Page 23 of Storm and Tempest (Brand of Justice #13)

Chapter Sixteen

A mara glared at Sandra. “How long have you been working for Dominatus ?”

Jax needed something he could use to secure Sandra so that he could let go of her, but she still hadn’t dropped the knife. Amara held on to the towel, ready to grab the blade as soon as Sandra let go. No one else was going to get cut.

A gunshot exploded down the hall.

Jax twisted Sandra around and slammed her onto the table before she could react. The knife out to one side. To Amara he said, “Watch her.”

Amara shoved against Sandra, holding her down. “Go.”

Jax raced for the door, reaching out to Maizie with one hand. “Stay behind me.”

She grabbed his hand and ran with him. Jax drew his gun from the holster at the small of his back, unwilling to leave Maizie with people he didn’t trust. Even if that meant putting her in danger going with him, and yes, even if Bruce had been back there.

Amara and Bruce had their hands full with Elliot and Sandra.

They were all already in danger, no matter where Maizie was.

Jax ran toward the room where they’d been holding Samuel Chistane and spotted one of the lawyers who’d been watching the door. On the ground in a pool of blood. Another two gunshots echoed from inside the room, the muffled pop of a suppressor, and he saw muzzle flash through the open door.

He slammed his shoulder into the wall just before the door.

Maizie let go of his hand.

Jax looked in the room.

The second lawyer who’d been standing guard lay on the ground, blood on her chest. Another woman he’d never seen before clutched her shoulder and squared her aim on Samuel. She’d killed two so far, and anyone else who’d come across her before she made it this far.

“FBI!” That part was a reflex, but he couldn’t let her kill Samuel. “Put the gun down!”

The bound man stared at her, wide-eyed and breathing hard.

Jax said, “Don’t?—”

She squeezed the trigger, and Samuel toppled back, along with the chair, a bullet hole in his chest. Jax fired as well, hitting her in the head.

She crumpled to the ground, dead before she hit the floor.

“It’s clear,” he said to Maizie. He rushed over to Samuel and touched two fingers to his throat.

The young woman said, “That’s a lot of blood.”

Jax tried to recall where his phone was. “We need EMT?—”

Samuel nearly pulled Jax down on top of him by grabbing him by the arm.

Jax’s hand landed in the blood-soaked shirt on Samuel’s front, and the guy groaned. “Sorry. Hang on. We’re gonna get someone to help you.”

Samuel shook his head. “Don’t bother.”

Maizie knelt on the other side, tears in her eyes.

Jax said, “You don’t have to die.”

Samuel tried to speak again but was forced to cough. Blood appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“Easy.” Jax had to ask, “Where is my wife?”

Samuel coughed again, groaning from the pain.

“Where is she? Tell me.”

The grip on Jax’s arm slacked, and his chest rattled with the next breath. Samuel said, “Offshore,” and the life left his eyes. His head tipped to the side and his hand fell away from Jax’s arm.

“What on earth?”

Jax looked over at the door and saw Ramon there. Zeyla peered over his shoulder. She ducked away and disappeared down the hall. Ramon said, “We just got back from the charter company. What happened?”

“One of the Dominatus operatives came in. Four dead, including her.”

Maizie turned to Ramon. “Sandra is one, too. She had a knife.”

Jax remembered that Elliot’s sister had cut him with that blade and lifted his arm. It stung when he moved his hand toward him and looked down the edge of his forearm. “Ow.”

“You just realized it hurts?” Maizie frowned.

“Adrenaline.” He rocked on the balls of his feet and stood. “Let’s get out of this room. We need to call…” He cut himself off, unsure that informing the police of what had happened was the best idea. At least not until they were safely away from the scene.

Ramon held out his hand for Maizie and helped her stand.

She shook her head. “Two operatives? This one, and Sandra? Why would they need both of them?”

“They’d have had different assignments.” Jax holstered his gun and searched the killer’s pockets, finding no ID or phone—not even some cash for just in case. Though, maybe it was in her shoe. She wore no jewelry, and her sneakers were nearly brand-new. Neither had anything interesting in them.

He left the gun she held where it had landed on the floor, so that it could be matched to ballistics. The round he had fired into her would come back as registered to his personal weapon. At that point everyone would know it was Jax who had killed her.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Maizie nodded.

“You good, Maze?” He had no idea if she’d ever seen a dead body up close, but she seemed to be dealing with the scene like a champ.

“I’m good.” She blew out a breath through pursed lips.

