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Chapter Four

“A s I said”—she cleared her throat, Ramon’s forearm still pressed up against it—“before you so rudely grabbed me, I need to speak with Kenna.”

Ramon didn’t move. “Kenna?”

“Maybe later. I’m busy right now.”

Who knew where Maizie had ducked down to hide? But wanting to be out of sight was her choice. Adrielle watched the situation, glancing back and forth between Kenna and the two by the door. Laney had her phone out.

Akira came over. “No fighting in my shop!”

She seemed to speak entirely in short exclamations.

Ramon backed off a fraction. “She said later.”

The woman shifted, brushing off her clothes. She had on wide leg jeans, black boots with low heels, and a gray T-shirt, over which she had pulled a jacket. “Fine.” She glanced at Kenna. “I know how to find you.”

Wasn’t that nice for her, being able to find people whenever she needed. Nice skill set. Shame it might be a problem for Kenna and her family.

She stared at the woman, refusing to back down or acknowledge any interest in what she had to say. At least, not right now.

Ramon held the door open, and the woman stepped out. He closed the door and turned to Kenna. “I was late.”

“Only a second or two.”

“It won’t happen again.” He glanced at the racks. “ Hermanita. ”

“I’m okay.” Maizie stood up. She glanced at the three nonteam members in the room and said, “I tripped.”

Ramon looked back at Kenna. Guilt. Determination. Fear.

“We’re good now.” She nodded. “Thanks to you.”

He went to the door.

“Not so fast!” Akira eyed him like a specimen, walking over and drawing a tape measure apart. She held it across his chest from shoulder to shoulder and muttered something in a language Kenna didn’t speak. “I have the perfect suit for you.”

Ramon shook his head. “I don’t wear suits.”

“You model for me. I have just the thing that will change your mind.” She reached for his shoulder and stroked a hand down his arm. “I can be very persuasive.”

Kenna pressed her lips together and glanced at Maizie. The teen’s eyes practically bugged out of her head, making Kenna laugh aloud. “I mean…he could stay.”

Ramon ducked over to the door and flung it open. “I’ll be outside.”

The door slammed shut.

Akira said, “Shame.”

“Yes, it is,” Adrielle said. “That was exciting.”

Behind her, Laney had the same expression on her face as Maizie had just a moment ago. If only Kenna could hide in the dresses like the teen had done. Or run out and catch up to that woman. Find a case. Search for a killer. Locate a missing child.

Something.

Anything.

It wasn’t that she was necessarily avoiding the inevitable—her wedding and all that was going into it—but surely, there were more important things to be done right now.

“Why didn’t you hear what she had to say?” Adrielle asked. “That woman.”

Because she was supposed to be able to go a day without a major case landing in her lap? Or was it that she’d been addicted to the rush of helping people for a long time? It had been a compulsion, doing what she believed she was put on this earth to do.

“You don’t have to tell us. It’s not really our business,” Laney said.

Adrielle looked like she wanted it to be her business.

“Apparently, I’m supposed to have healthy boundaries.” Kenna looked at the closest dress, but there was way too much lace. “If I keep getting pulled away to solve cases, Jax and I aren’t ever going to get married.”

There would always be a reason to put it off. Making it happen was more of a challenge than maintaining the status quo—even with all the ways her life had changed in the past few years. Plus, it sounded good that she’d rather be here than running down a dank hallway chasing a murderer.

At least this wedding thing only happened once in her life.

Then she could get back to work.

“Healthy boundaries are good,” Maizie said. “But we’re gonna find out what she wanted later, right?”

Kenna nodded, aware of Laney striking up a conversation with her mom and Akira.

Maizie leaned over and whispered. “You think she’s one of their assets?”

“She didn’t try to kill us.”

Maizie said, “Someone from the resistance?”

“That would be my guess.” Kenna shrugged, keeping her voice low when she said, “I don’t know how to tell the difference yet.”

“Me either.” Maizie seemed to want to say something else but didn’t.

“What?”

Maizie whispered, “We need a forensic accountant to go over what we got yesterday. It’s too complicated for me.”

Kenna gasped. “You don’t know everything ? Shocking. What do I pay you for?”

