Page 2

Chapter Two

“Y ou really think it did them any good?” Ramon glanced over from the driver’s seat for a second, then back at the freeway in front of them. Good thing since it was clogged with traffic even though it wasn’t lunchtime.

The downtown skyline stretched out in front of them, a blue sky above it. It looked warm out, but looks were usually deceiving. Plus, this was Denver, and this time of year, it could snow in the morning and be seventy degrees later.

“All part of the service.” Kenna grinned. “And I actually do think it did them some good. A person who has never taken a self-defense class might go seek one out now. At least one person was inspired to stand up for themselves, and we got what we went there for.”

Ramon left the freeway, racing down the exit ramp to the light at the bottom. Kenna looked at her phone so she didn’t have to be aware of his driving. The guy was like a teen boy—too fast, too reckless. Maybe some drove sedately, when someone was watching. But who hadn’t pushed it on occasion? Tested the limits.

Behind her seat, Maizie tapped away on the keys of her laptop.

Kenna checked her messages, emails, and the contact inbox for her website. Nothing new. Jax knew they were in Denver working on getting more information about the dangerous “company” they’d found out about on their last trip. An organization responsible for crimes going back more than a century. They’d profited from war, subverted justice, and believed they could manipulate global politics.

She’d run into them in the UK a few months ago, and since then, she’d read that book her father wrote that was never published. Now she had more questions than answers. Despite the fact she wasn’t invited to participate in the investigation, even in the US, she wasn’t going to let this lie.

“Thinking about your mom again?”

Kenna glanced over at him. “Will you just drive to the coffee shop?”

Maizie said, “I can give you an update on the hunt for where your mom might’ve been hiding for the past thirty-however-many years, but there’s nothing new.”

“She doesn’t want to be found.” Kenna stared out the window, remembering a letter she’d been given in the UK. Don’t believe anything they tell you. Great. Solid advice, but it had her doubting everything and everyone, except the people in her inner circle. “I know she doesn’t want to be found because I have no idea where she is or how to contact her.”

Ramon pulled into the parking lot for a coffee shop in the center of a strip mall. Some independent place that had a wide seating area and probably half a dozen kinds of milk—maybe more. “Maybe there’s something about her in the stuff Maizie got from that company server.”

Kenna got out and slid the back door open. “Coming inside?”

The teen closed her laptop lid. “Yep.” She looked excited to be out of the van, which was understandable.

Their lives were a delicate balance of letting Maizie feel like she was free and making sure she was protected. The teen had to be coming up on eighteen soon enough, but it wasn’t like she was going to leave home anytime soon.

She stepped out of the van in jeans, Converse sneakers, and a zippered hoodie, which was a lot like the style Kenna had—not that anyone had mentioned it. Maizie could adopt whatever style she wanted when she settled on something. It might mirror Kenna’s, and it might not.

Long blond hair that hung loose over her shoulders. A little makeup. Huge blue eyes and delicate features. One day, she was going to stop a guy’s heart, and Kenna prayed Maizie would be healed enough to be able to accept healthy affection. That she would be free enough to keep the way she’d been raised from corrupting every relationship in her life.

“You’re staring.”

Kenna said, “We really should find out when your birthday is.”

Maizie set off after Ramon, toward the door to the coffee shop. Their friend scanned the parking lot around them, keeping watch. A car pulled into the lot with Stairns driving. Good, he was here. Their other friend wouldn’t be too far behind.

Ramon held the door, watching the parking lot while they went in.

Maizie asked, “When’s your birthday?”

Kenna eyed her young friend. “I’m not the one about to turn eighteen.”

Maizie shrugged. “Someone other than me can find my birth certificate. I might need it, so it’s probably a good idea to know how to get it.”

“But you don’t want to see it?”

She only shrugged again in answer to Kenna’s question. They ordered at the counter and found a table.

Stairns settled between Ramon and Maizie, but closer to Ramon. The two of them couldn’t be more different in appearance. Where Ramon was younger and Hispanic, Stairns had that grizzled ex-marine look to him. Now that he was retired, it seemed he only wore jeans and checkered shirts. His cabin was a couple of hours from here. Maizie lived in his backyard in an Airstream that belonged to Kenna’s father.