Ramon slung his arm around her shoulder. “Even if she isn’t, she’s got us.”

Not what he’d thought Ramon was going to say. It was better. “Agreed. Though, don’t worry if it hits you later.”

Ramon said, “Yeah, if you’re crying in the shower…just know you’re not the only one, yeah?”

Jax glanced at the guy, not sure what to make of that. He led the way back to the other room. Zeyla stood by Bruce, who sat in a chair gingerly touching a knot on his head. Bruce said, “Elliot ran off.”

As Jax entered the room, Amara straightened to stand. She had the knife in her hand and not one ounce of remorse on her face. “She gave me no choice.”

Sandra lay on the floor, blood on her neck.

“Is that when Elliot split?” Jax glanced between Amara and Bruce.

Amara looked at Bruce, and he said, “He got the drop on me and made a run for it.”

“Seems like there’s a lot of that going on today.” Part of it was because of him, and Sandra’s reaction to his not knowing who else was in the group the president oversaw. Maybe she didn’t even know the president was part of it.

He explained what had happened in the other room, leaving out the last thing Samuel had said. He needed to figure out what “offshore” meant, and if it was at all relevant to the search for Kenna.

Amara shook her head. “Two of them?”

“Different missions.” Jax glanced at the dead woman in the room. “We need to clear out.”

Not only because Maizie didn’t need to be in here with a dead woman. They also needed to figure out what they were going to do next.

Amara stepped away from the dead body. “Great, I’ll?—”

“Maizie and I are leaving.” Jax wasn’t sure about the rest of them. In fact, he turned to Bruce. “I don’t know you.” He looked at Amara. “I trust you even less.” He waved at her daughter. “Even Ramon doesn’t trust Zeyla, and I barely trust Ramon.”

Ramon said, “Fair. But I’m coming with you guys.”

Maizie sniffed.

“So you’re leaving?” Amara lifted her chin.

“If you want to help, I can let you know when we need backup or more bodies for an op. But you’re not part of this.” He motioned to himself, and Maizie—and yeah, Ramon as well. “Because you should’ve told me the minute you heard that Kenna was alive.”

Now they had everything from her that had been sent. All the information they’d need to try and track down what they could find.

It was time to get gone.

Maizie swiped up her laptop and Elliot’s, wiping her cheeks with her fingers. Apparently, Elliot had neglected to take the laptop with him when he ran off. Though, it looked like that might be what he had used to hit Bruce over the head.

Ramon held the door, and they went out to the car. He and Jax shared a look about Maizie, and when she’d closed the back door of the car, Jax said quietly, “Maybe it just caught up to her.”

Ramon nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “Seemed like it was more to do with Amara not telling you about Kenna.”

Jax’s hand shook so badly it was hard to start the vehicle, but he got it running.

From the back seat, Maizie put her hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

He gripped the wheel. I’ll be okay when I get her back . “We did the right thing, leaving them. Right?”

“I can drive,” Ramon offered. His voice was low, maybe even gentle.

Because he knew what Jax was going through. All of them did. It wasn’t about who cared for Kenna more than everyone else. They all needed her back.

Jax squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m good.”

“First time you killed someone?”

Jax opened his eyes and shook his head.

“I didn’t think so.”

“It’s just…a lot right now.”

Ramon said, “We know she’s alive.”

Deciding that Ramon should drive, Jax looked at Ramon and cocked his head, then got out and switched seats with the guy. In the passenger side, he turned so he could see Maizie. Ramon pulled out fast, and Jax buckled his seatbelt.

She reached for her laptop. “I’m going to use what was sent to Amara to find her. I’m done being too scared to do everything I can to find her.”

“I don’t want you thinking this is all riding on you, Maze.” Jax paused. “You have amazing skills. You can do things the rest of us don’t even have the first clue how to do. But finding her isn’t solely your responsibility, okay?”

She stared at him, her laptop open on her knees.

“I don’t want you to get crushed under the pressure of thinking you’re the one responsible for finding Kenna.”

“I want to find her. If I can do it, I will .”

He knew that look in her eyes, because he saw it when he looked in the mirror—grief and the weight of responsibility. “I know.”

He twisted back to face the front, closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the seat.

First, he’d thought it was the FBI who would help him find her.

But given the evidence of Special Agent Herron being blackmailed, and Hadley taking over Jax’s job, they only wanted to believe the story that Kenna had run off.

As if she had turned dark side—and, if that video was to be believed, she was having a relationship with someone else.

As if Jax had been somehow holding her back.