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Chapter Seven

K enna reached up and scratched her nose, only half awake. Her arm moved faster than she expected, and she smacked herself in the face. “Ow.” She started to sit up, bracing against the weight on her chest. But it wasn’t her. The weight was the cat. “Jolene, get off me.”

Meow.

She shoved the cat to the side and saw the clock. Not even six in the morning. Usually the time Jax woke up, but given he’d opted to take the day off, he was fast asleep beside her.

She slid out of the bed, padding softly to the door so she didn’t wake him and grabbing her robe on the way.

Jolene walked ahead of her down the hall.

The cat hung out in the bathroom, meowing the whole time Kenna took care of pressing business.

The cat waited expectantly in the spot where her bowl was placed until Kenna had mixed wet and dry food and set it on the floor.

Jax had ground the coffee beans and filled the pot the night before, so she hit the button and went to her favorite spot in the living room, where she had her Bible on the side table.

She curled her feet under her, getting in the Word before she picked up her phone.

Whatever emergencies might be on that device, things she’d have to face once she looked at her messages and emails, she would be better equipped to deal with them after she’d absorbed what God had to say.

Her mind wandered to their conversation yesterday.

Jax had been so worried about her and hadn’t shared his concerns—or that he’d been hoping she was pregnant.

He had intentionally not given her more to carry, adding his burden on top of the worry about what was happening to her but keeping it inside.

It turned out they’d both wished that she was pregnant, accepting that as a very real outcome of her time as a captive.

The coffeepot beeped. She headed to it, poured herself a cup, and drank it while she stared out the kitchen window.

“You got up.” His voice sounded like gravel.

Kenna turned to see Jax walk in, sweatpants low on his hips and no shirt. Hair mussed from sleep and a crease on one cheek.

He commandeered her coffee and took a sip.

“Sacrilege,” she breathed.

He wound his arms around her hips and lifted her, sitting her on the counter and moving to stand between her knees.

“What are you doing?” She lifted a brow.

“Saying good morning.”

“Good morning.”

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. Things were getting interesting—and she’d almost forgotten that coffee existed—when her phone rang from the breakfast bar counter. He growled, “Ignore it.”

He must be happy that she felt better and that he had the day off. She was willing to forego any work on cases at all and spend the day just enjoying each other’s company. A much-needed Sabbath to recharge and just hang out. Or a short interlude before the day got going.

After a shower and a plate of bacon and eggs, she finally called Maizie back.

The video call on her phone connected, and she saw Maizie in the trailer, her blond hair loose on either side of her face. “Hey, what’s up? I’ve been going through the file those lawyers gave Bruce. You’re going to want to hear this.”

Jax wandered over and set a cup of coffee on the breakfast bar where she’d slid onto a stool. He leaned in and kissed the side of her neck while Kenna tried to get the phone to stand upright.

“You guys.” Maizie blushed.

Kenna smiled.

Jax said, “Morning, Maze. What was in the file?” He settled onto the stool beside her, and she moved the phone so Maizie could see both of them.

Maizie glanced to the side, her focus going distant.

“A full file on the doctor. Bruce said you guys talked about that. There’s a collection of news articles from papers with dates spanning forty years.

Some guy moved a car and saved a child. Another guy saved a bunch of people from a fire, carrying two or three at a time to get them out of the burning building. ”

“Wow.” Jax leaned against her shoulder, and she shifted so her leg was against his.

“I know. There’s also a long research paper about modifying RNA to control osteoblasts and osteoclasts.”

Kenna sipped her coffee. “What does that mean?”

“Elizabeth and Craig have that. They’re going to figure out what it’s about.”

The couple took care of Maizie, who lived in an Airstream in their backyard.

Retired and living in a remote Colorado cabin, they could watch out for the teen full time, and Elizabeth was a trained counselor.

Craig Stairns had been Kenna’s boss at the FBI years ago, back when she’d been an agent.

Now he unofficially worked for her team at Banbury Investigations, and his skills meant he was on hand to protect Maizie when needed.

The teen said, “I looked some of it up, but I was confused. I don’t think I’m destined to be a nurse or doctor. But RNA is ribonucleic acid, which is a molecule. It’s a messenger that carries genetic information.”

“And they messed with mine. I need you to dig up a coroner’s file. Bruce will know which one I’m talking about. Tell him we need the witness exhumed and for tests to be run to see if the same thing was done to her.”

Jax shifted, probably because he had questions, and she hadn’t managed to fill him in on everything.

“Anything else?” Maizie typed on her computer.

“You tell me.” Kenna drank some more coffee, even though she should switch to water at this point in the day. “Nothing on the exterior cameras?”

“Nope, but the lawyers reached out this morning. They want to know if you’ve had a chance to look at the file and if you’re willing to come in today. There’s something else pertinent they need to talk to you about.”

“Not wasting any time on this, are they?” She sighed. “Call and tell them we’ll be there as soon as they have an opening.”

“Got it.”

They signed off and hung up. Kenna finished her coffee and slid off the stool. “Guess we have an appointment.”

Jax smiled. “You’re definitely feeling better.”

“It’s nice not feeling weighed down and exhausted.”

“Don’t use it up fast. Just in case it isn’t going to last.”

She figured he had a point. “It’s hard to tell, but I get what you’re saying. We can take it easy today, even though that sounds incredibly boring. Which means I need another copy of that cold case. That way, I can do some research later if I need to rest.”

“You’re going to work the case? I figured you have enough going on that maybe you didn’t really need it.”

“I always need a case.” She kissed his cheek and went to grab her socks and shoes from the closet.

