Page 10

Chapter Ten

K enna took two more steps. The woman backed into the room a little. Kenna got in her space with all that police “command presence” they had. “What did you see?”

The woman decided to go on the defensive rather than cower. She stuck a hand on her impossibly slender hip. “She said to tell you we saw the guy carry them out. One in the passenger’s seat, like it was meant to look like he wasn’t alone, and the other on the back seat.”

“Anything else?”

The woman shrugged.

“Where’s the money she paid you?”

The woman scoffed. “We already spent it.” She waved an arm at debris that would usually be associated with a narcotics case.

Kenna said, “Enjoy the rest of your party.” She turned and stepped out of the motel room, glancing over the railing to see someone in the passenger’s seat of her car. Not Maizie.

Maizie was in the front seat, holding onto the wheel.

“Maizie!” She took off running toward the stairs at the end, moving fast. Grabbing the rail and swinging herself around the corner to stumble down even though it hurt her arms. She didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was Maizie.

The car engine revved.

“No, no, no!”

Maizie hit the gas, and the car lurched forward fast, but she didn’t turn the wheel. As Kenna jumped two at a time down the stairs, she could only watch while her car raced at the next row of vehicles and slammed into an SUV head-on.

Almost as soon as it had set off, it was stationary again.

The passenger’s door flung open, and Roxanne stumbled out, scrambling to stand before she took off in the direction the car had come. Away from Kenna.

Ramon said, “I’ll get her.” He raced by her and off the bottom of the stairs to sprint after Roxanne.

Kenna jumped down the last step.

Above them, the shotgun ratcheted and exploded. Kenna ducked her head and angled right, running under the level above so that the guy couldn’t aim at her. Ramon raced away, not caring one bit that the guy fired again. Buckshot sprayed out in his direction.

Fully focused on the woman who had just tried to abduct Maizie, Ramon didn’t even care that he could get shot.

Don’t get shot.

She ran to the far side of the SUV and along the driver’s side, keeping her head down. Above her, she could hear the two of them fighting. The front desk employee came out of the door, talking on a phone. Hopefully, calling 911.

Kenna got her front car door open, reached under the airbag, and shut the engine off. She eased Maizie back from the airbag and watched her blink.

“I don’t think you need to learn to drive just yet.”

Air puffed out from between Maizie’s lips.

Something clattered to the ground behind Kenna. She turned far enough to see the shotgun lying on the sidewalk. Above, on the balcony, the partly clothed guy and his stringy-haired girlfriend were making out, and he had her pinned against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist.

Kenna could not even. “Gross.” She turned back to Maizie, her priority here. “Hi.” She touched the teen’s cheek. “You’re gonna have two black eyes, and tomorrow, you’re gonna feel like you got hit by a truck.”

“Hurts.”

“We’re gonna get you taken care of. Don’t worry.” She had a million questions, but all she needed to do was keep reassuring Maizie…and find her ID.

A black-and-white police car pulled into the parking lot, lights and sirens flashing. An ambulance followed it.

Kenna waved them over. The cop had her step aside and explain what’d happened. His partner went to the stairs to talk to the couple, and she stayed with him. Kenna glanced at the EMT, easing Maizie from the car so she could climb onto the wheeled chair they’d unfolded. After a brief assessment, they handed her an ice pack for her face.

The girl looked dazed and not entirely aware of what was going on.

So long as they took care of her, Kenna didn’t care about much else right now. She watched for Ramon with part of her attention.

The cop, a guy with blond hair and a soft voice, said, “I’m going to need her ID and yours.”

Kenna retrieved it from the car, noting Maizie’s laptop was still in there. She tugged the backpack closed over it and tried to figure out why on earth Roxanne would be here. Paying those people to distract Kenna and Ramon, all so she could slip into the car. And…what? Kidnap Maizie so she could coerce Kenna into doing whatever she wanted?

Whatever the reason, Maizie hadn’t let that happen.

She handed the driver’s license to the cop, holding the backpack close to her front.

“She’s over eighteen, then?”

