Page 54 of Targeted in Silver Creek

Not gunfire. But one of the ranch hands yelling. Then, coughing. Seconds later, Jesse saw the white fog sliding across the yard toward the house.

“Tear gas,” Norris managed to say though he, too, started coughing. “We need to get insidenow.”

HANNA’SHEARTWASin her throat, and her muscles tightened with the sound of each and every bullet that was being fired. Sweet heaven, there was a gunfight going on. One that could get Jesse, her mother and everyone helping them killed.

She pressed Evan closer to her, not to soothe him. He was asleep. She was the one who needed soothing, and she wished she knew what was going on. It didn’t seem as if the bullets were being fired near the house, so maybe that meant the ranch hands and Deputy Norris were holding off attackers. If so, she prayed they succeeded. Prayed, too, they all got out of this alive.

She thought of her mother, drugged and dazed on the porch, and she added a prayer that Isabel wasn’t a major player in all of this. Money laundering was bad enough. So was withholding the truth about what had gone on right before Arnie had shot her. But if Isabel’s actions had caused the danger, then Hanna wanted her to pay and pay hard.

Hanna heard one of the ranch hands shouting, and she made out the words.Tear gas. Oh, mercy. That caused her heart to skip a beat or two. Because if their attackers had set off tear gas, he or she might have done it so they could get Jesse, Evan and her out of the house.

“It’s me,” someone said at the door.

Jesse.

The relief washed over her. He was alive, and she hurried out of the bathtub so she could unlock the door for him. He wasn’t hurt. That was the first thing she made sure of, but every bit of his expression and body language told her they were in deep trouble.

“How bad is it?” she asked.

“Grayson’s on the way,” he said, and she knew he was trying to give her the good news first. “Someone set off tear gas canisters at the end of the driveway, and the ranch hands had to scatter.”

In other words, they probably wouldn’t be able to hold off any gunmen making their way to the house.

“I got your mother and Deputy Norris inside,” Jesse continued. “He’s watching her to make sure she doesn’t try anything.”

Anything—as in try to kill them to make sure they stayed silent about her involvement with the militia.

“The house is locked up, and I’ve reset the security system. No one will get in without us knowing about it. I’m also staying here with Evan and you,” he assured her. “The tear gas will clear soon—” He stopped when someone fired a shot.

Not on the road from the sound of it. This was nearby.

Maybe even in the yard.

Hanna tried not to let the fear take over. She couldn’t panic because Jesse didn’t have time to try to bring her out of a full-scale attack. But her heart was pounding and her breath was already going thin.

Jesse pulled the bathroom door shut and he locked it. “Get back in the tub,” he instructed.

Just hearing Jesse’s voice helped some even though what he was saying meant the danger was imminent. Still, she used the sound of his voice to start steadying herself. Hanna also kept her attention on Evan’s peaceful, sleeping face, which was better than any of the grounding exercises the therapist had taught her. She had to stay in control for the sake of her baby.

There were no windows in the bathroom, and the only illumination came from a cheery turtle night-light plugged into the outlet on the vanity. It was enough light, though, for her to see Jesse. He stayed at the door, no doubt ready to defend them if anyone came through. And he would defend them. Hanna was certain of that. However, she was equally certain that Jesse could die if it came down to it.

As if he sensed what she was thinking, Jesse looked back at her, their gazes connecting. He was trying to reassure her again. But that reassurance vanished when the night-light went out, plunging them into total darkness.

Seconds later, the security alarm went off, the sound blaring and echoing through the house.

Evan jolted and started to cry, though Hanna could barely hear him over the noise. She pulled him to her, tried to soothe him, and once again had to battle her own panic.

Because it was possible the gunmen were in the house.

That was the thought that kept repeating in her head. A thought that was throbbing with her too fast heartbeat and her racing breath. Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, the alarms stopped, and the room went deadly silent. That’s when she realized Evan had stopped crying, but he was whimpering as if trying to lull himself back to sleep.

“I had to use the app to turn off the security,” Jesse whispered to her. “I have to be able to hear them if they come this way.”

She didn’t have to ask what he meant bythem. The gunmen. Maybe even the militia leader. Yes, Jesse would definitely need to know if they were trying to get into the bathroom. But she didn’t hear anything like that.

No running footsteps.

No gunfire.

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