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Chapter Fifteen

K enna came awake swinging. Jax grunted, next to her but not on his normal side. She slept on the left. Why was he over on that side?

She sat up. “What the…”

It all flashed back to her mind. The bone density test and the doctor. Earnest and his face. Other things she couldn’t recall right away, which she would need time to process.

Jax shifted on the bed and groaned. “Ouch. I feel like I was whacked on the head.”

“You probably were.” She flopped back onto the pillow and looked around.

This was their room. They were both fully clothed—thank You, God—and she had her shoes on again.

“Don’t they know you take your shoes off at the door when you come home?

Who wants all that street dirt tracked all the way through the house? ”

She hadn’t been given the results of her test. She’d been hoodwinked into facing the doctor again. As if she was going to thank him.

Kenna rolled her eyes because she could. Because she was allowed to control her own emotions and reactions, and no one could tell her what to do or not do. Whether that guy thought he could control her life or not, it was only if she allowed it. He would never own her.

Jax slid his hand over to hers. “Come on.” He sat up, tugging her with him. “We need to flush this from our systems and figure out what’s going on.”

Now he knew what it had been like for her to wake up after being kidnapped last time, except back then, she hadn’t known what had happened to her. It had only been a portion of lost time.

She brushed hair back from her face, the inside of her elbow stinging yet again. “We should check the cameras.”

“They’re going to be wearing masks. Or it’ll look like you and I came home, except for the shoes. But maybe they’re going to better disguise their intrusion this time.” His tone bled with anger and frustration, emotions that she hadn’t heard from him much.

The guy was so steady she sometimes wondered if he had negative reactions at all, but once in a while, it showed through.

Frustration. Fear.

She was looking forward to a lifetime of him peeling back the layers as they continued to get to know each other. In a lot of ways, he was another mystery for her to solve. Maybe even in all the best ways that was why he appealed to her. That and his steady goodness.

She stood in front of him and touched his cheeks, ignoring the assessment her mind wanted to make of how she felt. Right now, this was about him. “Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?”

“I got jumped.” He scrunched up his nose, then twisted to tug up his T-shirt and reveal a red mark on the side of his ribs. “Someone kicked me. I didn’t see their face, though.”

She couldn’t forget the face she’d seen. “Then what happened?”

“I think they knocked me out. I tried to get to you because I heard you call my name.” He shook his head. “I’m telling this backward. Feels like my head is scrambled.”

Thankfully, he hadn’t been hurt worse than that.

He kissed her, quick and hard. An almost desperate note to it, but there was still a whole lot of relief.

She hung on, not wanting to let go of him.

Feeling the sensation of having him here with her—both of them safe.

She’d needed him in that room, and it wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t been able to get to her.

Neither of them was responsible for this.

In some ways, they were more like a pair of mice in some grand experiment—powerless.

So she took what he was willing to give.

Just to remind herself again, and some more, that she had control over herself.

She made the choices here, not some doctor working for Dominatus .

When their kiss wound down, both of them breathing hard, neither one let go.

He asked, “What did they do to you?”

Kenna explained about the paralyzing agent and how she managed to fight back. “I saw his face.” She had to take a breath. “The doctor called him Earnest, but it was one of the cops who responded to the medical center. They took the kids to…”

Her thoughts stuttered.

“They took the kids.” She tightened her grip on Jax’s shirt. “We need to find the kids and make sure nothing happened to them. He said I was missing something or some things . I don’t know. Maybe that’s what he meant.”

Jax nodded. “Okay, let’s call Maizie. See what she can find out.”

“I’m going to check the cameras. I want to see if there’s anything that we can use as evidence against them.” Kenna followed him to the door. “Can you look for Jolene? Maybe they put her in the linen closet again.”

“We should also check everything we own for bugs, surveillance devices, and GPS locators. Who knows how closely they’re keeping tabs on us.”

Kenna shivered at the idea that their private lives were being observed.

What happened between a married couple was their business and not for viewing purposes.

