Page 13

Chapter Thirteen

M aizie slipped her sweater over her shoulders. “Seriously? A QR code.” She eased to the edge of the hospital bed and stuck her feet into her tennis shoes without unlacing them, wiggling her foot around until the back of the shoe worked its way out.

Kenna had updated her in reverse order, starting with Hadley, who was now down the hall in the emergency department being treated. “Tattooed on her back. No idea where it goes, but the police are going to figure that out. I cautioned them on what device to use. If these people are clever, they’ve got a way to see who accesses their site.”

Maizie nodded. “Probably hosted on some dark web server, so you can’t find it unless you have the code.”

“The second the police get on there, they could dump the whole site and start over on another. We’ll never find them.”

“I want to come with you to talk to Hadley.”

“I don’t want a guy like that to see you, but you can be nearby. With Ramon.”

Maizie almost rolled her eyes but seemed to catch herself before she did it. “Fine. I know arguing isn’t going to make you change your mind.”

Kenna grinned. “Rethinking me being your mom officially?”

“Because you’ll tell me what to do?” Maizie glanced over. “Maybe I want to be parented. Could be fun.”

Kenna chuckled. “Good thing neither of us knows what we’re doing. We can just be happy doing our own thing, and we’ll never know if we get it wrong.” She grabbed the paperwork, and they headed for the hall past the curtain. “But we’re not getting into that. We have our own things to do.”

She had been thinking about Roxanne since meeting with Amara. Thinking about her mother—aunt. Whatever. And her sister.

Especially her sister, and where Zeyla might be right now.

“That way.” She waved in the direction of the waiting area, and Ramon showed up behind them. He cleared his throat.

“Maybe if we ask nicely,” Maizie said. “He’ll get us coffee.”

“Not in my job description, Hermanita . Unless the barista is a killer.”

Kenna glanced at his face and saw no humor there. The man was a hundred fifty percent serious about protecting them and bringing justice to the world. Fortunately, he worked with her because Ramon’s brand of justice could potentially be a scary thing.

A nurse and then a hospital staff member glanced at them. They probably made an odd group. Two adults who weren’t a couple and a teen that could be their child except she looked nothing like them. Misfits who had become friends—a family.

“What else happened with that woman?” Maizie asked. “And did you update Jax yet?”

“I’m going to tonight. And that woman, Sally Morris from Aurora, is working with the cops to give us a likeness of the woman from the pair who are doing this.” She found a few seats in the corner of the waiting room where Langford had said she would meet them. Kenna bounced her knee up and down. “There’s just…”

“Something?” Ramon sat across from them and stretched his legs out, crossing his ankles. “The case is starting to have more scope, and you can feel it, but you don’t know how.”

Maizie shrugged. “We can speculate, or I can get on my computer and find out.”

Kenna asked, “What about your financial accountant? Did they find anything yet?”

“Let me log on and see.” She leaned forward for the backpack by Kenna’s foot and then stopped suddenly, letting out a long groan.

Kenna tugged on her shoulder and drew her back. “Easy, Maze. I’ll get it.”

Maizie leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes just as Detective Langford strode in. “You look better than the last time I saw you, but not by much.”

Maizie opened her eyes. Bruises darkened her cheeks and around the inside corner of both eyes. Her nose was swollen but not broken. “I didn’t get kidnapped, though.”

Langford held out her hand like she was asking Maizie to shake it. When Maizie put her hand in the detective’s, she said, “I wish every victim was as resourceful as you in the moment. I’ve seen a situation like that go wrong a thousand different ways, but you’re here, and you only have minor injuries. You did good, kid.” Langford let go of Maizie’s hand, leaving the teen with a sheen of tears in her eyes.

Ramon shifted in his seat. “You’re good, Maze.”

He was about to go to war if she wasn’t, given the look on his face. Kenna put her arm around Maizie and put the laptop on her lap. When Maizie leaned her head toward Kenna, she kissed the teen on the top of her head. “She’s good.”

