Isabel opened the door and let the detective in.
“Isabel is the key to everything.” Aubrey finally looked at me. Didn’t bother to whisper. “Gird those loins, Hanna, because this is going to get bumpy before it’s over.”
Chapter Sixty
Hanna
The whole day passed before the doctors deemed Jeremy well enough to leave the hospital and come back home. He’d been shot up with Xylazine, a tranquilizer used by veterinarians. The sedative wasn’t meant for humans but frequently made its way into illicit drug mixes and was linked to overdose deaths.
His memory continued to be a bit blurry.
For now, Xavier’s mansion served as our residence. The trust provision limiting when the property could be sold meant this living arrangement might not be temporary.
That restriction worked to our advantage because neither Jeremy nor I was ready to venture back to the café and deal with the press or locals asking questions. The best thing about Xavier’s house was the big wall around it. A police car sat out front at the gate for protection.
I’d never been a fan of guns but having two uniformed people with weapons close by and ready to respond to trouble didn’tsuck. Anyone wanting to get to us would have to go through them first. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
I flipped through a magazine for a second time, not seeing the pages or the pictures this round either. The knot in my nerves slowly started to ease but my concentration sputtered. Reading appeared to be out for now.
It’s not like I had a lot of hobbies to pursue during my forced break from work. The insurance company had finally agreed to pay on the policy, though how much and if it would be sufficient still remained a question. I was told they’d “cleared” me of arson. Damn nice of them.
“Are you okay?” I asked for the third time because what mother wouldn’t? He was lucky I limited my relief to staring at him instead of trying to hug the crap out of him.
“Yep.” Jeremy’s usual clippedI’m doing something else right nowresponse. He picked up the dismissive comeback when he turned fifteen. Hadn’t grown out of it yet, unfortunately.
At least he wasn’t fidgeting or ticked off or passed out. He sprawled on the couch in the space Xavier had used as the family room. I’d piled floral-print pillows behind Jeremy and thrown a blanket over him. A fire roared in the fireplace. As far as I was concerned, we could huddle in this big room until I figured out the price tag for running this monstrosity of a house. The number promised to be shockingly huge.
Jeremy played on his phone. “People sure do love Tanner family conspiracies.”
“For some people, making shit up to worry about is their entire personality.” I wanted to say more about the corrosive effects of gossip and the tendency of people to want to be first tobreak a story, even if that meant filling in the blanks with lies and pretending they were the truth.
I couldn’t protect him from whatever nonsense people said about us. He chuckled a few times while reading, so he clearly thought the idea of being an unexpected millionaire trumped idle gossip. I hated the idea of him maneuvering through either.
I tried to be thecool momand not hover. I wanted to ask a thousand questions, but I knew he didn’t have all the answers. The doctors insisted his memory would come back in small pieces, then likely in a big rush. They didn’t view the loss as permanent.
Rather than think about Jeremy being shot up with drugs that eventually would have killed him, I concentrated on the fire crackling behind me. The fresh scent of pine filled the room. The atmosphere had a homey, comfortable feel that belied the underlying tension. Dehydration had left Jeremy weak and out of sorts, so we hadn’t worked through the Xavier issue and my years of omissions. Still, Jeremy was here and not hiding from me, so I took that as a win.
My cell buzzed with a new text. This one from the police at the gate. I had a visitor. One I expected and didn’t look forward to greeting. I gave the okay for her to come up the driveway.
“We’re about to have a guest.”
Jeremy’s head popped up. “Aubrey?”
Lord, no.He’d become obsessed with Aubrey. Getting to know her. Trying to figure her out. Ferreting out her lies from the truth.
“She might stay away for a few days. I’m pretty sure I threatened to kill her at the hospital.”
Jeremy smiled. “Who knew you could screamget outso loud?”
Anyone who’d spent time with me. “I have many skills. She’s lucky I didn’t throw her out a window.”
I had to behave. She inadvertently helped me find Jeremy with thatbehind the wallscomment about the houses. The comment that started an alarm bell clanging in my head about her that refused to shut off. She helped me confront Isabel and stayed with me while the police took away a yelling Isabel for questioning.
Aubrey was also Jeremy’s niece... Was that right? The twisted Tanner family tree made me queasy.
He rested his phone on his lap. “The time after being hit still isn’t clear but I don’t remember Aubrey being in any of it.”
As if that cleaned the slate. “My comment still stands.”
