Page 58 of Bad Blood Wolf

Chapter 21

Jasmin ducked down and pressed her back to the side of the trailer.

Hey, Ma.

This was Brody’s secret. This was who he’d stayed behind in Nashville for, instead of going to Idaho and starting a new life.

This was the person he’d been protecting.

But why? Why had he gone to so much trouble to keep her off the radar?

She raised herself slowly, needing to watch the scene unfolding inside. Needing to understand.

Adele’s eyes fixed on Brody, and they went wide with fear. “No!” she screamed. “No! Don’t take me! Please don’t take me!” She began to cry, hugging herself with her arms and rocking back and forth.

Brody looked like his heart was breaking.

“No one’s going to take you, Ma,” he said. “It’s okay.”

But Adele only wept harder.

Yolanda shook her head. “She’s not good today, Mr. Jameson. Not good at all. Did you manage to get the new compound?”

He nodded, not taking his eyes off his mother. He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a vial. “Do you think it will help her memory, now that the other one’s not working anymore?”

Jasmin wondered how many fights had paid for that vial. How many wounds he’d taken, how much blood he’d shed. All for just the hope he could help her.

He’d done all that for a woman who’d left him when he was six years old. Who didn’t even recognize him—who looked at him with fear in her face.

Shame cut through her, hot and hard. She should have trusted him. She should have given him time to trust her.

She should have listened to her heart, not her fear.

Yolanda pulled a syringe out of her pocket and filled it from the vial. Making small soothing noises, she calmed Adele enough to wipe her arm with disinfectant and inject her.

After a few moments, Adele’s eyes closed, and Brody stepped back into the room.

“She’ll know you in a few minutes,” Yolanda said, but she sounded more hopeful than certain.

“She’s getting worse, isn’t she,” Brody said.

Yolanda nodded. “Some days are better than others, but she’s in and out,” she said. “If this doesn’t work…”

Brody just nodded.

“I brought some food,” he said. “Just a few treats. They’re in the kitchen. Could you do me a favor and make a nice plate with them? I want to be here when she comes to.”

Yolanda nodded, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as she left the room.

Brody closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, as if gathering strength.

Then he pulled out his phone and attached it to a little portable speaker, and in a moment Christmas carols were playing softly in the background. He set the gift he’d brought on a side table near his mother’s chair, where there was a tiny evergreen in a pot, with little lights and ornaments on it. There were no other holiday decorations in the room.

He sat down on an ottoman near Adele’s chair, and held her hand.

After a few minutes, Adele opened her eyes. She seemed groggy for a moment, confused, and then she saw her son and her eyes lit up.

“Brody! When did you get here? I must have dozed off.”