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Chapter Twenty-Four

“ I t might,” Melissa said. “But I’m still working on putting it all together.”

“I want to know as soon as you do. We need a location and whatever else is on there,” Jax said, sounding very much like the boss of the office.

Kenna slid off the stool so she could pace out the waiting, ignoring how her head hurt. “I should call Maizie.”

Jax held up his hands. “Hold on. Let the bureau do this.”

She couldn’t really argue with that, even though she wanted to.

What if Maizie could get the information faster?

“I’ll get Ramon and Bruce there to scout out the locations we know, places that coincide with what Terri Fleming told us about land with nothing on it and areas owned by the company who commissioned the drawing.

If they can get us intel, we’ll have a better idea of what we’re walking into. ”

“What if you get the FBI a better idea of what we’re walking into?” His expression remained impassive, but if he felt as if he needed to take care of this rather than Kenna going in…

“I’m not going to argue with you about doing your job.

Justice happens either way, but sure. Your way means it’s official.

” In a way that no judge could argue with.

FBI agents would log evidence and concern themselves with correct procedure.

Otherwise, there was a chance that a criminal could walk free. “Why would I argue with that?”

If Buzard had been kidnapping people for years, doing research. Experimenting on innocent folks…

She had to stop him. Doing it on her own was far different than accepting that there was a better way. But how could the FBI move in until they had a location to move on and proof that the doctor was there? He or some of the missing people. “Bruce and Ramon can take a look.”

Jax kissed her quickly. “Waiting until the analysts and techs here are done isn’t a bad thing. We rest up. We move when there’s a warrant in hand.”

She nodded, watching him stride out of the room. She grabbed her phone from the tabletop and thumbed through to call Bruce.

He answered before the first ring even finished. “You’re on speaker with me and Ramon.”

“Anything new?” She turned to Melissa and her screens, scanning the images for a location, but it looked like more schematics. Plans for ventilation and invoices for steel.

Ramon said, “Maizie has been asking the lawyers to get info from Terri Fleming, but they aren’t responding to our requests.”

“I wondered if they were hiding something. I guess this is it.”

“You think they’re with Dominatus ?” Bruce asked.

Kenna scrunched up her nose, but that only reminded her that her head hurt. “I didn’t, and you know them better than I do. I thought they were with the resistance, but maybe their allegiances are a little more dubious.”

“Want us to go ask?” Ramon suggested. “We can find out what they know.”

“I’m sure you could.” She tried not to smile. “But we need to know where the silo is more than we need to chase those lawyers. Get addresses from Maizie for the properties the corporation owns and then head there and do some recon.”

“You got it, boss.” Bruce sounded energized now. “We’ll go scout it out.”

His voice had shifted on that last word.

Kenna frowned, wondering if it was worth calling him on what exactly he meant by recon.

In the end, she simply said, “The FBI needs intel so they can plan an effective takedown. Ideally, that means you get photos of missing people who are being held captive. Or some other kind of irrefutable proof that Doctor Buzard, or whoever is in charge down there, is breaking the law. Got it?”

“Probable cause,” Ramon said. “We’re on it.”

“It’s a long shot.”

Ramon said, “Isn’t that what you’re all about?”

That made her feel better. As a former FBI agent himself—even if it had been a long time ago—Ramon knew what she meant.

He understood the gravity of the situation and the fact the FBI couldn’t go in without a warrant.

They couldn’t throw their federal law enforcement weight around without a good reason.

Otherwise, there would be entirely too much fallout.

The feds didn’t need any more bad press. They needed to give the public as many reasons as they could to continue trusting them.

Men like Earnest Albertson gave every cop a bad name.

Her phone started vibrating against her ear. “I’m getting another call.”

“Later.” Ramon hung up.

She clicked over to the other line, a number that wasn’t saved in her contacts. “Banbury.”

“I suppose you have all kinds of people calling you with information.” The voice belonged to Gregorio Santino. “But this isn’t hearsay.”

She sank back onto the stool while Melissa tapped away, clicking and swiping through the information the way Maizie did. Absorbing data at high speed.

