Page 21 of Storm and Tempest (Brand of Justice #13)

Chapter Fifteen

“ B ruce!”

Jax tried not to wince, still sitting in the same chair. This guy was loud, and he’d been yelling so long his voice was hoarse. Instead of sitting quietly and saying nothing, Samuel had decided to scream and taunt everyone in the building at the top of his lungs. For an hour so far.

“It worked because you made it easy!”

Jax looked at his phone and saw a new message from Bruce, which read,

You aren’t gonna break him.

Jax replied,

Then why capture him?

Bruce wanted revenge. He wanted to bring down the man who had betrayed him and caused him to be burned by the CIA. Who wouldn’t want to take down the person they’d trusted that stabbed them in the back? Of course, he made sure Samuel didn’t get away from them.

“You’re the chump who never realized!”

Bruce’s reply said,

He shouldn’t get away with what he did. But if he’s here then they don’t have him.

Another message popped in.

It’s not just about me. He’s ruining lives, aiding and abetting these people. He considered me expendable, so now I’m returning the favor.

Jax thought about that. Of course, if Samuel was supposed to check in with Dominatus or whoever he reported to, then being captured would cause problems for him.

If the guy was meant to show up at a certain place at a certain time, they would’ve noticed he was missing and realized something had happened.

They might even believe he’d turned on them.

Returning the favor.

Jax let out a loud sigh. “You may as well save your breath, Chistane. You aren’t going to goad Bruce into coming here.”

“Did you know your friend Bruce killed three children in Singapore? He shot them in cold blood.”

Jax wasn’t going to react, because that was exactly what this guy wanted.

“I’m sure it’s a very interesting story.

” Samuel knew he was going down. If he could undermine their team on the way, that would be satisfying to him.

“But to be honest, what are three children compared with everyone whose lives you’ve ruined? ”

Samuel lifted his chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jax just needed to wait out Maizie and whatever she and Elliot found on Samuel’s phone when Bruce grabbed him, or what they discovered in the files Elliot had been working on. Until then, he didn’t have specifics to question Samuel.

Jax sighed and said, “Sure you don’t.” Then tipped his head to the side. “And if I call the head of my taskforce, tell him I have an operative for Dominatus in my custody and he should send a team to pick you up…what do you think will happen then?”

Samuel smirked. “Nothing, because we’re everywhere.”

Jax didn’t want to believe that the president’s taskforce had been compromised, but it would explain why communication seemed to have shut down. “You realize that just means wherever we point our target, we’ll hit one of you. So I guess we can’t miss.”

The smirk dissipated.

“Here. Overseas. Doesn’t matter where we aim, right? Because you’re everywhere.”

“Walk away.”

Jax said, “I might have been convinced to let it go. Live and let live, and all that. But Dominatus took my wife. Now there’s nothing that will compel me to walk away. Not ever. Not until I find her.”

Samuel stared at him, and the skin around his eyes flexed.

“This is where you offer to get her back for me, and in exchange my people and I leave your organization alone.” Jax paused. “Unless you don’t have the authority to do that, because you’re just an underling. Like an errand boy.”

Samuel’s expression hardened, but he said nothing.

“Is Hadley above you in the hierarchy, or is there someone else I should be talking to?” Jax waited a beat, then stood like he was going to leave. “Seems like this has been a waste of my time.” He tried to look disappointed.

“I’m not going to fall for it. Just to save face.” Samuel paused. “You think I’ll simper and try and convince you I’m someone important? We all play our role. Who I report to makes no difference.”

“That and the fact you’re all divided up into little sects that have no real authority on their own while one person, or a conclave, holds all the power.”

A tendon in Samuel’s jaw flexed.

“Kind of sad, isn’t it? You’re part of this huge organization changing the world, but you’re just one of the expendable masses.

” Jax grasped the back of his chair and stared at Samuel.

“At least with the CIA, you were important.” He wandered to the door, antsy to stretch his legs and check on Maizie, then turned back.

“I guess we’ll find out how they feel about you when you don’t show up, or check in. ”

He gave Samuel a second to respond, but the guy just glared at him.

Jax shut the door and glanced both ways down the hall. No one could see him.

