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Chapter Eighteen

K enna stared at the officer. “That’s everything. No matter how many times you ask me.” She lifted the cold soda can they’d brought her—the one she hadn’t even opened—and pressed it to the spot on her forehead where Earnest…Reggie…whichever twin, had smacked her head with his. “Ah.”

It wasn’t really cold anymore since she’d been in this room so long.

Her head was still pounding.

“Perhaps you should see a doctor.” The detective shifted her chair back from the table.

“A doctor isn’t going to find those kids.”

“I’ll go see if your husband is done and check with Officer Albertson’s partner about the children.”

“Thanks.” Kenna didn’t need to make friends with every good cop in every big city—or small town, for that matter.

It did help, though. She couldn’t remember this detective’s name.

The woman was heavyset and had a pixie cut that had been shaved on the side.

Kenna would guess military background, maybe years ago before marriage and kids.

Her thoughts started to swim in her head. “I need ibuprofen.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” The detective walked out, leaving the door open.

Kenna stayed where she was. Better to sit and think this through, not just because she might keel over if she tried to stand. She slid out her phone and laid it on the table.

Bruce’s message had said he was good. Maizie had given him access to the GPS from Earnest’s phone—at least the one legally registered to him. He was out there on the hunt for the man who’d taken her blood.

The detective hadn’t told her anything about the conversation with Regis or the confidential informant guy who’d jumped out the window.

But surely, the police department had made some progress.

More than just figuring out if the guy they’d brought in wasn’t their officer.

Or was. She couldn’t seem to think straight.

She held her thumb on the lower half of the phone, then called Maizie.

“You’re done with the police?”

Kenna put the phone to her ear, thumbing down the volume so it didn’t make her head hurt more. “Not exactly.”

“What do you need?”

“A million pain pills. My head is throbbing .”

“That’s not good.”

“But aside from that, run a search. According to county records”—just in case the cops were listening in on her conversation—“who owns the doctor’s office where I had that bone density appointment?”

She heard Maizie start typing. “What are you thinking?”

“Doctor Buzard had staff. I mean, did he tell the usual people to take the day off, or did he knock them all out and shove them in a closet while he came in?”

“Or he paid them off.”

“Or it’s his office.”

“Hmm.” Maizie went quiet for a second.

Kenna looked at herself in the mirror. Maybe she did need to see a doctor. The lump on her forehead was darker than the rest of her face. It wasn’t bleeding, but she didn’t want to have a bigger issue because she ignored the fact something might be seriously wrong.

Who was she kidding? Of course, something was wrong.

She could get checked out, but that might be dangerous with the other things going wrong in her body. Or going right.

Too soon to tell which it was.

Doctor Buzard certainly thought he’d done her a favor. But ask him for help? It wasn’t like she was going to call him up and tell him she needed medical attention. Unless she absolutely had to—after she found his number.

Kenna bit her lip. No way would she ask that madman for help. What about the retirement home guys? They might have a good resource for unreported medical services. A private doctor.

But the last time she’d done that, the doctor and Earnest showed up.

Before that, a woman and two children had been kidnapped.

Another woman had been killed. The guys from the retirement home had admitted, though not in exact terms, that they were responsible for the mother’s death.

All to keep what Kenna had done from becoming public knowledge.

If she told them her current issue—even if she was the one with the injury—would they kill her too?

Her injury didn’t matter at the moment. Finding those two children definitely took precedence.

“This is interesting.”

If only Kenna could bury her face in her hand, but it wasn’t going to make her feel better. It would probably hurt more. “What did you find?”

Maizie said, “I’m texting Jax. You don’t sound okay.

” Before Kenna could ask what she’d actually been about to say, Maizie continued, “The company that owns the doctor’s office where you went is a corporation that owns several properties across that part of Arizona.

They’ve actually done some business with the company owned by Marshal Hapsworth and Terri Fleming. ”

“What happened to her?”

“She was released on bail,” Maizie said. “And the Hapsworth Fleming team actually built that doctor’s office and the daycare beside it. Which apparently has a slide inside to go from upstairs to downstairs in the toddler area.”