Stairns glanced over at the door.

Ramon pushed his chair back. “I’ll grab the drinks.”

Maizie had her laptop open and was typing away.

“This is where I say something about teens and too much screen time.”

“It’s work, not play.”

“I know,” Kenna said. “Since I’m the one who pays your salary.” In cash. In nonsequential bills. Maizie would have to get on the grid at some point, but that was another thing they’d need her birth certificate for. Ramon had suggested she get a fake ID, but Kenna wanted the girl to live an honest life—once she chose a name for herself.

She couldn’t be Maizie Smith forever.

“You’re thinking way too much.” Ramon set the mug of coffee down in front of her. “Bruce is here.”

Kenna glanced over at the man walking across the seating area, heading in their direction. “Uh-oh.” She’d met the guy in England, a burned CIA agent who’d helped her out when she’d been cut off from her friends and on the run from the police. He wore his typical tan slacks and Hawaiian shirt, canvas shoes on his feet, but the expression on his face had her asking, “What’s wrong?”

Bruce slid into a chair. “I need a drink stronger than this place makes.”

Maizie looked up from her laptop screen.

Bruce said, “Hey, trouble,” almost absently. Like there was far too much on his mind.

She smiled and went back to her work.

Kenna sipped her coffee. “Start talking.”

Across the table, Ramon had his phone out. Stairns looked like he wanted to pester his old friend but said nothing. That wouldn’t last long.

Bruce tipped his phone over and over on the table. “I went to look up an associate of mine. Catch up on old times since I’m back home.”

He’d been out in the cold, stuck in England with no way to get back to the US. Until Kenna and her friends pulled some strings and got him home. “What happened?”

“So, the guy takes one look at me, flips out, and he splits.” Bruce worked his mouth back and forth, pursing his lips for a second while he thought. “All signs of a guilty conscience.”

Ramon set his phone face down on the table. “I could track him down. Get him to talk to me, or rough him up and then he talks.”

Kenna frowned.

Stairns said, “You and this guy worked together at the agency?”

Bruce nodded. “Partners as much as you can be in a business like that, where it’s all secrets and lies. Now, he’s sitting pretty living in a penthouse apartment a block from here and working as the CEO of some finance company.”

Maizie lifted her head. “A finance company that’s connected to the one we just accessed?”

Bruce asked Kenna, “Your mission was good?”

“We got what we went in there for.” But if their enemy was moving money through it, and the company was connected to a former CIA agent who had a reason to run from Bruce, that could mean they got a lead on top of all the information they got.

Ramon said, “And Kenna maybe even changed some lives in the process. For good.”

Bruce lifted his chin. “I’ll pass you the info, Maizie. You could tell me if they’re connected, these two finance companies?”

“Sure.” She went back to her typing.

“Thanks, kid.”

Ramon said, “The offer is still open to rough the guy up.”

Kenna just scowled at him. How Bruce chose to solve his problem was his business, but she didn’t want Maizie involved.

Stairns shifted in his seat. “So this is it? The job in Denver is done. We have everything from their server, and we’re free to go home?” He sounded disappointed.

Ramon grinned. “Cases with Kenna never go as planned.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’m waiting for something to kick off.”

She shot him a look, then asked Stairns, “When does Elizabeth get home?” His wife had gone on a cruise with her best friend.

He pouted over his black coffee. “Monday.”

Ah. “Guess we should find something to do for the weekend.” Kenna smiled.

“I have an idea about that,” Maizie said.

Kenna’s phone pinged. She looked at the screen and found an email Maizie had just sent her. “A wedding show?”

“Denver’s biggest wedding show of the year,” Maizie said.

The three men at the table busted up laughing.

Kenna’s cheeks heated. “You’re all fired. Except Maizie.” She turned her sweetest smile to the teen. “Thanks.”

“I forwarded the email to Jax’s mom a couple of days ago. She said those things always give out loads of free samples.”

Kenna’s jaw dropped. “You…what?”

“She said it’s a great idea. She’ll be here tomorrow, and she’s going to bring Laney with her.”

