Page 19 of Storm and Tempest

Maizie gasped.

Jax glanced at him, disapproval probably plain on his face. “Maybe don’t say stuff like that.”

“I agree with Jax,” Maizie said, her voice shaky.

“Sorry.” Ramon mostly looked at Maizie.

Jax turned to Bruce. “Can you find out who the coroner and funeral director were who interacted with Marcus Buzard’s body?”

The older man snapped a salute. “Yes, Boss.”

Jax figured he likely did that with Kenna, too. “Ramon and I will go find this agent. Maizie, get on the computer and look for anything left behind when those files and the existence of an agent were scrubbed from the system.”

“What are Amara and Zeyla going to do?” Ramon asked, one brow raised. “Just disappear again and come back later with some vaguely helpful information?”

“They didn’t tell me, so I guess we don’t get to know.”

“Sounds about right,” Ramon grumbled.

Bruce straightened in his chair. “I’ll touch base with Amara. See if I can find out.”

“Good. So we all have work to do.” Jax whipped around to Maizie, who had her head ducked and was trying to make a clean getaway. “Not so fast, young lady. We still need to talk about Sean.”

She didn’t look at him but busied herself pushing her chair in and slipping her little crossbody bag over her head.

“Maizie.”

She lifted her gaze, her eyes full of unshed tears. “I don’t want to talk about Sean.”

“Have you contacted him? Are you guys talking?”

She scrunched up her nose. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Maizie,” Jax repeated, leaning forward. He wasn’t going to stand and tower over her. He wanted her to feel like she had the high ground, and not like he was trying to use masculinity to overpower her. She didn’t need that in her life. She needed people who treated her with empathy and respect for the things she had to carry from her past. “I need to know if you’ve contacted him.”

“I haven’t! Okay?” She swiped at her cheeks, the tears running freely now. Her yell drew some attention, but there was nothing he could do about it. She had to feel free to express her emotions. “You think I don’t want to talk about it with someone?”

“So tell us. You know you’re safe with us.”

“I can’t talk about it with…” She waved her hand.

“Men,” Ramon said quietly. “You have girl stuff you need to work through,Hermana?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, her breaths coming sharply. On the verge of having an anxiety attack. “She’s not here. She’s just…she’s not here!”

“Elizabeth will make time for you if you call her, right?” Jax hadn’t taken girl stuff into account when Stairns and his wife had dropped Maizie off with him and gone to California to watch out for Laney and her family. “I’m sorry she’s not nearby.”

“I’m talking about Kenna!” Maizie blurted, mascara now smeared on her cheeks. She looked…broken. “I need to talk to her. I need herhere, but she’s…gone.”

The server entered the periphery. “Is everything okay?” She glanced at them, then back at Maizie. “Are these men bothering you?”

Maizie stiffened, each inhale still sharp as if she was on the verge of breaking down and sobbing. “They aren’t bothering me.” She looked at Jax then, and he stood. She slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him.

Jax gave her a second to get used to it just in case she changed her mind. Then he hugged her back. “We’re going to find her.”

She shifted her head. “What if we don’t?”

“We will.” He angled his head and kissed her forehead. “We’re going to find her. We have to.”