

“There’s a lady outside looking for you.” He thumbed over his shoulder.

“I’m coming.” His heart jerked, wondering if it could possibly be Jessica. She had his number, and she could’ve called, but had she actually come to find him in person? He quickly made his way to the garage and out through the overhead doors.

He saw immediately that it wasn’t Jessica. Hayden looked at the woman as he approached. She was thin, both in her face and body, and the breeze tossed wisps of her dark red hair across her face. It was cut fairly short but looked ratty at the ends, like she’d heat-styled it too much. Hayden wouldn’t even have known about such things if it hadn’t been for Maura and Ellie. Combined with her ill-fitting clothes and the rather sad-looking sedan behind her, he had to wonder what sort of situation this woman was in. “Can I help you?”

“Oh, I sure hope so.” She took his outstretched hand in her own. Her palms were heated. “I’m sorry to bother you at work, but I knew I needed to act as quickly as possible. It’s pretty urgent.”

“What’s the matter?” He studied her face, trying to decide if he knew her from anywhere. She didn’t look familiar. If he could do anything to help, though, he would.

“Well, it’s a little strange, so bear with me. My name is Darcy Muldoon, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” That proved his theory that he didn’t know her from anywhere else, but it didn’t help him much. She already knew his name, but how?

“My aunt is Verna Muldoon.”

Ah, that was it. There wasn’t much resemblance, but maybe he’d seen her over there at some point. There was no telling how many times they’d been to Verna’s place. “Yeah, I know Verna. She’s great.”

“I think so, too.” Darcy gave him a warm smile, but it quickly faded. “You see, that’s the problem, though. Verna is getting older, as everyone does, and she’s not as astute as she used to be. I’ve been worried about someone taking advantage of her, and I believe that’s what’s happening now.”

“Really?” Hayden was alarmed at the thought. It wasn’t unheard of, but Verna had always been a tough old bird. Anyone who managed to take advantage of her would be damn good at it. “Do you want to come in and talk about this?”

“No, no. I’m taking up enough of your time as it is. You see, Verna’s visiting nurse has been drugging her, giving her medications she doesn’t need. Aunt Verna must’ve slipped up and talked about her money, and now the nurse is trying to get her to sign it all over.”

Hayden blinked. Visiting nurse. Verna. There was no doubt who she meant. “Jessica?”

“That’s right, and I understand that she’s the visiting nurse for your son, as well.” Darcy’s face pinched in disgust. “I don’t know what she might be capable of, but I’m worried for any of her other patients. I’ve already tried to talk to her supervisor, but Jessica has her just as brainwashed as anyone else.”

He shook his head. It was a wild claim, one he instantly knew was wrong. Jessica was warm and caring. She’d done everything possible for Jack, and even for Hayden. “I just can’t believe she’d do anything like that. She’s been great.”

“She was great to Verna at first, too. That’s how it all works, you see. She makes you believe how wonderful she is, almost like family. Then, when it’s time to figure out all the finances, she comes to mind easily. I’ve heard about such things happening with elder care, but it’s so heartbreaking to see it actually happening. And to my dear Aunt Verna, of all people. There used to be this fire in her, but now she just sits in her chair and stares out the window. At this point, I’m not sure which of her medications are the ones she actually needs and which ones Jessica just gave her so she’d be compliant.”

It was a bizarre story. If a nurse was exploiting her aunt and also taking care of his son, he should be just as worried as Darcy was. But this was Jessica, his mate. This was a woman he was tied to over time and distance, someone he was destined to be with. Fate had already been cruel enough to give him Jessica at such a bad time. It couldn’t be so harsh as to make her some sort of con artist on top of that. “She can’t actually prescribe medications, though. You should take Verna to her doctor.”

“I thought about that,” Darcy admitted sadly. “There’s a chance she could be slipping something else to Verna, some other drugs she got a hold of. Even if that’s not the case, she still has quite the connection so she can manipulate her prescriptions.”

“What do you mean?” If he had to keep hearing these accusations against Jessica, he wanted to hear them straight.

Darcy sighed. “Verna’s doctor is Dr. Brandon Anderson. He’s Jessica’s ex-husband.”

Hayden opened his mouth to reply and then closed it again. Jack had a pediatrician he saw for his regular visits, but Dr. Anderson had helped him in the emergency room.

“You see?” Darcy urged. “The two of them can work together to manipulate people however they want. I know it’s a lot to process, but I had to tell you. I’ll have to figure out how to handle Verna, but I wanted anyone else dealing with Jessica to be aware. If your son is acting strangely at all, it could be Jessica’s doing.”

Jack had been acting strangely, but there was no way that Darcy could know that. “I can understand your concern, but I just can’t believe any of this is true. Jessica is very serious about her job, and she’d never do anything to compromise it. Beyond that, I believe she genuinely cares for her patients and wants the best for them. She’d never swindle someone like that. If something is going on with Verna, you might need to look elsewhere.”

Darcy’s shoulders fell, and she looked at the concrete under her feet. “For your sake, I hope I’m wrong. I can’t make you believe me, but just think about it. Be watchful. I’m sorry I took up so much of your time.” She got in her car and drove off.

Hayden stood there, staring in the direction she’d gone, even though he could no longer see her. The woman had to be nuts if she thought Jessica was responsible for a scheme like that. It was unfathomable.

A small amount of doubt crept its way in under his thoughts. Jessica really did feel like family when she came over. She’d brought her daughter with her the last time he’d seen her, and Paige had blended right in with his own children as if they’d always known each other. She’d given him her personal phone number, something she probably wasn’t supposed to do but that she’d done to make him feel better. But why didn’t she mention her ex was Jack’s doctor? Was Pierce right? Did he need to have Bennett run a few background checks?

No. Absolutely not. Darcy had just gotten in his head. She was looking for someone to blame for her issues with Verna, and she wanted an ally against this person. Hayden knew it wasn’t Jessica, though. His instincts had told him a lot about his mate, and he knew he could trust her.

13

“How’s the new job going?” Dawn’s voice was bright and clear through Jessica’s phone speaker in the car.

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