Kenna smiled. “Thinking about kids?”

“Yeah, yours.”

Her smile dropped. “I think my life and my health need to calm down first. Don’t distract me. We need to finish our conversation. What else?”

“The other officer who responded to the callout at the medical center, the one who is Earnest Albertson’s partner?”

“What about him?”

“He was found dead in his house a few minutes ago, thanks to an anonymous tip from a concerned private citizen.”

Bruce, or so she assumed. “Was he murdered?”

“That has yet to be determined. Police have only just arrived on scene.”

Kenna figured Bruce could update her by text. Unless he hadn’t actually broken into the house, and he’d only seen the guy was dead through a window. “Anything else?”

“I was looking through the designs Terri Fleming did, because she’s an architect, right? She had another website that isn’t part of her business with Marshal Hapsworth. More like personal work and custom stuff. She had a few things buried on the site behind a portal you have to log in to.”

Which, of course, Maizie had managed to breach.

“One is a missile silo that could be converted into a medical research lab. Like in the event of a deadly contagion sweeping across the population. Ebola virus, or an outbreak of MRSA—you know, the bacteria that causes necrotizing fasciitis. That one is fun to say.”

It was, but flesh-eating diseases would be less fun to experience. “Zombies?”

“I watched a movie last night.” Maizie cleared her throat. “Because I was done with my homework.”

Kenna smiled to herself.

“Anyway, the silo can house two hundred patients, including space for the labs to work on a cure. It can keep everyone quarantined in there with sealed doors and whatnot for months or even years.”

“A secret lab.”

“Yeah, weird, right?”

Kenna said, “Maybe she just drew up something off the wall that she thought of.”

“Or maybe it was a custom job.”

Not good, if she was right. “How are we supposed to find a…?” She didn’t want to say it out loud. “I actually know someone with a secret hideout.” She let out a long sigh. Her head seemed better, or she was just kidding herself. “Please find this doctor guy. I need to know where to find him.”

For all she knew, he could be kidnapping people and trapping them in this secret silo so he could do…whatever. Prepare for the apocalypse. After all, he was a crazy person who thought he could do whatever he wanted.

Because the Dominatus had given him license to do that.

Maizie said, “There’s a little more, but you’re not going to like it. I asked Bruce about what I found, but he’s gone radio silent. Like finding that dead cop was a favor, and now he doesn’t owe us anything.”

“Maybe he doesn’t.”

He’d handed her over to their enemy in order to solve a problem, just not in a way that made sense to her in the moment. He’d also been shot for it. But that was months ago, and they’d talked it through. They were good now, right? Hopefully, not back to keeping secrets from each other.

“What am I not going to like?” Kenna tried to move her head, but it just pounded more.

“The law firm that took on Terri Fleming’s case? None other than our friends.”

“Hann, Anthony, and Associates.”

“Bingo,” Maizie said. “They arrived at the hospital on the night she was admitted and argued she wasn’t a flight risk at her bail hearing.

She was released from jail, pending the prosecutor’s assessment of her case since she accused her partner of stealing her work.

They need to work through the whole embezzlement and the he said, she said part of the entire thing. ”

The lawyers at that office had said they didn’t know anything about Terri when Kenna had mentioned it.

Which meant they’d lied to her.

“What about Marshal Hapsworth?” There was a solid chance he’d either disappeared of his own volition or was currently missing.

Maizie said, “The cops talked to him at his Scottsdale mansion two days ago. He was cooperative. The DA is deciding whether to file charges.”

“They just knocked on his door and informed him he might be going to jail?” Kenna frowned, which, of course, hurt.

“It was reported as an interview on behalf of the prosecutor working Fleming’s case.”

“And he’s healthy, alive, and currently findable right now?”

Maizie chuckled. “You need to rest. But yes. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Good plan.” Best to be cautious and stay safe. Sometimes, people even loosely connected to her tended to have a bad time. To get caught up in the case. So far, Jax had come through everything unscathed, but maybe this was only the beginning.

They hadn’t even tried to take down Dominatus yet. If she went after them at full throttle, she could lose everything. Again.

