Page 39 of Targeted in Silver Creek

“That’s between the sheriff and you,” Jesse responded, and he didn’t pause even a heartbeat before he continued. “Why did you call Hanna the day she was shot?”

There was a long pause, followed by some muffled profanity. “Well, it wasn’t to tell her that I was dirty or that I had ordered a hit on her. Judging from your tone, though, that’s what you think.”

“I’m not sure what I think yet,” Jesse countered. “I just want to know about that call. And FYI, Hanna has remembered some details about it, so don’t bother to lie.”

Shaw’s next pause was significantly longer and Jesse wished he could see the man’s face to try to figure out how he was handling the threat. A bogus threat since Hanna didn’t actually have memories of that particular conversation.

“I called Hanna because of her mother’s connection to Arnie,” Shaw finally said. “I thought maybe Hanna had overheard something I could use to start closing down the militia. Bull had been undercover there too long, and he wasn’t reporting as regularly as he should have been. I was worried about him.”

“And what did I tell you about Arnie and my mother?” Hanna challenged. Despite the fatigue, she’d managed to add a threatening tone to her voice.

“Nothing. That’s the truth,” Shaw said when Jesse huffed. “Hanna claimed she didn’t know her mother had ever been involved with Arnie.”

“But you knew,” Jesse said. “How’d you find out?”

“Marlene. She mentioned it in an interview I did with her when I was trying to learn if she was aware of any illegal militia activity in the area.”

It seemed an odd thing for Marlene to bring up when talking with a federal agent, but maybe Shaw had said something that’d prompted her to include it.

“Funny that you’d talk to Marlene about that and not the Silver Creek sheriff’s office,” Jesse pointed out.

This time it was Shaw who huffed. “I’ve already said I was worried about Bull, and I thought I could subtly question Marlene to find out if she thought there’d been a change in her brother’s behavior.”

“And?” Jesse pressed when Shaw didn’t add anything to that.

“She said she had seen some changes in him and thought he wasn’t paying as much attention to his business as he should. Plus, she didn’t like that he was keeping company with Arnie.”

Considering Arnie’s known drug use, that last part made sense. “Did she have any suspicions that he was a deep cover agent?”

“None,” Shaw insisted. Then he paused. “Well, none that she shared with me anyway. Bull kept it secret that he was ATF because he always wanted deep cover. He especially wanted to infiltrate this particular militia and put a stop to it. He didn’t think an outsider would be trusted as much as someone like him who was from the area.”

Or maybe Bull chose it so he could play both sides. The militia had been around for years, maybe even decades, so it was likely that Bull knew more members than just Arnie. He could fake doing his deep cover assignment while profiting big-time from the sale of guns and such. That way, Bull could also make sure the group wasn’t about to be brought down.

“When can I interview the man the sheriff has in custody?” Shaw finally asked.

“Again, that’s between the sheriff and you,” Jesse clarified.

Shaw grumbled something he didn’t catch and ended the call. Probably to contact Grayson.

“If Shaw is the one who sent those gunmen here,” Hanna said, “he could want to talk to the surviving one to make sure he doesn’t rat him out.”

Jesse gave a quick nod because that thought had already occurred to him. Shaw wouldn’t even have to threaten the guy. Just by showing up, the gunman would know that Shaw could kill him before he talked to the cops.

Hanna leaned closer to him. “You really believe Marlene didn’t know her brother was ATF?”

“Hard to say. I’m not sure how close they were, or still are.”

But Jesse doubted Bull had traveled in those samesocial circlesthat Isabel and Marlene did. Even before Bull left Silver Creek, Jesse had always thought of him as a loner, and that impression of him had remained when Bull moved back three years ago.

Hanna’s sigh was loaded with fatigue and frustration, but she must have seen he was feeling the same way because she brushed her hand down his arm. A gesture he’d done earlier to try and sootheher.

“I hate what’s happening,” she said, “but I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think I could get through this without you.”

Oh, man. That gave him a punch of emotion. Not of their usual heat. But of the feelings that he’d failed to protect her six months ago, and he couldn’t fail Evan and her again.

He stood, pulling her into his arms and brushing one of those chaste, and hopefully comforting, kisses on the top of her head. She didn’t melt against him this time though. She stayed a little stiff when she looked up at him. It seemed to Jesse that she had something to say. What, exactly, he didn’t know, but she didn’t speak.

She kissed him instead.

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