Kenna nodded, assuming that’s what the ID said. She actually had no idea. Right now, she could barely even think, which didn’t bode well if he was going to ask a bunch of questions.

Another car pulled into the parking lot. One she was familiar with. Langford and Davis. All she wanted to do right now was keep Maizie safe. That took priority over everything, eclipsing even her need for justice in a way that surprised her.

She leaned against her car and spotted Ramon jogging back to them. He caught her gaze and shook his head.

He’d lost her.

Kenna winced. The cop saw it and proceeded to ask her a bunch of routine questions. Was she staying at the motel? What was her business here?

Detective Davis went upstairs, presumably to help the other officer with the two who’d been shooting that gun. Langford came over. She told this officer, “I’ve got it from here.”

Kenna said, “That’s the shotgun over there on the concrete. The guy up there”—she pointed to the upper level—“shot at my colleague and me just to distract us.”

The officer headed for the weapon.

“They could’ve killed us.” She muttered the words, but Langford heard it. Kenna looked over at Ramon now by the ambulance. “I need to go with her.”

“I have questions.” She shifted in a way Kenna took as don’t leave .

“And I’m that young woman’s guardian, even if she is eighteen. She isn’t going in that ambulance alone. She was nearly kidnapped except that she kept her head and resolved the situation. You can speak with my colleague now and catch up with me at the hospital.” Kenna took two steps around Langford, who stepped back and held out her hand.

“Is this about my case?”

Kenna wasn’t going to tell her that she had the surveillance footage now. She swung the backpack onto her shoulders because holding it for a minute was fine but longer than that was gonna start to ache. “Ask those two.” She waved at the balcony and saw the officer and Detective Davis talking to the couple. “They were paid to distract my colleague and me so that the person who paid them could try and kidnap my friend who’d stayed in the car.”

Langford just stared at her.

“The suspect ran off.” Kenna took another side step. “Come and find me at the hospital.”

Langford nodded, clearly not satisfied. But Kenna wasn’t sticking around.

Langford said, “I will.”

Kenna strode over to the ambulance. “Maizie!”

She tried to sit up, but the EMT touched her shoulder. “Stay right there, missy.”

Maizie lay back down. “I’m fine.” She sounded like she had a stuffy nose and was holding an ice pack over her face still.

“I’m coming with you.” She turned to Ramon, who was overseeing the whole thing with his arms folded. Looking like every inch the big brother, standing at the open door of the ambulance.

Ramon said, “I’ll clean up here, and then I’ll be there. Got it, Hermanita ?”

“Yeah,” Maizie called out. She lifted one hand and gave him a thumbs-up.

Ramon motioned with his head for a second. When Kenna moved a couple of steps away with him, he said, “Just confirming, she got away. She ducked down a side street and disappeared. Must’ve jumped the fence or something.”

“It was Roxanne, for sure?”

He nodded. “Get going.”

She climbed into the ambulance and moved along the bench seat all the way until she could see Maizie’s face. “Hey.”

The teen lowered the ice pack, revealing a red and swollen nose and two swollen eyes.

“Ouch.”

Maizie said, “It hurts.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital so we can get you some meds, okay?” Kenna glanced at the window. The driver was a woman. She had dark brown hair pinned back and a ball cap on.

The driver pulled out of the parking lot. Kenna turned her assessment to the male EMT. “Is there something you can give her for the pain?”

“Sorry, the hospital has to sign off on it. She’s not critical, so I have to wait until a doctor is available. We’ll probably be there by then.” He shrugged one shoulder, wearing that big neon jacket. T-shirt under it. Dark blue cargo pants and black boots.

Kenna ran her hand over Maizie’s forehead and the top of her head.

The teen said, “I figured you’d be telling the police you want in on the investigation now.”

She shook her head. “Not when that just happened. Roxanne paid that couple to shoot at us and to tell us what she wanted us to know. Probably lies. We can talk about this later.” Questions about what Roxanne had said to Maizie could wait.

“She told me to drive. So I did.”

Kenna smiled. “I really should teach you.”

“I wanna drive the RV.”

“Yeah…we can talk about that later, too.”