Jax’s mom, Adrielle, was coming here? And she was bringing his sister too? “Laney has kids. She can’t just pick up and?—”

“Her husband is gonna take a few days off and stay with the kids so she can come.”

Kenna didn’t look at the rest of them. They had to be staring at her, though. Probably wanting to watch the show when she erupted into an epic freakout over the fact Jax’s mother was coming here for a wedding show .

What could she say?

Maizie had no remorse in her expression whatsoever. “You need to find a wedding dress. It’s a good way to get ideas and figure out what you like…or don’t like.”

Kenna lifted her mug and sat back in her chair, internally so off-kilter she felt as if she was going to fall off the chair. Outwardly, she projected an air of complete calm. Maybe a little bit of ice-cold rage because Ramon actually shifted in his seat.

“Great.” She managed to get the word out.

Mrs. Jaxton was already on her way here. What on earth could she do now to avoid this?

“Sounds great.” Kenna sipped her coffee, trying to decide whether to get out of it or not.

“Sweet.” Maizie went back to her typing.

Kenna stared at her coffee mug.

“Heads-up.” Stairns tapped two fingers on the table.

She set her mug down and glanced over her shoulder. Both Ramon and Bruce had stiffened, for different reasons, based on their history. Neither of them would ever be comfortable around law enforcement. Two uniformed police officers walked up to the counter, and all of them relaxed. Maizie pulled up her hood so that less of her face was visible.

“We need something from that network,” Kenna said. “I’m not trying to pressure you, Maze, but we really need a lead to chase.”

From the other end of the table, Bruce said, “I’ve got my own thing to work. I might not be available.”

“Need any help?”

He said, “I’ll let you know.”

“This is a team now. If I have to accept that, then so do you. We’re a package deal.”

Ramon chuckled. “You make it sound like the best thing that ever happened to you. We’re so blessed.”

She balled up her napkin and threw it at him. “Someone give me a bad guy to catch. Something that sends me on a case to find a serial killer or a missing person. Anything. I’ll be unfortunately busy for a couple of days. Jax’s mom and Maizie can scope out the wedding show thing with his sister, and they can just get me samples or whatever to look at later.”

Stairns shook his head.

Maizie said, “Not happening.”

“Good luck with that.” Ramon chuckled. “No cases for you until after you make nice with your future mom.”

Kenna groaned, leaned forward, and banged her forehead lightly on the table.

Bruce nudged her shoulder. “You need me to kill someone.”

“No.” Her voice was muffled by the table.

“Is this woman really so bad?”

Kenna sat up. “We met a few months ago, almost right after Greece.” She cleared her throat. Someone had shot at her and Jax on the day they got engaged, but Bruce killed the assassin. Unbeknownst to them, he’d been there watching their backs. “Jax ambushed me into meeting them because he knew I’d drag my feet. His mother is…an interesting woman. Lovely, well meaning. She’s impeccably put together, so I’ll need to find shoes other than the ratty pile of Converse in my RV closet.”

To be fair, Jax had been correct. She would’ve probably put it off forever, but he’d figured out how to make it happen.

“Did you meet his dad as well or just his mom?”

“Both.” She shook her head. “His dad doesn’t really engage. He answers the questions he’s asked, but aside from that, he sips his whiskey and smooths down his tie.” And he did his best to look disapprovingly at everyone. “I’m interested to see if she’s different on her own, with Laney.”

It could be that Jax’s father set the tone when he was around.

How two kids from those uptight, one-percenter parents managed to be so down to earth was a mystery. Jax was…Jax. Best boyfriend ever—now her fiancé. Laney had an air that was just settled. Peaceful. She loved her husband and her kids, and she handled the family drama like a pro. Like it didn’t bother her at all that she was the peacemaker.

Kenna had been raised by a single father after her mother died—or so she thought.

They’d driven all over the country in his Airstream while he’d solved cases as an investigator, and she’d homeschooled herself.

Two things she knew now were that her mother wasn’t her mother and that she wasn’t dead. Not that Kenna had proof of either. All she had were stories. The book that woman in Greece had given her. But she also had an overbearing team in her life and an international organization to take down.

It was enough to make her bang her forehead on the table again.

She needed a case to work before life got too real and forced her to do something insane, like choose a veil for her wedding dress.