Page 5 of Storm and Tempest

“I want immunity.” The guy lifted his chin. “A guarantee I go free. Then I’ll tell ya.”

Jax twisted his upper body and punched the guy in the face. The chair tipped over backward, and he crashed to the floor along with it.

Other agents grabbed his arms and pulled him back, dragging him out into the hall.

He gritted his teeth. He shouldn’t struggle, but what else could he do? It was instinct. “He’s seen her.”

Agent Herron shoved him against the wall, her forearm across his chest. “You’re right. Now we know he’s seen her. But if he uses this information to barter with us, then there’s nothing you can do to get it out of him without getting fired.” Thankfully, she kept her voice low.

“You think I care about that?”

“In the heat of the moment, no. But you’d regret it later. In the cold light of day.”

Jax wasn’t so sure. Beating the information out of the guy sounded like it would be satisfying. But he got her warning, and she wasn’t wrong. “I’m good.”

She didn’t back off.

“I’ve got a handle on it.”

“I’ll find out what he knows.” She let go of him and went into the room.

Andrette Herron had three grown kids and a grandbaby on the way, and as far as he could see, she’d been an excellent agent since day one. Her father had been in the Bureau, making her as much of a legacy agent as Kenna. The kind of fed who had the job, and this life, in their blood.

Which made agents like Jax, for whom being a Special Agent had been a kind of Hail Mary play in his life, feel like the odd guy out. They didn’t mean it, given it was nothing more than who they were. But for Jax? This job was a whole lot about proving who he was.

Who he could be.

Which meant getting a handle on his tendency to fly off the handle. He needed to keep himself tight. Buttoned up. Straightlaced. Following rules, adhering to procedure, doing things by the book—that was the way to get Kenna back.

Please, Lord.

Jax felt like a bit of a hypocrite talking to God just because they now had an actual lead. He hadn’t intended to, but during the past few weeks of silence, he’d sort of given up. He’d ignored the Lord, hadn’t prayed much, barely cracked open the pages of his Bible, and just focused on moving forward instead. Searching for leads. Running down avenues of investigation. Anything and everything that would give him the chance to get her back.

He ducked his head and squeezed his eyes shut, but no words came. God knew what he needed without him asking for anything, but that would start with repentance and getting back on the right footing.

But if he did that, would there be answers when he asked?

Or more silence?

He was just about done gathering his thoughts when his phone rang in his pocket. He silenced it, not wanting to talk to his sister right now. She insisted on checking in regularly, but he’d have to call her back tomorrow.

“You good?” The question came from down the hall.

He lifted his chin and looked at the agent on approach. One of the people who worked for him. Jax didn’t know them all super well. He’d never been friends with the people he worked for or who worked for him. At least not until Stairns, and that was only after the guy quit the FBI to go work for Kenna. “Did we get what we came for?”

“We’ll take all the computers and any paperwork back to the office with us, run everyone’s ID, and the women who were here under duress will get a shot at a fresh start. I’d say we won.”

Jax didn’t begrudge the guy needing it to feel like a contest between them and the bad guys. Each operation was the chance to score a point—and push their defensive line back. All in an effort to gain ground in a never-ending fight.

He’d been tired of the struggle when Kenna was in another state and he had to do his job when he’d rather be with her. After they got married, she’d moved to Phoenix with him, and to her credit she’d made a go of living in a real house rather than on the road in her RV. They probably would’ve made it work.

Now they wouldn’t know.

Special Agent Herron stepped into the hall and nodded. “She was here.”

“Tell me what I don’t know.” He tried not to sound irritated with her, but it probably didn’t work. He’d apologize later. “What else did he say?”

“She showed up, picked up a girl they had prearranged purchase of, and took her away. He hasn’t seen her again.”