Just a reflex, but the sentiment hung on in her mind. She did always need a case, and mostly it was just what she did. What she always wanted to be doing. For a long time, it had been what defined her, what kept her going and kept her sane.

If she didn’t have a case to solve?

Just weeks ago, she’d have said her value wasn’t much beyond her ability to investigate crimes.

Maybe at one point in the past, she’d have said she was nothing without it.

These days, with being married and having a thriving group of friends who helped her out, things were a lot different.

But being an investigator still defined her.

Meeting Jax, saving Maizie, and finding each of her friends had changed her life. But who she was would always be wrapped up in the way she’d been raised.

Taking this cold case and working it was about being who she was.

Saying to the Dominatus that they couldn’t control her life. She was still going to do what she did, and they weren’t going to change her. It felt good to thumb her nose at the big bad company. Like standing up against a bully.

She found Jax in his office, taking papers off the printer. “Ready to go? Maizie said the lawyers are available.”

“Ready.” He stuffed the papers into an empty file and brought them with him, grabbing his keys.

She got in the passenger’s side, flipped open the file, and leafed through the pages to read the cold case information as he drove across town to the office for Hann, Anthony, and Associates.

A Mafia boss had gone missing. At the same time, an FBI agent disappeared, and the gold the Mafia boss had supposedly stolen from another Vegas casino owner at the time had never been found.

She looked for the Santino name, but it was nowhere in this file.

Not that she’d expected it to be connected to the same family as Nicola Santorini.

She wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been, though.

She skimmed the page. “Did the bureau talk to the casino owner?”

“Airtight alibi. He had no idea what happened to either of them. He also said the gold wasn’t stolen, but that it was a payment for something.”

“So he wasn’t looking for it and didn’t care that it was gone?” She flipped another page. “If it was up for grabs after their disappearance, maybe he went after it later.”

Jax said, “Or he’s the one who killed them both and took back his gold.

But the man the bureau had embedded undercover in his casino said he didn’t have it and wasn’t going after it.

He didn’t care at all, apparently. He wanted nothing to do with it.

The statement said he actually thought the boss was scared of something or someone else, so he was staying out of it. ”

“Very interesting.”

Jax pulled into the parking lot.

It turned out there were more lawyers on the payroll than the two she’d met at the park. The law firm had a huge office, six stories tall, which took up the entire corner lot in the commercial park. The exterior was all black and glass.

“Impressive.”

“Hmm.” Jax shut off the car.

“What?”

“I don’t know yet.”

She figured he had some idea, so as they walked together across the packed parking lot to the front doors, she asked, “What do you know?”

“They found you. How easy is that? Not only did they find you, but they know something happened to you?”

She explained that she figured it might’ve been Bruce who approached them, regardless of what he’d said to her. “They had a picture of the doctor, and I recognized him right away. I know it’s him that did…whatever it is he did to me.”

Jax nodded. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“I still think they’re resistance. They just have that look about them.”

The doors swished open ahead of them. Kenna blinked against the brightness of the expansive lobby that stretched up at least three stories with balconies overlooking from the floor above.

All of it was bright white, even the couches.

Even the fake plants in the corners were white and the artwork on the walls.

They headed to the receptionist, a shock of color in this ocean of stark whiteness. Strawberry-blond hair, blue eyes, and a green dress. She had a matching suit jacket on the back of her chair and a headset that covered one ear, the mic resting along her cheek.

“Welcome, Ms. Banbury.” She looked at Jax. “Special Agent in Charge Jaxton.” Nodded. “I’ll inform the partners that you’re here.”

“Thanks.” Kenna turned from the woman and put her back to the counter. She raised her brows to Jax. “This place is obviously a front.”

Jax gave her a knowing smile, as if he thought her being mischievous was adorable.

She leaned over the reception desk toward the woman. “What is this place, really? I mean, this isn’t just a law office. Is the resistance operating in Arizona? Another fake company with no real clients, and the people you do deal with…it’s heavily weighted toward your agenda.”

Kenna looked at her nameplate on the counter. “Taylor Newport? Is that even your real name?”

The receptionist tapped a button on the desk phone’s keypad and spoke low into her headset, but Kenna couldn’t make out what she was saying. Probably calling for security or reporting to them that Kenna was already acting unhinged.

She needed them to think she was a wild card—someone they couldn’t control. But maybe not this early, when she hadn’t even found out what they wanted with her. They might have information on her lost time from the day before and why she felt better today than she had in weeks.

These lawyers knew who the doctor was. He’d been there when that senator captured her a couple of months ago, before the wedding. What else did they know?

This was like fighting a battle blindfolded.

Jax shifted and looked up at the balcony. Something up there was drawing his attention. “Couple of cops are here.”

Kenna spun to see but didn’t recognize either of the uniformed detectives. They weren’t any of the cops she’d met so far in this town. “I should check on Terri.”

“Huh?”

“The woman from Friday night. They took her to the hospital, but under arrest.” She lowered her voice so the receptionist, Taylor Newport—if that was really her name—couldn’t hear what she said. “If these lawyers want anything, they can agree to represent her in exchange.”

Why were there cops here?

This wasn’t a good sign. Especially not when the cops looked over the railing from the floor above and spotted them, then immediately moved toward the stairs. As if they’d been waiting for her.

Kenna’s phone rang in her pocket. “Why does this smell like a trap?”

She pushed off the reception counter, and her phone rang again. When she pulled it out, she saw it was Maizie calling. Kenna swiped the screen. “Give me a reason to ditch this meeting, Maze.”

“The doctor you saw yesterday, the one who ran those blood tests? She’s missing. So is the woman you and Bruce tussled with. The doctor never got home last night, and the other woman, the kids’ mother, literally vanished out of the hospital. They’re both gone.”