“Jax is coming down the hall to you.”

Kenna said, “Thanks.”

“Bye.” Maizie hung up the phone.

Kenna turned to the door, but another couple of FBI agents came in, not her husband. One frowned at her.

“What?”

He said, “You don’t look so hot.”

“Because you know how I normally look?”

“It’s an expression.” He turned and leaned out the door. “Boss, she needs a hospital.”

Kenna called out, “No, I don’t!”

The other agent was a woman with gorgeous dark skin and brown hair that framed her face. Her lips curled up at the corners, but then she clocked the state of Kenna’s face and winced. “I’m Special Agent Andrette Herron.”

“Nice to meet you.” They shook hands.

“You really don’t look so good.” Special Agent Herron came over and touched the sides of Kenna’s face, then gently palpated her forehead.

“Ouch.”

Special Agent Herron strode out the door so fast Kenna had to blink. Then she was gone.

Jax came in then with his phone to his ear. “Yes, sir, I will.” He came close and looked at her forehead.

She grasped a handful of his shirt on the side of his ribs. Absorbing some of that steadiness so she would be able to stand. In a sec.

“Yes, sir.” He listened some more. She could sort of hear whoever was on the other end of the line. “Understood, thank you.” He tapped the screen and stowed his phone in his pocket. “He really slammed your head good, didn’t he?”

She closed her eyes in lieu of a nod. “Buzard has some things to answer for.”

Herron frowned, standing behind Jax. “Who?”

“Long story.” Kenna held onto her husband, and he helped her stand. “I’m so glad I need more medical tests. That’s fun.”

His thumb swiped across the inside of her elbow where she still had that needle mark.

“I need my gun back. The police took it.”

Jax nodded. “Yes, you do. But not if you’re getting an MRI.”

“If Buzard put a tracker in me, maybe it’ll wipe the thing. Like an EMP.”

Jax scrunched up his nose. “Let me worry about that, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

“Can these nice agents work my cases? Someone needs to be looking for those kids and Nicola Santorini while I’m at the hospital.”

“We’ll work something out.” He took her hand, leading her to the door. Looking back at her. Probably to check she could actually walk.

Kenna had been knocked down too many times to be fine with it happening again, and all because some ingrate smacked her in the head.

But if she went down into the pit of negativity, her mind could come up with all kinds of crazy theories about brain damage and skull fractures.

Or even having a permanent dent in her forehead.

I don’t want this to be my life, Lord.

And if it was? She would have to accept the fact that a surrendered life meant she wouldn’t be in control of what happened to her. God was the one who had the final say. She had to trust Him that it would all be for her good and for His glory.

Someone shouted behind them down the hall. They were almost to the lobby where cops brought arrested people into the building and booked them in, not the public entrance, which needed to be a safe space for anyone to come in off the street.

A uniformed officer ran past them so that Herron had to tuck in close to the rest of them. The officer’s belt creaked as he ran.

Two other officers ran by them as well.

In the lobby, those running cops pushed through a side door that read Holding. The sergeant behind the desk yelled into his phone. “We need an ambulance! We have a prisoner in distress!”

Kenna tucked closer to Jax, who stopped where they’d be out of the way. He asked, “What’s going on?”

When the sergeant looked over, all three agents flashed their FBI badges.

The cop behind the desk said, “Guy down in holding. He quit breathing. They’re trying to revive him.”

“Who?” Herron asked.

“No idea who he is, but he looks like one of our officers. I guess they’re twins?”

Kenna hissed out a breath. “Reggie is dead.”

“Someone killed him.” Jax looked at her. “And Regis’s partner.”

“We need to find Earnest. Because he either did it, or he’s next.”

“You’re going to the hospital.”

She said, “Call Bruce. He can help your agents look for Earnest. He’s already on it.”

“You sure you want our lives to intersect like that?”

He was probably worried Bruce wouldn’t want to work with agents. Not that they would ever find out he was formerly a spy—unless he wanted them to know it.

“I’m done soft-stepping. It’s time to hit back at Buzard and get this thing figured out.”