Page 34 of Storm and Tempest (Brand of Justice #13)

Chapter Twenty-Four

A lmost a day later, Jax drove the RV through a rolled-up loading bay door, into an expansive warehouse.

The rain that had been incessantly hammering on the windshield—and driving him crazy—quit as soon as they were under cover.

After hours of driving, during which he’d switched off with Ramon so he could get some rest, they were finally in Seattle.

He turned the dial on the lever and shut off the wipers, easing his foot down on the brake. Inside, the warehouse was lit up with bright fluorescents thirty feet above them. Whatever this place had been once, it was a good choice to hide an RV and stage a standoff.

Jax put the RV in Park and shut off the engine, breathing hard. “How long do we have?”

“Probably not long.” Ramon strode down the middle aisle to stand between the front seats. Before he could say anything, Zeyla came awake fast in the passenger seat, swinging her arms. Ramon said, “Whoa,” catching her flailing. “Easy.”

Zeyla blinked. Terror flashed in her eyes until she focused on Ramon. “Let go.”

He loosened his grip. “Good?”

“Sure.” She passed him and stepped out of the RV after Maizie.

Jax’s dad glanced at him, then followed the two women.

They’d been in a kind of silent standoff the past few hours, since there was nothing more to say and everyone had been focusing on resting.

Only stopping for gas had taken its toll on them.

Kind of like sleeping on the floor in the aisle because they’d given the women use of the bedroom.

Ramon glanced out the windshield. “Looks like Preston and MSI have already set up for us. Come on.”

Jax followed him out of the RV into the middle of a tense standoff between the people he’d brought and the men waiting for them.

He spotted Preston in the middle, dressed in jeans and a sweater, looking nothing like the man Jax had seen in Arizona at that resort, either before or after he’d been shot in the shoulder.

Kenna had spent time at his house in New Orleans, getting into several situations with Ramon and these people, who were operatives for Miami Security International. Then there was the whole deal in the UK where Preston and a couple of MSI guys had been kidnapped.

Jax spotted their boss, Earl Jonas. He’d brought a team with him, and they were all geared up. Mostly ex-military.

Maizie smiled widely. “Bear!” She stayed where she was, next to Zeyla, who had shifted into a protective stance.

One of the guys in tactical gear grinned at her. “Hey, Maizie. Good to see you.”

Ramon wandered over to the guy. “Bear.” They shook hands. “It’s good to see you back with the team.”

The move diffused a lot of the tension, but several of them regarded both Zeyla and Jax’s father with suspicion.

After a member of the MSI team, Allison Moore, had been killed in New Orleans, Kenna said that Bear dropped off the map.

And Maizie had been the only one who kept in touch with him—so she didn’t have to hunt him down.

For a few months, Maizie had been his only contact with his life while he went off grid.

Even his company hadn’t known where he was, but the young woman saw fit to make sure he knew people cared about him.

Now he was back.

Jax said, “We don’t have much time. That team of operatives has been behind us for the past three states.” He was so exhausted he was seriously dragging but apparently had to manage this. “Dad?”

His father came over with him to Earl and Preston, both of whom eyed his father with suspicion.

“Edward Jaxton, this is Preston Lightwood and Earl Jonas.” Before his dad could point out that Preston was a murderer—even if he had served his time and been released—Jax explained, “Preston is a friend of mine and Kenna’s, and Mr. Jonas runs a security firm who have saved our lives in the past.”

His father couldn’t argue with any of that.

Mr. Jonas said, “Interesting company you keep.” Glancing specifically at Zeyla.

“Yeah?” Zeyla fired back. Jax didn’t turn, but given the tone in that one word, he figured she had a hand on her hip. “I’d have to say the same about you, Mr. Jonas.”

Maizie said, “Kenna and Jax got a cat. Her name is Jolene. I’d show her to you, but I had to secure her in the bathroom so she doesn’t get hurt.”

Jax figured she learned from Kenna to diffuse any tension with humor, and he was more than proud of her for all of who she was becoming, but they had to focus here.

Preston grinned. “A cat?” He started laughing. “What happened to the dog?”

“She’s in California with Jax’s niece and nephew.”

“Guys,” Jax said, “we have a team incoming who are probably going to try and kill us all. We should make a plan.”