Maizie grinned. “Answering your emails and telling people you’re unavailable.”

“I should give you a raise.”

Akira came over to them. She seemed to have shaken herself out of the Ramon-induced daydream. She ran to the end of the rows and came back with a dress. “Try this on.”

“How can I resist?”

“And give me that yummy man’s phone number.”

Maizie sounded like she had a frog in her throat. Once she cleared it, the teen muttered something in Spanish.

Kenna had to say, “I can ask, but he might say no.”

Akira sighed. “This is my life. Gorgeous men everywhere and none will let me dress them.”

Good thing Jax wasn’t here right now.

“But of course, that isn’t your problem. You’re getting married!” Akira leaned in and spoke quietly. “Is he gorgeous?”

Kenna felt her cheeks heat. “Yes, ma’am.”

Akira tipped her head back and chuckled.

Kenna went to the changing area behind the screen. “Maizie, I’ll need your help in a minute.” She’d have to get the thing zipped up, and that would be impossible even with arms that wouldn’t hurt when she bent them behind her back.

No way she could get around them seeing her forearms, knotted with lines of ragged red scars. The doctors had tried to consolidate with each successive surgery, but it wasn’t always possible.

That was probably part of the reason she shied away from the idea of a big wedding with lots of people. If she kept it small, then it was contained to people who either knew what had happened to her or who had seen her scars enough times they wouldn’t create a spectacle.

Kenna unlaced her Converse and kicked them off, then stepped into the dress and pulled it up. It was simple, Victorian-style draped layers in a slightly off-white color. Some pattern on the bodice but understated.

“This whole thing is ridiculous. I’m not going to wear a dress.”

Maizie grabbed the zipper at the back and eased it up. “Aren’t you supposed to want to see the look on his face? You’re gonna make him choke on his own tongue.”

“Why do I care about ‘supposed to’?” There were plenty of those in her life that she’d never experienced. A house with a fenced yard and a dog to grow up in. A mother to drive her to school. A baby that lived. A career and a life, a family.

She turned around.

Maizie’s eyes widened. She said nothing, just backed up.

“This thing is poofy. I have to kick it out in front of me, or I’ll trip on it.”

“It’s not that poofy. You just never wear anything like it.” Maizie smiled like she had a secret while Kenna emerged from behind the screen. “It’s called a dress. I’m gonna choke on my tongue now.”

Laney and Adrielle both had their hands over their eyes.

Akira waved her to the podium. “Stand here and we will do the big reveal.”

Kenna didn’t look at herself in the mirror. It didn’t make that much difference what this thing looked like. She was sticking with her slacks and bodice idea, thank you very much.

She fluffed the dress so it draped instead of tangled. Fine, the skirt wasn’t that poofy. She fluffed it out some more so that it draped over the podium.

“I’ll need to take it up a little.” Akira stepped back. “Look now, ladies!”

Laney and Adrielle lowered their hands from over their eyes, and both gasped.

“Is that good?” Kenna asked.

Laney nodded. “It’s so good.”

All Kenna could think about as she stared at their reactions was how she’d never done this with Bradley. They’d been engaged when he died, but really only because she was a few weeks pregnant. Barely engaged, hardly pregnant at all.

They were about to tell the FBI about their situation. Working on what they were going to do about it. Making plans for the future that never got this far because he’d died. She’d lost everything and managed to continue.

Their chance had been over practically as soon as it began.

Kenna felt the burn of tears in her eyes and turned away, but that gave her a look at herself in the mirror. She didn’t recognize the woman looking back at her. She’d never met this version of herself, the one who was going to be a wife. Maybe a mother.

Her gaze zeroed in on her arms and how awful they looked. Everything else clean and tidy, except the skin of her forearms. Ragged and red.

Moving on meant carrying the horror of the past with her because it had been carved into her skin. She couldn’t leave it behind. It had been washed away, but the evidence was still there. Like Jesus after He’d been crucified. Not that her situation was anything like His. Just enough that she could understand a small part of what it meant to see the scars and remember what happened. Every day it was there.

She would never forget.

She’d read that verse recently about having fellowship with Him in His suffering. At the time, the meaning had eluded her, but now that she’d had a tiny glimpse of it, she was humbled by the immensity of what He’d done for her.

