Page 27

Chapter Twenty

“ I t’s been sixteen hours.” She pushed open her car door and climbed out.

Jax did the same on the other side. “You needed the sleep, and we didn’t sit around doing nothing while you were resting.”

“I don’t like it.” Her head felt a whole lot better, but that didn’t make much sense.

How she could already be almost pain-free less than a day later?

Whatever Buzard had done to her might have gone beyond replacing her marrow with more bone so that they were nearly solid.

A process which destroyed her body’s ability to produce more red blood cells.

His fix for that issue had also apparently given her the ability to repair injuries faster than she should be able to.

“I don’t want to be a mutant. I dreamed about nanites in my bloodstream last night. You know, like those tiny robots?”

He shot her a look like he thought she was cute.

“Let’s shake some trees.” She caught the hand he held out, and they walked together to the front entrance of the main building of the retirement home. “If I’m going to be a robot, at least I can use my powers for good. Solve some more cases.”

“Whatever it is, I’m not sure you’re a robot, but we will figure it out. And we’ll deal, just like we deal with everything.”

“Together.”

He nodded.

“And if I get pregnant? What if the baby is a robot as well?”

He looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned. “Now that we know you’re not pregnant, maybe birth control is a good idea. Just in case.”

“I don’t want to have a robot instead of a baby.”

He shrugged. “Whatever happens.”

They would face it together. Kenna sighed. “Thanks.”

Her life was so crazy right now she needed his steadiness to help her keep her footing.

All the way over, they’d listened to her app that had the Bible in audio, resting in the Psalms and listening to David’s prayers for help.

It seemed fitting to ask God for help when the enemy seemed to be all around them, and there was nothing they could do to stop the attacks.

Right now, she couldn’t trust anyone outside the circle of the team she had built.

Kenna felt better with Ramon here, as well as Bruce, but none of it was a guarantee of success. Or that they would all get through this and still be alive at the end of it.

The door opened before they even reached it, swinging back wide. But it wasn’t the receptionist guy who’d shown them around last time.

The lobby was empty of people. The only residents in sight were the men they’d shared that basement table with. One sat behind the reception desk. Four and Five flanked them on opposite sides of the room. Three was the one who’d opened the door.

It seemed desolate, but the place was clean and tidy. Just void of people except these men.

“Expecting us?” Kenna asked.

Three shrugged, closing the door behind them. He wore jeans and an oversized dark gray shirt. Clothes that could probably use replacing, but he didn’t seem like the type to worry a whole lot about shopping. “We figured you would be back sooner or later.”

Jax asked, “Where are the staff and the residents?”

One didn’t get up from his chair behind reception. “Surprise field trip.”

“Are we supposed to believe that?” This might not be a real care facility. “We need to ask you questions, but if you’re just going to lie and give us the runaround, then maybe there’s no point in trusting you for anything.”

None of them responded, not for several empty seconds that seemed to echo in the expansive lobby with the chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. Finally, One said, “You haven’t found the doctor yet.”

Three glanced over at his associate.

Interesting. She caught something in his body language but couldn’t put her finger on what it was. “Have you?” she challenged. “Because if we joined forces, we might actually have a better chance of tracking her down.”

Instead, it seemed like they were here waiting around, content to do nothing. Not waiting for her to fix their problems. Maybe it was more like they expected her to ruin their lives. But not so they could jump into action and avenge themselves. They came across as…tired.

As if they might, to an extent, at least, be looking for an end to it all.

A way out through no fault of their own.

They way they acted almost seemed like a quieter version of Terri Fleming on that rooftop. But she’d been desperate and determined to take the future into her own hands. These men seemed…resigned to what happened but also fully prepared to act as if they intended to try and stop it.

One leaned back in his chair, making it creak. “You think we know where she is?”

Kenna asked, “How do you contact Doctor Buzard? When you need something, how do you reach him?”

“What makes you think we need to reach him?” One’s expression didn’t change.

“Come on. You need him protected so you can continue to receive your treatments.”

“So do you.” One lifted his chin. “Are you going to kill him and sign your own death warrant?”

“I want those two kids from the medical center safe, and I want Nicola free to live her life.”

“Not good enough. The first chance you get, you’ll kill Buzard.”

Jax said, “There has to be someone else in the world who can help all of you. Otherwise, you’re living your life under the thumb of that madman.”

One shrugged. “Hasn’t been all that bad so far.”

“Because you’ve been trapped so long you learned how to accept it.” Jax let go of her hand and crossed to the reception desk. “You want change, but you also don’t.”

Kenna squeezed his hand because he’d realized the same thing she had. It was a blessing that they were on the same page a whole lot.

Four and Five closed in a little, but she didn’t see any weapons. Jax had taken another day off to help her, but he should probably be at work. Instead, his life was likely in danger, and he was opting to spend the day with her. At the potential cost of his career.

He was fine with that trade-off. Or, at least, he said he was.

Kenna wasn’t sure she felt the same.

He had chosen to become an FBI agent, put the work in, and passed all their qualifying tests.

Now she was going to let him throw it all away?

Sure, it would be great to work together.

But this wasn’t the kind of relationship where one of them had to change everything about themselves just to make it work.

She couldn’t completely hear what Jax and One were saying, and that was fine. Kenna moved next to Three, who looked almost…sad. She kept her voice low. “Are you okay?”

Four glanced over at them, but she ignored it.

“Three?” She wanted to nudge him but kept her hands to herself.

He worked his jaw around and swallowed. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I think it does. If it’s worrying you, maybe I can help.”

Four glanced over at them again. “He said it doesn’t matter.”

Jax stopped talking to One and looked back at her. Not because she’d interrupted his conversation, but because he wanted to know if she needed help.