The detective said, “I’m Naomi.”

“Ramon.” He stood to shake her hand, possibly so she could see he was taller. As if he wanted her to take in his full measure and decide. Because he was certainly interested in her.

Naomi cleared her throat. “Nice to meet you.”

What did that expression mean? She didn’t have time to figure it out before Naomi turned to her.

“Kenna, we are due to speak with Chief Hadley.”

She stood. “Is he awake?”

“The doctor is meeting us down the hall.”

Kenna opened Maizie’s laptop for her. “You guys good?”

Ramon said, “We’re good.”

“Yep.” She dove in and didn’t even look up from the computer.

Ramon smiled, already on his phone. Kenna followed Langford down the hall. The detective said, “I know that your fiancé is an FBI agent in Phoenix.”

More than that, he ran the whole office, but Kenna didn’t need to add that tidbit. “That’s right.”

“So, who is the guy?”

“An old friend of mine. He hangs around to help with investigations.” Kenna shrugged, not wanting to get into the fine detail of why they weren’t prepared to let Maizie go anywhere without someone watching out for her. “I have a couple of other friends also helping out with the case.”

“Here?” Langford asked.

Kenna shook her head. “Another kidnapping, in a motel up by Fort Collins. They found a guy who saw the woman’s face.”

“That’s great. When Sally finishes her description, we can show it to the guy and get him to confirm.” Langford’s brows rose. “Another nail in her coffin, whoever she is.”

“Let’s find out.” Kenna slid open the door, through which she could see the doctor and a nurse with the patient in a bed between them. Hooked up to all kinds of wires, but it looked like he might have regained consciousness.

The doctor glanced between them and handed the tablet to the nurse. “Can I help you, detectives?”

Langford said, “She’s a PI. I’m the cop.”

“Doesn’t mean either of you can be privy to a patient’s medical condition. It’s a violation of privacy,” the doctor said.

“Were any of his organs removed?”

Langford spun around to look at Kenna, which meant she didn’t see the look on the doctor’s face.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Where did you get that idea?” Langford asked.

“The scar on Sally’s back. The scars on him, and the hack job sewing him back up. Thanks, doc. No need to violate HIPAA rules.” Kenna stepped into the room, where the patient, Fire Chief Carlton Hadley, watched her approach. She asked the nurse, “Is he lucid? Will he be able to talk?”

“He’s in pain, and he’s been through a lot. If you have questions, you should come back.”

“No.” Hadley shook his head. “I need…” He tried to shift on the bed, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head.

“Easy.” Kenna leaned against the rail on the side of the bed. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

She couldn’t imagine how much pain he was in, and the bottom line was that if he made himself worse and ended up unconscious, it would delay the investigation for as long as he was out.

Langford came over, her badge in view on her belt.

The nurse said, “If you’re still here in two minutes, I’m calling security.”

“We are talking to him here and now,” Langford said. “We’ll make it as quick as possible.”

Hadley touched Kenna’s arm. “Sit me up a bit.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t like lying down.”

“Bad memories?” She reached for the remote and hit the button to raise the back of the bed. “I get those in a lot of places. Feels like there’s something on your chest, and you can’t breathe.”

“Something like that.”

She handed him the cup by the bed with a straw so he could take a sip. “Can you tell us what happened?” She wanted to add before the nurse comes back and kicks us out but didn’t.

“It’s like a nightmare.”

Langford stood at the end of the bed. “Start at the beginning. You were in a motel room with a woman.”

“Zeyla. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn’t realize she was expecting them until they came in, all apologetic like they got a key to the wrong room. Then they’re suggesting we turn it into a party with all four of us, asking if we were interested.”

Kenna said, “You saw both of their faces?”

“Until they shot me up with a needle. I was asking them to leave, and the woman stuck me. After that, it all went blurry. I know Zeyla tried to fight them, and I got in the way. Got myself cut. I remember I was bleeding. I woke up in a basement cell. She wasn’t there.” His expression twisted.

