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“She lost her husband years ago. She always seemed lonely, and he’s… I guess in his own way Ramon is a good guy.” It wasn’t a case that had brought Kenna to Forrest’s house, just a place to stay with her RV. In the end, they’d remained friends. She just hadn’t anticipated this twist to their friendship. “I should have loaned him the RV. There’s less chance he’d get into trouble if he has his own living space.”
Jax kissed her forehead. “As if he’s gonna give up a vintage Charger to borrow your house.”
“Fine, I guess not.” She slid onto a bar stool at the counter. “Okay, the doctor is missing. We’re presuming that Buzard has Nicola, right? Same kidnappers, same outfits. Who else would itbe? Now the Mafia wants us to find her because they think we’re their connection to Buzard.”
“Maybe they’re afraid of him, and they need you in the mix to take the heat.”
“Seems like they shouldn’t be afraid of anything, but you might be right.” She tried to get her thoughts straight. “We still need to check everything we own and every inch of this house—and our cars—for bugs. We also need to find those two kids and make sure they’re good so that I can sleep at night. Then, we need to find that cop who is one of the doctor’s minions.” She shook her head. “Earnest. If that’s even his real name.”
She reiterated to Jax how that cop and his partner had shown up at the medical center and agreed to take the kids to get checked out and then settled with social services. He’d been the man drawing her blood, wearing a mask until she’d pulled it off.
Jax said, “That might be how Doctor Santorini got on Buzard’s radar. When the cop reported back that you’d seen her for something, they decided to act after that.”
“If those kids are alive, then I don’t care about the rest of it.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry about Nicola if she is in danger, but it isn’t like I can account for everything. We need to find those children.”
“You’d ditch the whole idea of taking downDominatusjust for the sake of two kids?” He’d asked, but it wasn’t a question. Not really. Because Jax already knew the answer.
“Yes.”
There were actually a lot of things she would ditch that case for. She stared him down. Almost daring him to ask her to list all the things she would give up her life and her goals for.
Jax said, “They’re bad people. Nicola could be in serious danger.”
“I could argue I’m as much of a victim of theirs as she is. And why is it my job to take them down? There’s a worldfull of billions of people. Governments. Police forces. Military. Someone else can do it.” She lifted her chin. “I’ve got too much to lose.”
Jax kissed her gently. Before he could say anything, the front door opened.
“It’s just me.” Bruce wandered in and spotted them. “Again?”
Jax smirked. “I’m making coffee.” He wandered around the end of the breakfast bar.
She turned to Bruce. “It’s been a long day.”
“I’ll say. Kidnapped?” He actually looked like he might be worried about her. His usual Hawaiian-style shirt had a sheen of sweat the material had absorbed.
She could say they were fine, but that wasn’t the truth. “Jax has a big bruise.”
“This isn’t show-and-tell.” Jax took the carafe to the fridge to fill it with filtered water.
Bruce said, “Good, ’cause I ain’t a nurse.”
“We need to know if this house is bugged.”
He frowned. “Of course, it’s bugged. And you just said that out loud, so now they know that youknowthat it’s bugged.”
“So find them for me and get rid of them.”
“Already did, three times. They put more in.”
Jax turned from the coffeepot. He’d loaded it all in but hadn’t hit the button. She pointed to it to remind him to turn it on, but all of his attention was on Bruce. “You found bugs in my house?”
Bruce nodded, folding his arms and leaning one shoulder against the fridge. “The day you guys went hiking at Camelback Mountain. Then another day when you were doing background on that Fleming woman.” He looked at Kenna. “Plus the day after you first realized they had been in your house.”
She lifted her chin. “How did you get in and out with the security system?”
“Maizie spoofed it. She said she wanted the practice.”
Jax got a mug down, and it slammed on the counter. “I’m guessing I need an upgrade. Seems like anyone can get in and out of this house without me knowing.” Maybe he didn’t mean to slam it that hard because the second and third mugs landed more quietly.