Page 28 of Storm and Tempest

“Guess we know who is in charge in that relationship,” Ramon added.

“Go make a friend,” Jax told him. “Find out what he knows.”

“Finally.” Ramon shoved out of the car and strode toward the front door of the bar.

Jax got out as well, walking to where Special Agent Herron stood alone. Hands on her hips. Looking at the sky and thinking.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

She spun around to him. “SAC Jax, you scared me.”

“Did I really?” He stopped in front of her and waited for the answer.

Chapter Nine

Herron chuckled, and it didn’t sound convincing. In fact, she sounded nervous. And apparently, she didn’t even know he’d seen that whole interplay with Special Agent Farlan.

“You’re probably wondering how I’m doing after I was caught in a drive-by shooting earlier today.” He shifted his stance, trying to appear casual. As if he hadn’t been surveilling an FBI bar and witnessed her heated conversation with Farlan.

“A drive-by. When?”

Jax frowned. “I went to lunch. Someone shot up the whole place. You didn’t hear?”

“Maybe local police took it.” She looked confused. “You were there?”

Considering he’d fled the scene, probably that was about all they needed to say about it. When the local police investigating the crime caught up to him first—because it was harder to find the rest of Kenna’s friends—he’d have to explain. At which point the funk wouldreallyhit the fan.

But whichever cops came around asking questions he wasn’t going to want to answer, they probably would have no clue there was more going on here than one drive-by. Or so he presumed.What Jax needed was hard evidence someone had directly targeted him.

Or evidence it was about someone else entirely.

He squeezed the bridge of his nose, then dropped his hand. “Andrette, I need you to answer some questions with straight answers. Not the runaround you’ve been giving me for weeks. My wife isgone. And apart from her associate, you’re the last person who saw her. You let them take her.”

He’d said the same to Ramon, but as far as Jax was concerned, there was blame enough to go around. And that included him. Piling shame on all of them achieved nothing, he figured. So, what was the point shoveling on more?

It wouldn’t help them find her.

She shifted, defensiveness infusing her movements—in the way she rolled her shoulders, and her hands. As if she needed to grab onto something. But there was nothing out here in the semidark of the back step and the parking lot.

“I need you to tell me if those men at the silo said anything about where they were taking her,” he pressed. “If they gave you any impression whatsoever that they had evil intentions. Even just the tiniest thing. You saw them. You spoke to them.” He took a breath, knowing he needed to stop, but also had to understand how big this was for him. “She’s my whole life. I need her back.”

She swiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help more. I put everything I could remember in my report as soon as I realized she was gone. Hadley and I talked about it, and he agreed we should send an agent to look for her.”

“One guy?” Far as Jax was concerned, she should’ve gone herself if she thought there was a chance someone had posed as a team of agents and taken Kenna.

“Hadley said we couldn’t spare anyone else. Special Agent Adams was supposed to check in with me, but he never did.”

“So you raised a stink that he was missing as well? Two people kidnapped, maybe murdered, and you say nothing?”

“Hadley—”

He took a step toward her. “Eventually you’re going to have to take responsibility for this yourself.”

She flinched and backed up. “I filed reports. I went to Hadley. He was covering your position while you were in the hospital. I went to him so many times. He told me that Adams requested a transfer and he was gone.”

“And you bought that?”

“You don’t…” Her voice thickened. “You don’t understand, Oliver.” It was so rare for someone to call him by his first name that it sounded jarring. Maybe even insincere.