He dragged in a breath, then tried to exhale all the fear he felt not knowing if he would ever see Kenna again. Or who she might be when he did get her back. Dominatus could have done anything to her.

He refused to believe the fabrication that she was having some kind of illicit relationship with Buzard—or whoever had been in that video Ramon’s friend received. Or the implication of that bar owner, that she was trading in the worst kind of vices.

Zeyla had been right that this was psychological warfare. More and more ways to undermine them and cast doubt on what people knew about Kenna.

Two of the lawyers from Hann, Anthony & Associates rounded the corner. One he didn’t know, and the other was a woman he’d seen before. The familiar one said, “We’ll watch the door. Make sure he doesn’t escape.”

“Thanks.” Jax nodded. “I won’t be long. I just need to give him time to think about what’s going to happen to him.”

The woman he didn’t know said, “Sure you don’t want us to ask him some questions?”

“Maybe later.” He headed for the room where he’d left Maizie and found Sandra handing out coffee, while Elliot and Maizie had their laptops side-by-side.

Four rectangular tables had been arranged in a square, nothing in the middle.

Thankfully, the FBI agent was years older than Maizie, so Jax didn’t have to worry about her navigating a crush—or a romance—that might actually go somewhere while Kenna was gone. Jax was technically her dad by adoption, but that didn’t mean he was ready for her to be dating.

Maybe he would never be ready.

“Anything new?” He went to the carafe, on a trio of cupboards with a Formica countertop. The smell of caffeine drifted up and filled his nose, which just made him think of Kenna. He turned and sipped the drink, leaning back against the edge of the counter.

“Actually, yes.” Maizie looked up from her laptop.

“There was this one company among the list of businesses Elliot was investigating. Most of what he had overlapped with the companies I know are connected to Dominatus . But he had a few different ones. Including a charter company, like for private flights.”

Sandra stared at her quizzically, like she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the teen.

Maizie continued, “Ramon and Zeyla went to check it out in case they used one of their planes to transport Kenna out of the airport.”

Jax managed to nod. “Good.”

“Bruce and Amara are…I don’t know where.” She glanced at him, an interesting look on her face. Worried, nervous, and a bunch of other things. “They left a bit ago and didn’t tell me what for.”

“We have a team meeting later, so we can ask then.”

Elliot and Sandra didn’t need an earful of Maizie’s hang-ups about romantic relationships. She saw healthy examples in the people around her, but Bruce and whatever he had going with Amara might be something else entirely.

At best it was an on-again, off-again or nonstarter thing. The worse might be something unhealthy. Jax would rather Maizie got used to relationships that honored the God he served. Seeing examples of serving others would help her move the needle on her expectations for the future.

Jax wanted Kenna back so they could model a healthy marriage and healthy parenting.

Elliot sat back in his chair, and Jax caught the expression on his face.

“What is it?”

“I can’t stay here forever and keep living in this warehouse.

” Elliot took a sip of his coffee. “I’ve been in this limbo for weeks.

Now that Sandra is here, too, I’m thinking about what’s next.

Amara said she would set us up with a new life as soon as Sandra came, but then she was asking me to help her. She never actually picked up Sandra.”

“She never approached me at all,” the sister said.

“We can arrange for protection to continue, assuming Dominatus will be looking for you.” Jax wasn’t sure what the threat level might be, but the lawyers surely had a longer-term solution for a place these two could live. Like a safehouse somewhere.

He could also call Preston, who had provided sanctuary for a young mother Kenna saved. Would he do that again?

Elliot started to shake his head. “What if I went back to the FBI, though? Confronted them with the reality of what happened. I was run off the road, and then I got kidnapped—which is technically true.”

“Someone covered that up.”

“So I force the issue. Get whoever it is knocked back a step, because I make them face the lie that I was transferred when I’m showing up at the office.

I never transferred, and someone outside of the FBI forged the paperwork and changed the internal computer records to show I’m…

wherever I’m supposed to be. They can’t ignore the fact that I didn’t disappear and that it was all fake—not that I’m going to say I know who did it. ”

Jax reached up and squeezed the back of his neck.

Elliot continued, “This was all a conspiracy to shove me out because of this case I was working. That means I’m onto something.” He looked at Jax. “So why don’t we go to the US Attorney’s office and get them to take the case?”