Kenna asked, “What do you have?”

He said, “We’re keeping an eye on your friends.”

“My friends?”

“Those old coots and their secrets. We can’t let them disappear, not if they’re protecting that doctor.

He’s got my Nicola, and he needs to answer for it.

” Gregorio barely took a breath. “For all we know, they’re the ones who kidnapped her, and they probably blew that house so we wouldn’t find anything. ”

So, he had no idea what she’d found. He’d never seen those two men inside, Lorin and Walter. He had no clue that the FBI now had a hard drive and a letter explaining how the two of them had been caught, which solved a decades old cold case.

Kenna asked, “Any idea where they are?”

“Like I said, we’re keeping an eye on them.”

“And?”

Gregorio hedged. “Are you gonna bring your FBI friend?”

“My husband?”

“I guess it’s better than your associates. Any of the other ones—those lawyers or the two who work with you.”

“Gregorio, are you actually going to tell me what you want or what’s going on?” She blew out a breath, not meaning to sound irritated. “If you need help, just ask.”

He snorted. “These guys are your problem. I just want Nicola.”

“Where are they?”

It figured that if the men from the retirement home wanted to protect Buzard so they could continue to get their treatments, then they could be going to him to warn him.

But Gregorio was continuing to act as if he didn’t know who they were.

At the house, it had been clear that the men knew each other.

Which made sense if Nicola and Dana had been close for years and Dana was, in fact, Three’s daughter.

Gregorio said, “They drove like their car was on fire and headed out into the middle of nowhere. Parked at the base of a hill, got out, and hiked up. Probably going to meet him.”

“Where is it?”

“I’ll send you my location.”

That was good. She’d be sure where he was and that this wasn’t some kind of ruse. “Any way to see what they’re doing or if they’re meeting someone?”

“That’s more your deal than mine.”

Kenna said, “I’ll take a look at the area and talk to Jax about FBI assistance.”

“Just you and your husband.”

“That’s not your decision.”

“Then don’t bother. These guys will inform the doc you’re coming for him, and he’ll disappear. You’ll never catch the guy.” Gregorio scoffed. “You think this guy doesn’t have a fed in his pocket?”

He was probably right about the bureau. After all, Buzard had a cop on his payroll.

Gregorio said, “They could lead you right to him if you hurry. Guess you should get a move on if you want to take this guy down. ’Cause if they’re here to warn him, then the guy is gonna show up sooner or later. Don’t you want to be here when that happens?”

Kenna blew out a breath. Of course, he was going to manipulate her into being the one who finished this. He would swoop in and rescue Nicola, not caring whether justice was done or not and what the collateral damage might be.

She had a wider perspective than that, but her focus was those two children. Jax could take care of the official part, where Buzard went before a judge.

“Send me the location.” Kenna hung up on him and texted Jax rather than trying to find him in this maze of offices.

Her phone pinged, and she copied Maizie in. She’d just finished articulating the request in a text when Jax pushed the door open.

“What do you have?” He strode over.

She explained Gregorio and his orders. Not a request. Jax made a face before she was even done but waited until she was finished before he said, “I don’t like it.”

“Either way…”

He nodded. “We should go check it out.”

She slid off the stool. He checked in with his people who were doing their operation planning, and she had Melissa send her a rundown of what she’d discovered so far.

But delaying either of them would only make this take longer.

If she and Jax could find the old men and get a handle on what they were doing—especially if Buzard showed up—then it would help everyone.

Twenty minutes later, Jax turned off the highway into the parking lot for a state park. Her phone pinged with another text, a steady stream of updates she’d been getting from Gregorio.

“This seem weird to you?” Jax parked by the trailhead, turning off the car before he glanced over. “I mean, why would those guys come out here? There’s nothing out here.”

She had mapped it. “Maybe they’re purposely keeping their distance from that place. I figure they know more than they’ve said through all this, and if they need to keep Buzard’s secrets, it’s because they’ll die without his treatment.” Her throat clogged at the end.

Jax reached over and squeezed her hand. “Let’s go find out.”