Page 56 of Targeted in Silver Creek

“We can’t get back to the house,” the hand choked out between coughs. “Someone keeps shooting tear gas canisters at us.”

Oh, mercy. That had to be so someone could get inside.

“Are you hurt?” Jesse pressed.

“No. Just my eyes and nose stinging like fire from the tear gas. I can’t see, Jesse. I can’t be sure if somebody’s not trying to get in.”

More dread washed over her, and it got worse when she heard the voice. Not the ranch hand out in the yard. This had come from inside the house.

“Hanna,” the woman shouted.

Isabel.

Hanna jerked in a hard breath. She couldn’t be sure, but it sounded as if her mother was in the hall, right outside the nursery.

“Hanna,” Isabel repeated, and then added, “Jesse. Please you have to help me.”

Chapter Sixteen

Jesse didn’t move. He sure as hell didn’t go rushing out into the hall to help Isabel, despite her plea.

Because that plea could all be just a ruse to draw him out so Isabel could shoot him.

He didn’t know for sure what her motive might be for wanting him dead, but he couldn’t take the chance. Not when that would leave Hanna and Evan even more vulnerable than they already were. Later, he’d kick himself for letting things come to this point. But for now, he just kept watch and hoped that a lot of things went right for them. They were going to need some luck to get through this.

“Text Grayson,” Jesse whispered to Deputy Norris. “Let him know that Isabel is in the house.”

Jesse didn’t want to risk taking his attention off the nursery door even for a second to send that message, but he also didn’t want Grayson walking in where he could be shot.

“Are you alone, Isabel?” Jesse called out.

With the sound of his voice, Isabel would be able to pinpoint his location, but since she was Hanna’s mother, the woman would have almost certainly known where they’d be.

Isabel coughed, maybe from the remnants of the tear gas. Or because she wanted them to believe she was affected by it. It was just as possible that she’d gotten access to a gas mask, given to her by one of the militia goons, and that she’d just now removed the mask so the coughing would make her appeal for help seem more genuine.

“No,” Isabel said, her voice barely audible because of the coughing. “I—” She cut off whatever she’d been about to add.

Or had been cut off.

Jesse heard a sound, a sort of swooshing gasp that a person might make if they’d just been punched in the stomach and the breath had been knocked out of them. Again, that could be faked, but the next sounds he heard were the real deal.

Footsteps.

Someone was definitely in the hall.

He hadn’t locked the door to the nursery because he’d figured it wouldn’t do any good. If the gunmen had gotten that far, they would have just broken it down, and the flying wood might have prevented Jesse from seeing them clearly. This way, he could watch and wait for them to come in, and when they did, he could put an end to their miserable lives.

Jesse didn’t relish the idea of shooting anyone, especially didn’t want to kill even when the other person was a killer, but he had no intentions of letting them continue to wreak this deadly havoc.

Of course, a gunfight this close to Evan and Hanna could turn out the worst kind of bad. The bathtub gave them some protection. Some. And this was where luck came in. Maybe it would be enough to keep them both out of the path of any bullets that were fired.

“Grayson will come the rest of the way on foot,” Norris whispered after he’d gotten a response to his text. “He’ll try to sneak into the house and take Isabel and anyone who’s with her from behind.”

Hell, there were a dozen things that could go wrong with that plan. The gunmen could spot Grayson and shoot him. He might even be hit with friendly fire if the ranch hands mistook him for the militia. Added to that, Agent Shaw was still out there somewhere, and there was no telling what his intentions were. But Jesse reminded himself that Grayson was as smart a lawman as they came. He’d be careful because he knew how high the stakes were.

“I, uh, need you to come out so we can talk,” Isabel finally said.

Her voice was strained, but he couldn’t tell if it was real or put on.

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