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Theo sniffed. “Only the crime boss Alonzo worked for, and he died fifteen years ago. I doubt his kids or the cops trying to nail them back then care now.”
“How did you get involved?” She moved her hand across the bed, and the IV needle in her elbow shifted.Ouch.
“I was undercover. Alonzo and I became friends enough he told me he was thinking about walking away. So we figured out a plan for him to write a letter to the captainabove the cops, trying to nail them by any means necessary. Including breaking the law.” Theo grinned. “Two weeks later, all those cops were fired and Alonzo’s boss was arrested.”
And they’d taken off with the funds to start over. Enough money to set them up for life. They didn’t live large—that would have been too noticeable. Instead, they’d become part of a community, cared about the people who lived near them, and stepped up to lend a hand even though it got them hurt.
“So no one at the marshals knew you left?”
“I didn’t run off. I resigned.”
With a nest egg for both of them and their families. Ill-gotten gains.
Kenna squeezed his hand. “Thanks for helping out.”
Theo nodded gently. “Anytime. I mean that.”
He rolled his way out, with the help of the orderly. Kenna settled down in the bed and closed her eyes, listening to the hustle and bustle of the hospital hallway outside. She was slowly getting accustomed to the idea of a hospital not being a place where terror mixed with pain and the memories were so close to the surface she couldn’t breathe.
She started to hum the hymn they had sung at church. One she needed to look up and copy the words down into her journal.
Someone knocked quietly on the door, and she heard it click.
She forced herself to wake up. Had Jax left because she…
“Hey. Easy.” He settled onto the edge of the bed, covering her hand with his.
“I’m not sleeping.”
“I heard you humming.” He slid his fingers across her palm, making her shiver. “Rest is good.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
He smiled, but she spotted something there.
“What?” Kenna said. He should just tell her whatever it was. She already knew she wasn’t going to like it.
“I have to go. My ASAC wants me and Stan Tilley back in San Diego as soon as we can get there. We’re supposed to fly out tonight.”
She turned her hand over in his.
“Come and see me in California.” He said it so carefully, as if concerned she would turn the offer down.
“So your boss can co-opt me into working the case? Or arrest me on obstruction?”
“You think he’d be able to find you?” Jax lifted his brows.
Kenna grinned. “I’d find him first.”
He leaned down and kissed her, sweet and soft. Kenna wanted to close her eyes and start humming again, but then she would miss all the Jax happening in front of her. He pulled back a fraction. “Come and see me.”
“Okay.”
He chuckled. “You had a valid point about getting more done not being around each other all the time. But that’s not what I want. Regardless of what people think, I’ll just do my job to the best of my ability and be there for you when you need it.”
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t have to choose,” Kenna murmured.
“Because you don’t think I should choose you.”