Page 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

K enna stumbled out the door, onto gravel. Tiny, jagged-edged rocks cut into her feet. She raced across the gravel behind the house, past a huge set of stone steps that came out from the door and split at a balcony to hug the wall. A person could descend in either direction. Or simply stand at the rail and look out over the expanse of the back lawn.

She reached the grass and slowed to a stop.

A cop raced down the steps after her, hand on his gun. She lifted her hands, palms out. “I don’t have ID. I just have no shoes, and those rocks hurt.”

He was younger and had an FBI vest on. “You were at the office talking to Miller.”

“I was. Is he here tonight?”

“He’s taking lead.”

“What about Detective Langford?” She patted her hips as if looking for something. “I think I lost my phone.” And she’d lost Bruce, plus where were her mother and sister? “Among other things.” She coughed.

“Is there a reason you smell like smoke, ma’am?” He glanced at the back door.

A small group stepped out and came down the steps toward them.

Smoke continued to pour from the door she’d come out of. “Someone should probably call an ambulance. I didn’t start the fire, though. Just so you know.”

Senator Woodford, two women, and three other men. One of the women held the other up so she could walk.

Kenna gasped. “Zeyla! Amara!” She moved toward them, but the FBI agent caught her.

The senator and his men escorted Amara and Zeyla down the steps and across the gravel.

“Let me go. That’s my family.”

“Don’t make me draw my weapon, ma’am.”

“I’m not the criminal here. He is!” Kenna pointed at the senator, who looked over at her.

“Lewis?” The senator called over—to the FBI agent.

The agent said, “There’s a Jeep just past the tree line. You need to hurry.”

“You’re letting them go!” Kenna shoved the agent and started running. “Amara!”

One of the men with them pulled a gun and fired wildly in her direction. Kenna ducked her head, covered it with her arms—as if that would help shield her from bullets—and went to one knee.

“Kenna! Run!” Amara yelled at her.

“We had a deal, Woodford!” She didn’t move, but she wasn’t going to let them just leave without putting up some sort of a fight.

The agent slammed into her from behind, and they both went down.

Her face hit the ground and pain flashed through the side of her face.

“You asked for someone else! That was our deal!” Woodford sounded amused, but she couldn’t see his face.

Her head was turned toward the building.

The agent on her back secured her hands behind her, and she heard the clink of cuffs before cold metal snaked around her wrists.

“Get off me.” She winced, his weight pushing her hips against the ground.

“You have the right to remain silent, remember?” He pulled her hair, lifting her face off the ground, and leaned close. “You might want to use it before I find a creative way to shut you up.”

She wanted to smile.

She nearly did, and if he’d seen it, he would have known exactly what it meant.

He lifted off her. Backed up, but she didn’t look to see.

Kenna moved slowly, curling her legs and lifting up so she could sit. The basement was well and truly on fire.

Which meant it wouldn’t be long before Garnet’s life was swallowed up by the flames, and she ended it all. Kenna didn’t want to carry the weight of another suicide. Garnet had made her choice, and Kenna lacked the strength to bodily force her out of that room. She had opted to save herself, sure. But what were the alternatives? Life in a psychiatric facility where they ensured Garnet didn’t kill herself. Misery. If the company took her back, she would endure even more pain and humiliation.

Unlike what Bradley had done, taking his life, Garnet hadn’t chosen hope because she’d had none left in this life. What she’d done was make a calculated decision to use her death to deal a blow to these people. Even in a small way.

The agent stood over her.

“I’ll need your card. And your badge number.” She turned her head to the side and spat on the ground.

“Good luck with that, considering I discovered you aiding the escape of the subject of a federal warrant.”

“Senator Woodford? Who knew?” She would’ve guessed, but that wasn’t the point. Playing dumb meant he’d say more because explaining things to her proved he was smarter than her. “I thought he was such a nice guy. One of those family values politicians you’d never suspect.”