The EMT chuckled. “That usually means no.”

Maizie lifted the ice pack. “I don’t really wanna drive it, so it’s fine.”

Kenna shook her head. She glanced at the front slider window that had been shut. “How far is it to the hospital?”

“Not far.”

“Okay. How far is not far?”

He said nothing.

Kenna kept Maizie in view and scooted to the window. It wouldn’t slide open. She knocked on the panel. “How much farther?”

The ambulance bumped over something, and they all swayed. Maizie nearly rolled off the bed. Kenna slid her phone out so she could dial Ramon.

The EMT pulled a gun out and held it pointed at her. She reached for her own weapon.

He said, “Don’t. Hands where I can see them.”

She held her hands up, using her phone to call Ramon.

“Put the phone down.”

It connected. “Fine.” She lowered it to the floor with the call connected. “Where are we going? Because it certainly isn’t the hospital.”

He stared at her.

“Put down that gun. Even if you’re not an EMT, you’re still not gonna shoot me.” Too many people wanted her to find that missing couple.

The ambulance bumped something again, pulling onto a road that was far less paved. The vehicle shifted and jolted. Kenna held Maizie steady, kicking her phone away from the man. They’d probably disabled GPS in the ambulance if they were smart, so she didn’t figure anyone would be looking for it.

“Who says I’m not going to shoot you?”

Kenna shot him a look. “If you wanted us dead, you’d have killed us already.” But that didn’t tell her who he was or why this was happening.

“Unless we’re taking you somewhere so we can kill you without making a mess in the bus.”

“Then why didn’t Roxanne take care of us? Save you the trouble.”

“All part of an elaborate plan.”

“Right.” More likely, he wasn’t with Roxanne. So what did that mean? That he was part of some other group or maybe the resistance. “Whose plan? Yours?” She scoffed, as if she didn’t think much of him. Sometimes, that induced a person to share more than they meant to just to defend themselves.

He was about to speak when the ambulance jerked to a stop.

Kenna stood up, reaching for a cupboard. She pulled the door open and rummaged. Nope. She pulled open the next cupboard.

“Sit down.”

“Give her pain meds, and I won’t keep messing up your bus .” She threw a few packages on the ground for good measure. Then she found the unlocked cabinet with high-dose pills of normal over-the-counter meds. “Here we go.”

She handed Maizie the packet and had her sit up.

“Here.” The EMT sighed, then threw her a bottle of water. As if her defiance was inevitable and not that big of a deal in the grand scheme.

So he thought.

“Put that gun down.” She sat so she could focus on Maizie while uncapping the water. Or trying to. Kenna gritted her teeth and got it open even though it hurt. “Take the meds.”

Maizie put the pill on her tongue and swallowed a mouthful of water.

The back door opened, and Kenna didn’t even look. She might’ve flinched a bit to keep from turning to see but kept her focus on Maizie. “Okay?”

Maizie stared at the open back doors. “It’s her,” she whispered. “The photo.”

“Amara?”

The guy EMT shifted out of the ambulance. She heard him jump onto the ground.

“Yes,” Maizie whispered.

Her mother.

Kenna touched Maizie’s shoulder. First things first. “Listen to me, Roxanne was going to take you, but you stopped it.”

Maizie pressed her lips together. “I crashed the car.”

“I’m so stinkin’ proud of you right now.” She turned her head slightly and spoke louder, still not looking at the doors. “We’re supposed to be going to the hospital. In case you didn’t realize, she needs to see a doctor.” Kenna didn’t look over.

From over by the door, she heard, “That’s all you have to say to your mother?”

Kenna looked over at the tall woman standing just outside the open doors. “You can’t be my mother. She died a long time ago.”

It was her. After all this time, the woman holding her in the photo taken back when Kenna was a toddler. The one her father had married, who had claimed Kenna as if she intended to raise her. Then she had “died.” Shot to death after a family trip to get ice cream.

Leaving Kenna’s father heartbroken for the rest of his life.

Kenna moved then, turning so she could sit on the end of the stretcher. Protecting Maizie from view. “What do you want?”