She didn’t need another reason to want to get the doctor, his minions, and the Dominatus out of their lives, but if she did, that would definitely be on the top of the list.

“Jolene!” Jax started, ahead of her, and then chuckled.

She heard a meow across the house and went to check it out. When she didn’t find Jolene in the room that Jax had turned into a home office/gym, she called out the cat’s name again.

Maybe the hall bathroom?

But she didn’t see the cat in there or in the shower. Kenna crouched and opened the cupboard under the sink. Jolene jumped out and landed on Kenna’s shoulder, scrambling for purchase. “Whoa, kitty.”

She stood, holding the cat on her shoulder and wandered back to Jax. “Found her.”

He turned to her, the phone at his ear, standing in the kitchen between the dining table and the breakfast bar.

He lifted his chin. “Thanks, Maizie. I’m going to call my office as well.

Find out what we can about the officers who responded to the call.

If one is dirty, we need evidence to bring to the Phoenix PD’s Internal Affairs Department. ”

Kenna grabbed a treat for Jolene. One of the fancy ones. She set the cat down on the back of the couch, where Jolene would be able to see Kenna and Jax, and put the treat in front of her.

“Thanks, Maze. Will do.” He hung up. “Is Jolene okay?”

Kenna studied her for a second, watching her movements. Not really sure how to tell. “I think so.”

He slid his arm around her and kissed her forehead.

“Maizie is on the case of Earnest?”

Jax nodded his head against hers. “I’ll get my laptop and look at the cameras we have.”

“I need one of those wands that checks for bugs.” Or she needed Bruce. “I’m gonna get some spy help.” She found her phone on the dining table and called his number, explaining what had happened.

“I was wondering where you guys were at, but Maizie said you had an appointment and then you both went home.”

“I’ll have to ask her what time that happened, but I know it’ll be wrong.” Kenna explained Jax’s theory about their lives being bugged.

“I’ll be right there. We’ll find ’em.”

“Thanks, Bruce.”

“Don’t get soft on me now, girlie. I’m doin’ my job.” He hung up.

Kenna rolled her eyes, then went to slump onto the couch beside Jax. It was going to be a quiet evening for sure—unless they found out where the kids were. If two children needed rescuing, nothing was going to stop her from doing that.

But if they really were safe in the care of social services or a family that fostered kids, then she could leave them to their lives.

Kenna curled her legs up, then remembered about her shoes and kicked them off.

She tossed the shoes over the back of the couch.

They landed in the mouth of the hall that led to the front door.

She bent her legs, drawing her knees up so she could wiggle her toes under Jax’s thigh while he tapped keys on the laptop.

“Cold?”

She started to shake her head but realized that wouldn’t be true. “Maybe.” She grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch that she’d used just a week ago—every time she was so exhausted she fell asleep on the couch. Days she couldn’t have walked to the bedroom to nap there.

She felt so much better now, but it had been an interesting day.

“They took a lot of blood.” He rested the back of his hand on her forehead. “I can make you some tea.”

“Coffee would be great.”

He chuckled, then said, “There’s nothing on the cameras. Not even us coming back in. I think they just shut the system off, so it recorded nothing at the time they brought us home.”

Kenna let out a long sigh, curling the blanket around her and leaning her head on his shoulder. “We need evidence. Not just for the doctor but everyone working with him. Any one of them could lead us to the Dominatus .”

“And you’re certain you want to go up against them?”

“I’m not sure we have the resources to go to war with a powerful group that has tendrils across the world, but I’m also certain I can’t do nothing .”

Jax nodded. “I know what you mean. If I jeopardize my job using federal resources to help you, does it really matter? In the grand scheme, we’re doing the right thing. Even if it costs my career, there’s a whole lot more at stake than that.”

“If we succeed, we’ll gain a whole lot more.” Not that their victory was likely. But who would she be if she didn’t at least try? “This is about justice and being able to live our happily ever after without this over our heads.”

He nodded. “Right now, it’s about this cop you saw and the safety of two children.”

“Agreed.”

The doorbell rang.