Kind of like the way this agent would never suspect that his boss’s boss was likely friends with her fiancé, if not an associate of his. She was going to enjoy him finding out that arresting her and blaming her for what he was into wouldn’t go far.

Was he really just going to stand there?

Seemed like he was waiting for something, or someone.

“You gonna call the fire department? That blaze could get out of hand.” And her backside was starting to get wet on the grass.

He unclipped his phone from the side of his belt and looked at the screen. “Okay, let’s go.”

She shifted her weight on her legs and rocked to standing without assistance. Not just because she didn’t want him to touch her, but also because she had to know she could get up without the use of her hands. “Lead the way.”

He snorted and grabbed her arm.

“Gravel and bare feet do not mix.”

He didn’t listen. He walked her across it anyway to the stone steps where she had to rub the soles of her feet on the worn stone to dislodge the rocks embedded in her skin. “Quit messing around.”

“I’m also eager for you to present me to your superior. It’ll be the highlight of my week. But we should do it out front since the building is on fire.” She spotted a couple of cops in the wide entryway just inside the door. “Hey, Sarge! The wine cellar downstairs is on fire. We probably need fire and EMS unless they’re on their way.”

The agent looked at her, suspicion dawning, hopefully.

“Hey, Detective Davis.” That was Langford’s partner. “How are you? Is Naomi here?”

Davis frowned. “Special Agent, why is that woman in custody?”

“Caught her aiding the escape of some fugitives.”

Kenna lifted her brows. “Downstairs is on fire. We need to get everyone out.”

The agent tugged her along, not willing to stop. “She probably set the fire as well, just to confuse us. She allowed the senator and a few others to run for it across the lawn.”

They moved through the archway into a smaller sitting room.

She spotted a couple of state police and nodded. “Guys. How are you?”

The agent said, “Shut up.”

“Right. Right. Supposed to be silent. I remember now. I’ll shut up.”

He tugged on her arm and walked her into the ballroom with no shoes on her feet and dirt on her face. Probably grass in her hair, not to mention the smoke smell from fleeing the cellar while the flames licked across the floor. Thankfully, she hadn’t been burned. That hurt even when it was a tiny singe from the oven.

A collection of agents and officers huddled in the middle by the front door. Rounding people up. Interviewing guests and taking statements.

“Hey, Miller!” she called out as loud as she could, drawing as much attention as possible.

“Shut up!” He pulled on her arm, hard .

She cried out because it hurt. “Someone, pull the fire alarm. The cellar is ablaze.” She breathed through the pain in her arms. “Miller.”

He strode toward her, glancing around. “Everyone outside! Langford, get the fire alarm.” His expression washed with the kind of thunder that preceded a bolt of lightning that cracked across the sky and the kind of storm that destroyed entire towns. “Got yourself in trouble.”

“Woodford left with my mom and my sister and a few goons. One of them shot at me.”

“Not having a very good day, are you?” Miller looked her up and down. “You look a bit…”

“Don’t finish that.”

The agent holding her arm said, “Sir, she’s under arrest for aiding and abetting.”

Kenna frowned. “Is the senator who you were looking for? What are the charges?”

The agent shook her arm, but not super hard. “What did I say about keeping your mouth shut?”

Miller looked at him. “You can let her go. I’ll take it from here.”

Kenna studied the agent as well. “You might want to check his creds. There’s something definitely off, at best. At worst, he’s in their pocket.”

The agent exploded into movement, drawing his weapon from its holster on his belt. Everyone around them reacted. The agent’s face twisted with rage.

Miller strode to him, grabbed the guy’s collar, and walked him back. Away from Kenna. All the way until he had his back up against the wall. “Put your gun away. Chief Richards!”

A uniformed older police officer strode over. “You need some help, Special Agent Miller?”

“Yes, sir. If your men could take this man somewhere quiet and have a conversation with him, that would be appreciated.”

Two cops walked the agent away. Kenna didn’t move from her spot, hands still cuffed behind her. Miller turned to her, and she said, “Bad day.”