Bear came over, offering Maizie a wink. “Jax?”

He nodded. “Good to meet you. Again?” The guy offered a hand, which Jax shook. “I know you were in Mexico, but I’m pretty sure I was unconscious at the time.”

Bear grinned. “We’re all set up. My team can show your people where to position themselves.” He glanced at Zeyla, then Ramon, and finally at Jax’s dad. “Depending on whether you have them here to fight or if you want them protected.”

Jax turned to his dad. “Go with Preston. Do what he says.”

“I think I could?—”

“Go with him.” Jax looked away. “Maizie?”

“You’re giving me a choice?”

He needed about six cups of coffee for this conversation. “You’re an adult, and you’ve pulled your weight so far. What do you want to do?”

“Bruce has been teaching me how to use guns, but…” She bit her lip.

“A pistol?”

“I just want to be able to defend myself if I have to.” She seemed nervous.

Jax cupped her face with his hands. “Honey, you get scared, you shoot whoever you want. Okay?”

Someone off to the side laughed.

She smiled up at him, still somewhat unsure. “Okay.”

He kissed her forehead.

Ramon came over. “I’d say stick with Zeyla, but she’s already taken a bullet for you once this week.” He smiled the kind of sibling smile Jax had come to expect when the guy looked at Maizie. “Wanna stay by me and Bear?”

She nodded.

Bear said, “Someone get these ladies pistols.”

One of his guys jogged over to a crate. They’d set up plenty of pallets and stacked them high so they’d have defensible positions. Preston walked away with Mr. Jonas beside him, limping on his cane, and Jax’s father following them.

“I don’t like this.” Zeyla glanced around. “Who are these guys?”

“I’m sure they’re asking the same about you,” Jax pointed out. “Bottom line? They’ve helped Kenna and I before on more than one occasion, and they’re here to help us face off against this team. They’re pros, mostly ex-military. The kind of people who show up when you call, no questions asked.”

“Fine.” She looked up at the windows, high at the top of the wall just before the ceiling peaked under the eaves of the roof. Rain hammered on the glass and in a few places ran down the wall on the inside. “Washington sucks.”

“You prefer the heat?”

“I don’t like being cold.” She hugged herself with one arm.

Jax said, “That’s one thing that you and Kenna don’t agree on.”

An alarm went off across the room, not loudly, but loud enough to pause the conversation. One of the MSI guys said, “Someone tripped the perimeter.”

Bear handed Zeyla a gun and said to Jax, “You take position over there.”

Jax crouched behind the pallets, unsure where to focus his attention.

There were a couple of doors around the room, front and back.

Probably entrances on the sides. The windows above were vulnerable points.

Hopefully, someone on the team had been assigned to protect his father and the other two older men, even if they were capable of defending themselves.

There was a reason they weren’t out here helping with the fight.

With this team and the resources MSI brought to the table, they had a much better chance at finding Kenna. As soon as they got rid of this squad that had been chasing them up the freeway incessantly for days, they could get to the shipyard his dad had recognized in that video.

Kenna seemed to be closer than ever—but still too far away to grasp.

His heart echoed the hammering of the rain on the window, fat droplets that hit the glass and dampened everything.

The slow creep of hope faded, trickling away out of reach.

Leaving him with an empty ache, tempting him to give up the search.

To surrender his wife to their enemy because it looked far too impossible to get her back, and at least they were keeping her alive.

They still had an idea where she’d been, but no idea where she was now.

The slim lead of one word, offshore , and a shipyard in Washington State weren’t good. If she’d been put on a boat from here, she could be anywhere in the world now.

“Pizza delivery!”

Jax flinched, but he recognized the voice.

Reminiscent of the way his father had shown up at his house—something Bruce hadn’t been present for—it was a decent way to announce himself in a situation like this.

Anyone with their finger close to a trigger would hesitate, suddenly thinking about melted cheese and the scent of hot pepperoni.

“It’s Bruce!” Maizie yelled loudly. “Nobody shoot!”

“And Amara!” the pizza guy called back. “We’re coming in, so don’t blow our heads off.”

Zeyla came out from behind cover. “Mom!”