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“You don’t like it!” Akira rushed over. “We find something else for you to try.”

Kenna shook her head. “Sorry. It isn’t the dress.” She took Akira’s hand. “The dress is beautiful. It’s kind of perfect, actually. There’s just a lot of things going through my head right now.”

Akira stood beside her, on the floor instead of the podium. She barely came up to Kenna’s waist but still reached up and took Kenna’s hand. “White silk gloves that go to your elbows?”

“I didn’t even think about that.” Maizie came over to stand on Kenna’s other side. “I don’t even notice them now.”

That probably wasn’t true, but she appreciated Maizie’s attempt to make her feel better. “Thanks, Maze.”

What was she going to do about her forearms?

Maizie said, “When you marry Jax, will you guys adopt me so I can have his last name?”

Kenna flinched. She flipped the end of the dress around so she could face Maizie, touching her cheeks again. Drawing her close. When had it become this kind of day? She leaned in and smiled. “Yes.”

Maizie’s eyes glistened with tears. “Thanks, Kenna.”

She whispered, “We need a case.”

Things were getting far too real. Too emotional. Too…everything, and Jax wasn’t even here! Secretly, she was a little overwhelmed by the idea of getting married. Some people might think their relationship had progressed slowly, but all she could do was try to figure out how to slow things down.

Maizie laughed. “You’re the one who sent that woman away.”

“She was interrupting this.” Kenna swept her arm down at the dress. And it was a lot. It was enough.

But in the story of her life, this wasn’t the way she’d thought it would go.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

“If we’re lucky, maybe something crazy will kick off at the wedding show.” Maizie chuckled.

Kenna’s phone started to ring, tucked in her clothes. She stepped off the podium and glanced at Adrielle and Laney. Both of them had red noses. Laney sniffed, and Adrielle dabbed a tissue under her eye.

“It’s Jax!” Maizie ran out from behind the screen.

Kenna answered the call and put the phone to her ear. “Hey.”

“It’s going well?”

Kenna glanced at herself in the mirror, and from this angle, she could see both Jaxton women still sitting.

Maizie sat on the floor crossed-legged beside them and said, “This happens a lot. Sometimes, she talks to him for hours .”

“Kenna?”

“Huh?” She cleared her throat and focused back on the call, trying to remember what they were talking about. “Things are good.”

“That’s good. I got a call from local law enforcement there in Denver. I guess someone watches the news, and when your name popped up in their system, they called the FBI office in Phoenix to ask for me.”

Kenna frowned. That was going to start happening more and more in the future. Even if the wedding happened quietly with not many people in attendance, word would get out within the law enforcement community.

Jax said, “The Denver PD has a crime scene they’re working, and the DNA left behind came back as a familial match…to you.”

“Me? That makes no sense.” She didn’t have any close living relatives except… “My mom?”

“I guess it’s possible.”

“It’s insane is what it is.”

“They want to know where you are so they can pick you up for questioning.” He didn’t sound all too happy, and she didn’t blame him, but she figured it wasn’t for the same reason she was unhappy about this. “But we have no information on this, so you’ll be going in with no idea what the case is or whose DNA this might be. It could be a cousin, for all you know. Or your dad’s DNA from years ago.”

“So I’ll find out. Then we’ll be back to what we’re doing.” She glanced at Maizie and saw the teen had a bunch of questions. Kenna mouthed, Get Ramon . Then she said to Jax, “Don’t worry. We’re all good here.”

He was all the way down in Phoenix. No need for him to be distracted by what was happening here in Colorado. After all, if anything did go down, he’d be too far away to help.

“Right.” Jax dragged the word out.

Kenna ducked her head and smiled. “I’ve got this.”

“I know you do.”

“But?”

“Nothing.”

If she pressed him, would he tell her he was ready to quit his job so he could be around her all the time? Working together. Solving crime. “We need you in the bureau.”

Jax chuckled. “I might not quit today. Ask me again tomorrow.”

“I’ll find out what they want.”

“Good. Call me later.”

He hung up.

Kenna turned to Akira and said, “We’ll take the dress.”