Page 48 of Now or Never

He stopped at the directory at the bottom of the stairs, screwed to the wall. “Third floor is an accountant’s office.”

The first floor was listed as a property management company, and the floor the lawyers had been hired to work on read “The Denari Foundation.” Whatever that was.

She dialed Maizie’s number and put an earbud in her ear. When the young woman picked up, Kenna said, “How’s things?”

“We were told we can stand down. They’re working on the fire, and hopefully we won’t have to evacuate.”

“That’s good.”

“The air is thick outside, and hazy. Everything smells like a giant bonfire.”

“Yep.” Kenna had been around wildfires before, but usually in California in July and August. Not this late in the year in Colorado. Even if a dry season, a warm start to the winter season, and a lightning storm were to blame, she still had a hard time believing it wasn’t coincidental. “Can I ask about the packet?”

“Sure.”

“Anything in there about the Denari Foundation?”

“Isn’t that from the Bible?” Maizie asked.

Kenna squeezed Jax’s hand. “Is Denari from the Bible?”

He glanced at her as they rounded the first landing and headed up to the second floor. “It’s currency. The unit of money they used in the Gospels. It might be Roman, but I’d have to look that up.”

“It’s—”

Maizie said, “I can hear him.”

“Okay. Whether it’s a good name for a front company, a shell corporation, or some other kind of money laundering thing wrapped up in a charity or not…I have no idea.” Kenna let Jax go through the door to the second floor first, hanging back while he made sure it was safe.

She laid a hand on her baby bump, trying to reassure herself they’d be fine. If the ghost was coming after her, there were a lot of people he would have to get through before he touched her. Plenty of protection here to keep her from having to worry about facing danger. But she was going to worry anyway.

She asked Maizie, “Have you heard from Ramon and Zeyla?”

“They were working something until late last night, tracking his movements after visiting Megan Tiller in the hospital. Now that they know you might be on his list, they’re on the way to you. Probably stopped to get some sleep.”

“Okay.” That was reassuring enough she could relax for a moment.

Jax held the door. “Not much more in here than there was downstairs.”

Kenna stepped into the open plan office space. “Hardly surprising. I mean, if they were hired to be some kind of think tank and come up with a scenario about whatever this is, then no one is going to want to leave evidence behind.”

“You think the scenario was about bombing the Croatian president?” Jax surveyed the room.

Kenna didn’t see anyone moving around. They were alone.

There were a few desks separated by cubicles, a conference table at the far end by the window, and a printer in the opposite corner.

She nodded, still thinking on it. “It’s absolutely possible they were hired to come up with the scenario. Given the FBI’s evidence, they were probably scouting the location of the best place to set off a bomb in good faith, thinking they were workingfor the right side. Instead, their research was used to implicate them.”

“They were framed,” Maizie said.

“Exactly.”

Jax glanced over.

“We know they worked more than one scenario, though.” Kenna paused. “So, what else did they come up with, and is that going to be used against them as well? Or against someone else.”

“They’re supposed to be part of the resistance,” Jax said. “How did they end up getting duped so thoroughly? That’s what I want to know.”