Jax heard Ramon say, “Stay put” and agreed with him. He wanted Maizie to remain where she was. Zeyla crossed the warehouse floor and went out of sight for a second when she passed a stack of pallets.

As she stepped into view, a gunshot rang out from high in the rafters.

Zeyla hit the floor and rolled out of sight. He didn’t think she’d been shot but couldn’t be certain without looking for himself.

Jax spun and saw a guy climb through the window. He aimed at the shock of nearly white-blond hair at the same time several other people fired their weapons. The guy’s body jerked, and he tumbled over the railing to the floor not so far away from Jax. He hit with a sickening thud, and Maizie yelped.

“Keep your eyes open!” Bear turned, assessing all corners of the room. “They’re here.”

Amara yelled, “Bruce, this way! Help me!”

The two of them moved with Zeyla to the side of the room out of sight. Jax kept an eye on the windows he could see, covering that entrance just in case. Making sure no one from the team got the upper hand on them.

He saw movement behind the glass, and the window began to tilt. In a second, whoever it was would step inside.

Jax would’ve preferred a rifle, given the distance, but braced his elbows on the edge of one pallet and squeezed off two shots. The window shattered, and the person never stepped inside. If someone had been out there, they weren’t anymore.

“I have two coming in the front,” one of the MSI guys said between the sound of gunshots. “Another at the back.”

Two MSI operatives raced to the back of the warehouse. Everyone else braced for the front entry.

Instead of gunfire, the front of the building exploded. Jax hunkered down, ducking his head at the smoke and debris that rained down. His ears rang with the concussive force of the blast.

He checked the windows again and saw someone lowering himself to the ground on a rope.

The second the guy’s feet touched the ground, Jax wondered if it was already too late.

He ran at the man, tackling him to the ground.

The rope caught between them, twisting both as they fell.

Jax landed on his shoulder and cried out as pain whipped through it like lightning.

He kicked out at the guy, unable to move his arms for a second as the pain vibrated through his upper body.

The other man rolled them and slammed Jax’s head against the floor. Jax got one leg up and kicked him back, lifted his upper body off the floor, and squeezed off two shots.

His opponent fell back, dead.

Jax slumped back to the floor and hit his head again. He winced, breathing hard. Awareness coalesced around him, and he realized the others were in a firefight with whoever had come through after that explosion.

He stayed low and made his way to where Bear and Ramon fired over a short stack of crates, and Maizie hunkered down on the floor between them.

“You good?”

“You killed that guy.” She whimpered. “I saw you.”

Jax nodded, unsure what she needed him to say. “They aren’t going to get to you.”

“I might not be the target. Maybe they don’t care about me at all.”

He found that hard to believe, but it wasn’t going to be reassuring to her. Beside him, Bear quit firing. “They backed off. One dragged the other out.”

“Injured and on the run?” Ramon turned to them. “Sounds like fun.” The Hispanic man touched Maizie’s shoulder with his offhand. “Stay with Jax.” Then he hurried away, and Jax heard him call out to Zeyla.

Bear gave orders to his guys, and they ran after Ramon, giving chase to the team who’d tried to infiltrate this warehouse.

“Should we go tell the others it’s safe to come out?” Maizie asked.

He shifted so he could put one knee down.

She tucked her legs closer to her chest, her knuckles white from gripping her knees.

“In a minute,” he replied. “It’s over, but we need to be sure.”

She nodded. “That was intense, but it was over quickly.”

“It always goes faster than you think.” He touched her shoulder. “You good?”

“I wasn’t in any danger.” She considered what she was saying. “I might ask Bear if I can do some training with his team.”

“It would help you to know what they’re thinking, and how they approach problem-solving.”

She bit her lip. “There’s something I need to tell you, and you aren’t going to like it. But it wasn’t worse than those people coming to kill us, and Zeyla said I should just let you know later. So you could focus.”

And now that the situation was resolved, she could say it. “What’s going on?”

Maizie lowered her knees, her backpack beside her. She probably felt odd not having her laptop or iPad in her hands.

She started to speak, hesitated, then said, “Elliot Adams was killed a few hours ago. The transport was ambushed, and he was executed.”

“Were any other agents killed?”

She shook her head. “But…”

“What is it, Maze?”