She wasn’t the one with the problem. At least, not right now. And not this particular conversation. Fine, she had a ton of problems.

Kenna looked at Three. “I’d like to help.”

“Yesterday, you were half dead.”

“And today, I feel much better.” She tried to be reassuring with a smile, but it probably didn’t work.

“I’d be careful if I were you.”

She eased closer to him, wondering at his tone when he said that. She’d only been trying to help. “I should be careful? Is that a threat?”

Three smirked. “I am a threat to you. But I’m not threatening you.”

Even if he was an older man, he was certainly not harmless. She wasn’t going to take the risk of going toe to toe with him, so long as she could use that to prove a point. He was probably right about her being less than a hundred percent, even if she disagreed with his “half dead” comment.

Jax stepped to the side, so she could see One was still in his seat.

“You guys need to start talking. You know more than anyone about this guy. Maybe you don’t want him out of the picture, but we do.

Buzard isn’t our target. At least, not today.

This is about protecting innocent people who are caught up in what he’s doing. ”

Of course, he was referring to the kids and the doctor, but he might also be talking about her in a way. No one else would be able to see the little bit of tension that bled through his features, but she knew him well enough now to spot it.

One said, “No one protected us.”

“Me either,” Kenna pointed out. “But that doesn’t mean we have to let it happen to anyone else. These people are dangerous, and now we let them have two little kids? No. Not if I can do anything about it.”

Before she was even finished, the door behind her swung open, and several men in suits strode in. Kenna spun to face them, backing up at the sight of Gregorio and his guys entering the lobby.

Three actually shifted and tugged her behind him. “Greg.”

The Mafia don glared at him. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

Three shook his head. “You never had the chance. And you won’t get it.”

Perhaps it wasn’t so smart to challenge a Mafia don to his face, in front of men who would kill to protect him, but it seemed like they knew each other.

Gregorio looked at her. “Your time is running out.”

“I don’t answer to you.” She lifted her chin. “Nicola is your family, not mine.”

“You put her on someone’s radar.”

“I’m not rehashing this entire conversation again when we already established you don’t want to put the work in. You want someone to blame.”

Three shifted his weight from one foot to the other, keeping his body loose in case he needed to fight.

But Gregorio’s guys no doubt had guns, just like Kenna and Jax.

If this situation turned into a shoot-out, none of them were bulletproof.

She lifted her hands. “My husband and I came here about Nicola. So we can find where she was taken or where we should start looking for her. We need help because these people have dirty cops on their payroll.”

For all she knew, Doctor Buzard had been regularly snatching people from their lives for years.

Gregorio looked at the older men. “You know where she is?”

Three said, “I told you I’d keep tabs on her.”

“But you let her get kidnapped.”

“You’re the one who drove her away. She left Vegas in the first place because she couldn’t stomach being around you.”

Gregorio shifted closer to Three. “So you swept in like her savior, along with that junkie daughter of yours.”

“Better than?—”

“Guys.” Kenna got between them, pushing Three back a little.

Trying to get them both to stand down. She could’ve let them keep talking, and she might have learned even more information.

Like how Dana was evidently Three’s daughter.

Did she know her father was here, in Phoenix, keeping an eye on Nicola—and probably Dana as well?

But they were escalating, and she needed them to focus.

“We aren’t going to find Nicola this way. ”

Kenna turned to Three. “Have you talked to Dana? Is she safe?”

“She’s good where she is.” Three didn’t look at her. He kept his focus on Gregorio.

“If we work together, we’ll have a better chance of finding Nicola.” They probably wouldn’t agree easily, but maybe they’d listen to her idea if she divided up tasks to work toward the same goal by doing different things. “And anyone else Buzard has taken.”

“He’s a Santino, and I don’t care. You think we’re going to do this for altruistic reasons?” Three scoffed. “Buzard ruined my life. What do I care if he’s doing the same to anyone else? Far as I can see, it’s not my problem.”

“You wanna go talk to Dana? Ask her if she thinks you should help find Nicola.”

He flinched.

“Does she even know that her friend was taken because of you, and she was traumatized witnessing it?”

“I had nothing to do with that!”

She refused to flinch. “He’s operating because you haven’t stopped it. It happened because you sat around and did nothing.”

“You have no idea what my life is like.”

She folded her arms. He needed to learn the same about her. “I don’t let evil continue if it’s within my power to stop it. Even if doing so could cost me my life.”

“Guess you’re a better person than we are.”

Gregorio huffed, making Kenna glad he didn’t feel the need to respond to Three’s comment. None of them would have appreciated whatever he might’ve shared.

Kenna said, “That means you need to listen to me. Because what I’m saying is right.”

Three turned and looked at One, Four, and Five, who still stood sentry. Jax watched it all go down with part of his attention on Gregorio’s men. She shared his fears. This whole situation was a heartbeat from ending up in a bloodbath.

One pushed his chair back and stood. “We’ll take you to the place where we go for treatments. It’s usually deserted when we’re not there, so it isn’t a base of operations. But maybe the doc left something behind we can use to track down where he is.”

“You’d all better pray I find her.” Gregorio pointed a finger, sweeping it across all of them.

She had a feeling, in due course, he was going to find an FBI investigation launched into every business he had for saying that to an FBI agent. She’d done more as payback for a whole lot less.

One came over to her. “I want some assurances.”

She said, “You can be sure I’m going to find those children and get them to a situation that’s safe.”

“And Buzard?”

“I guess you’d better find him before I do if you want to keep him safe.” But between her, the FBI, and the Santino crime family…

He probably didn’t have a great life expectancy.

Kenna said, “Let’s go.”