“What happened, Chief?” Langford spoke softly.

“They came in again, and there was another needle. I woke up in a hot tub full of ice and couldn’t feel anything. She got me out. Zeyla. She helped me to a wheelchair, and we hurried out to a side door, then to a truck. They shot at the vehicle, and we didn’t make it far before we realized one of the tires was flat. I could walk by then, so she told me to run for it. I don’t know what happened to her.” Tears spilled down his cheeks. “I didn’t think. I just ran. I left her.”

“Do you know where you were?” Langford asked. “Or how you got back to work?”

“I wandered through the woods. I could see the mountains. I think I was west of Denver, but I can’t be sure without a map and images.”

“Okay.” Kenna nodded. “When you’re stronger, we’ll want you to go over everything, describe it all, and help us figure out where they took you.”

“I can do that.” He seemed to rally at the idea of providing them information.

“Did someone pick you up? How did you get back to Denver?” Langford looked up from her notebook, a pen in her hand.

“A truck driver brought me back to the city. I got a ride from the truck stop to my neighborhood and managed to walk home. I found my wallet at the house since I’d left it and my phone behind. Those were her instructions, anyway. I didn’t want to confront my wife, so I put my uniform on and went to work. I guess there were still so many drugs in my system I didn’t know how bad it was, and I didn’t look.”

“Then we showed up at the FD, and you made a run for it.” Kenna winced. “You should’ve called the police.”

“I was set up. Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?”

She lifted a hand. “Don’t get worked up. You’ll put too much stress on your body, and you need to let it heal.”

“I’m not gonna heal . They took half my liver and one of my kidneys!”

Kenna set a hand on his shoulder. “We’re going to find them and shut the operation down.”

The nurse came in. “Time’s up.”

Kenna didn’t move just yet. “How did she contact you, the woman Zeyla?”

“She responded to my request on the site. I never tried it before, and the one time I do, it’s a set up?” He scoffed. “She was probably part of it. Luring me there so they can steal my organs out of my body.”

“You said she rescued you.”

“Probably so that I’ll believe she’s some kind of hero. They never took her kidney.”

That he knew of, anyway. For all Kenna could confirm with facts, her sister might have been captured trying to get them both out and was currently being cut up.

Langford said, “You used the QR code?”

“That’s it. Someone sent it to my phone, said I’d have a good time.”

“Okay.” The nurse clapped twice, walked over, and waved them toward the door. “If you’re not a patient, come back tomorrow. Or the day after.”

They stepped out into the hall, and the nurse slid the door shut, then closed a set of curtains, blocking the chief from view.

“How did we get from one couple being kidnapped to multiple cases and organ harvesting in just a day?”

Kenna turned to the detective. “And the day isn’t even over yet.”

“I’ll admit, I may be in over my head. But there’s no way I’m giving this case to the feds.”

She might not have a choice. “We need to show them what we have. For all we know, they have intel, and connecting with them could close the case.”

“So that’s what you do? Give your cases to the feds for help and pretend you solved them.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea.” Kenna walked away.

Langford strode after her.

She kept going, finding Maizie and Ramon where she’d left them. Though Maizie had curled up on the row of seats, and someone had covered her with a blanket. Ramon got up and came over to them. “What’s next?”

“We still need to find Zeyla and Roxanne.”

Langford frowned. “We need to find the people behind that QR code and the kidnappers.”

Ramon said, “Sounds like we all have work to do.”

“I need to check in with my partner and find out if they’ve made progress with the sketch of the female kidnapper.” She eyed Ramon, interested but also a little suspicious, as she walked away.

“She likes you.”

He said, “You think I have time to date in the middle of a case?”

Kenna chuckled. “Usually doesn’t stop me.”

“And look where it got you. Marriage.” He shuddered.

She shoved his shoulder. “One day, it’ll happen to you. Then I’ll be the one laughing.”