She started to get up, but Jax told her to stay put. He set his laptop on the coffee table. “Bruce was quick.”

She watched the hall and heard the door open.

Jax asked, “Can I help you guys?”

She heard a scuffle, then more than one person came down the hall. Kenna couldn’t keep twisting to the back of the couch. “By all means, come in.”

There were two, then three…then four and five came in.

All the men had gray in their hair except for the last two.

The youngest were likely in their thirties.

All of them wore suits. Shined black shoes—at least the ones whose feet she could see.

Slicked back hair. The first man to enter moved to stand sentry in front of her TV unit.

She pegged which one was the boss easily because he took the armchair. He had a ring on his pinkie, left hand.

Jax came from the front door, which was a good thing because she would’ve drawn the pistol under the couch cushions and demanded to know what they’d done with her husband.

He came over and stood behind the couch where she sat, putting his hands on her shoulders.

But it felt too much like what Earnest had done, keeping her in her seat even with the paralytic drug in her system.

She turned toward the man in her armchair and lifted one hand, lacing her fingers with Jax’s. “Like he said”—she tipped her head toward Jax—“can we help you guys?”

“I don’t often need to introduce myself, but I’ll make an exception in your case.”

Kenna nodded. “Obliged.”

“I’m Gregorio Santino. These are my associates, family members, and…coworkers.”

She glanced around. “And you’re in my house because…?”

“You know where to find my Nicola. You know who took her, and you’re going to get her back for me.”

“Just because I know who took her doesn’t mean I know how to find her.” Unless she looked for the kids and that led her to the doctor. Could she find both? But there were so many pieces missing to this puzzle. Like why the doctor had been taken or what Doctor Buzard wanted with her.

Nicola could be dead…

Or working for him.

“I suggest you rectify that, Ms.—” Gregorio glanced at Jax. “Mrs. Jaxton.”

“You can’t pressure me into doing what your men should be able to do.

” She shrugged, motioning to them with a lift of her chin.

Scattered around her living room so they looked imposing.

Arms crossed so their upper bodies appeared more impressive.

“Surely, you trust them to find Nicola more than you trust me. You wouldn’t bring them with you if they couldn’t get the job done. ”

“You’re the last to see Nicola before she disappeared.”

Kenna shook her head. It wasn’t true, but she wouldn’t tell him about Dana and what she had seen. Not yet, anyway.

Gregorio frowned. “You will do this for me, regardless. Use your resources to get the job done .”

“Just as long as you don’t think I’m responsible for this.”

“That’s your only concern?”

“My concern right now is two potentially missing children.” She should have checked up on them.

Hadn’t Bruce said he was going to do that?

When he showed up, she’d have to ask him about it.

When it came to Bruce, trust was an elusive commodity.

The truth was, she had reason to distrust him.

He was the kind of person who played the game but made up his own rules.

“My only concern is Nicola.”

“You believe she’s in danger?” Kenna needed to know if he had additional information.

Gregorio didn’t even move, but there was a shift in him, and it felt like a threat. “You don’t?”

“It would be far easier to work together. Pool our resources.” Kenna figured that Jax wasn’t going to like teaming up with a crime family from Las Vegas, though. “That will enable me to find Nicola more quickly.”

“I don’t get into agreements with the FBI.” He stood. “Not after what they did to my family.”

“Then why ask for my help? You know I married into the bureau.” Sure, she spoke about it like it was a family. In a lot of ways, that was true.

“Anthony spoke highly of you. He was my father’s cousin.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” What else could she say?

Anthony Santino had been her father’s associate.

She’d met him in Vegas the last time she was there—when Maizie had escaped, and Kenna had killed the man who held her captive for years.

Santino had been looking for revenge, and he’d been killed by a dirty FBI agent who’d been controlled by a man who believed he had all the power.

“I know who you are and that you tried to help him.”

“He told me he made peace with what happened to his family, but he still wanted revenge.”

Gregorio said, “That’s why you’re going to find Nicola. Because you got yourself all in with the FBI, and I figure they owe my family.”