Page 21 of Storm and Tempest

“Shut your door.” Ramon fired up the engine and pulled out fast enough Jax had to grab the handle at the top of the door.

“I thoughtDominatuswas being subtle. Undermining me.” Jax shook his head.

“They want you dead, apparently. Nothing subtle about what just happened. We’re lucky no one got killed.”

Jax didn’t count that as luck.Thank You.“That’s exactly what will happen if I leave. They’ll find more ways to discredit me and put my job on shaky ground.”

“We have a case to solve.” Ramon steered with both hands, turning corners like this was a tactical driving course. “You get a slap on the wrist, and everything that would’ve happened if you’d hung around back there still happens. It’s just that you gave yourself time to work this case for real without getting delayed by the people we’re hunting.”

“You’re looking to take downDominatus?”

“That’s the case, isn’t it?”

“So you follow where Kenna leads?”

“You need to focus up.” Ramon squeezed the steering wheel. “This should have been over already.”

“You think I’ve been slacking on finding her?”

“Everything the Bureau does takes too long. Why do you think Kenna and I quit?”

“I know why you quit, and I know why she did. Neither was about procedure or how much time things take, so don’t try to fool me with that argument.”

“Are you done? Because we have a case to work.”

Jax glanced over, staring at Ramon’s profile. “When Kenna does it, I usually end up laughing.”

“But both of us are a poor substitute for her.”

“That’s the truth.” Not just because Kenna could shake anyone out of their funk and get them to laugh. She did it with each of them when things were serious and they all needed a moment to breathe. Some way to bleed off some of the stress, like a pressure cooker release valve.

Ramon said, “Let’s figure out how to make do—and get her back.”

“Agreed.” Jax needed an answer to one more question, though. “Why do you have such an issue with me being a fed?”

“The issue isn’t with you being a fed. It’s with youstillbeing one.” Ramon shook his head. “You should’ve already quit.”

“I need their reach, and their resources.”

“Has it helped? Is there any sign it’s helping?”

Jax needed them. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I understand the Bureau never did me any favors. Kenna Banbury is the only person who ever stuck up for me. So I’m not going to quit until I find her.”

“Good.” Jax swallowed. “I didn’t want to say it in front of Maizie, but I’m getting really worried that finding Kenna will take everything we’ve got and then some. That it might destroy all of us, and we may never find her.”

“So? They want it, let’s give it. But we don’t stop until we get her back.”

Jax could respect that. “Okay.”

Chances were, he and Ramon would always be at odds. For a lot of reasons, they would butt heads, and most of it had nothing to do with how Jax had thought for a while that Ramon had been in love with Kenna. Maybe he wasn’t now. It didn’t really matter. If this was about repaying a debt to Kenna and the guy was all-in with finding her, then Jax would deal with it. He wasn’t going to get jealous when he had help to find her, and that help happened to be almost as motivated as he was.

Ramon turned another fast corner. “Reason number twelve why you shouldn’t trust the FBI, let alone work for them.” He reached over and tapped the file on the dash, up by the window. “Someone in your agency is working forDominatus,and they’re covering up what happened to Kenna.”

“At the least,” Jax said. “At most they’re also responsible for the murder of an agent who worked for me. And that might not be the first time.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s your fault. Guilt isn’t a good look.”