He frowned. “You can keep those cuffs on.”

She bit her lip.

“Humor me and stick around. There will be paperwork, and you’re not going anywhere .”

She couldn’t say, Do you know who my fiancé is? That wouldn’t be professional. But she thought it.

Miller said, “We’ll get to you.”

He led her to the ballroom and sat her in a chair. Kenna protested, “And we need to go outside, not sit around in here! This building is on fire.”

Someone strode over to them, a dark-haired fed who was about forty. “Sprinklers are on downstairs. We’re figuring out what happened.”

She’d had enough of new people for one day. Where was Bruce? She needed to call Jax. Find out if his mom and sister were out.

Figure out how to find her own family.

Sleep.

Find some shoes.

Take a pain pill.

She sniffed back tears that wanted to flow and sat in the chair feeling sorry for herself. Tonight had not gone according to plan. In fact, it was kind of a disaster. But every time something like this happened, she wanted someone she loved to come and rescue her.

She wanted Jax to walk through the door and make it all right.

Or Stairns, with his connections and the respect he’d earned over a lifetime of service to the bureau. She would even take Ramon right now. Bruce. Maizie.

That was how she knew she was a lost cause.

She wanted her family. Lord, have mercy, but she needed them.

Which, of course, would only get worse. Eventually, she wouldn’t be able to live without them. Then she would really be in trouble, because the moment one of them left for good or died, even in peaceful circumstances, she would be left suffering in the aftermath. Contending with grief all over again.

Langford wandered over. “You okay?”

“Sure. Peachy.” Kenna wiped her cheek on her shoulder. Even just that made her arms ache. She bit the inside of her lip.

“This is where I remind you that you’re supposed to be keeping me in the loop.”

“Drive me back to my RV, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Langford chuckled. “Maybe later.”

Kenna sat in that chair, her arms cuffed behind her, and there was nothing she could do but watch firefighters in their gear traipse through the house with axes and all kinds of cool things.

No one spoke to her for the first hour. After that, Miller had an officer move her cuffs to the front so she could rest her hands in her lap. He gave her a cup of coffee. As if that was going to placate her.

By the time the second hour had passed, Miller finally came over. He handed her his phone. “It’s for you. Don’t think this means we’re good.”

She touched the screen and saw the active call was connected to Jaxton . “Jax.”

“I just got off the plane.”

“Can you pick me up?” She sniffed.

“I’ll be there in half an hour.”

She sagged back against the wall. “I love you.”

He chuckled. “I’ll be Oliver, your rideshare driver.”

She frowned. “Oliver sounds weird. You’ve been Jax for two and a half years.”

“And you’ve been trouble.” He paused a second, then said, “I called Laney, but she hasn’t answered.”

“They were here, but I told them to leave earlier. I don’t know if they got out before the cops came in. I need Miller to tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t throw my weight around until I’m there and I’m the ranking person on scene.”

“I’ll enjoy watching that.”

“And you wanted me to quit my job.”

She smiled.

“I’ll be there soon.” He said goodbye and hung up.

Miller came over. “Feel better?”

“Where are Adrielle Jaxton and Elaine Caliveri? Are they here?” She held on to his phone, needing to know what happened to Jax’s family. “And I need to make another call.” Allowing him to have Maizie’s number was a calculated risk, but she needed someone out there looking for Amara and Zeyla. Where had the senator taken them?

He held out his hand. Guess she wasn’t going to get another call.

“Answer the question.” It was the first of many Kenna had for him.

“I’ll find out.”

She handed him his phone. “You do that. He’ll want to know where they are when he gets here.”

Miller frowned.

“Thirty-minute warning.”

Miller bit off a curse and walked off, barking orders as he went. Which was kind of satisfying. She took an odd enjoyment about FBI agents snapping to attention because Jax was on his way.

A cop raced into the ballroom. “Sir!” He addressed all the cops like he didn’t know who to speak to. “A helicopter just flew over and dropped two bodies in the pond out front.”