Page 75 of Storm and Tempest

Stairns said, “I’ll check in with Bruce. See how things are going.”

“Thanks.” Jax hung up. “Maizie?”

“The flash drive has a virus on it, but that’s hardly surprising.” Maizie had all her focus on the computer screen. “Because I was expecting you.”

Jax crouched by the open door. “They’re infiltrating your computer?”

“This one is air gapped. They aren’t getting in the Banbury Investigations network.”

“Smart.” Jax nodded. She’d kept the flash drive and anything on it from connecting to the computer system she’d set up for Kenna. “You need me to do anything?”

“Yeah.” She bit her lip and reached to the side to hand over her phone. “Look at what that notification is. I don’t recognize the chime.”

He showed the phone to her so face ID could do its thing and then pulled down from the top. “It’s from the bank. You have an appointment reminder.”

“No, I don’t.” She tapped across the keyboard.

“What’s going on?” Ramon wandered around the back of the car, a plastic bag rustling against his leg. He dug inside it and handed Jax a sugary soda. “Drink this. It’ll wake you up.”

“Thanks.” He sipped and scanned the email. “Kenna made an appointment at the bank. It’s for today.” According to the time… “We have an hour.”

“Which branch?” Ramon unwrapped a sub sandwich and took a bite.

Jax shook his head. “Does it matter?”

“Yes,” Maizie said. “Because it wasn’t Kenna.”

He looked at her, wondering if he wanted to question aloud if that was true. In the end, he said nothing and looked at the notification. Then went back into Maizie’s inbox to see if he could find the original email. “Here we go.” He tapped it. “Three days ago. Looks like that’s when the original email was sent.”

“Like I said”—she let out a frustrated sound and slammed the lid of the laptop closed—“they’re giving me the runaround because I want to know what’s on that drive.”

“It should’ve been information about my father. Instead, it was a virus?” He didn’t really need an answer to that question. “Because they want to distract us.”

“They wanted something important from you,” Ramon said around a bite of sandwich.

“That part probably wasn’t a distraction.” Jax closed his eyes for a second. “They said they needed the father’s genetic profile.”

“She’s pregnant.” Zeyla blew out a long breath.

Maizie looked like she was about to cry.

Jax looked at Zeyla. “You knew?”

“Mom and I suspected.” She looked like she wanted to shrug, but her body was far too tense. “It’s what they do.”

“But it’s not their baby. It’s mine.”

She nodded, her jaw tight. This was the kind of woman who didn’t fit in suburban America. She was more suited to international travel, and covert operations. Even wearing wide-leg jeans and a cropped T-shirt, she still came across as deadly, as if the clothes were a ruse meant to disarm a person.

Since he’d met her, Kenna had softened. She’d let people into her life and her heart. She’d become a believer in Jesus.

Zeyla was the person Kenna would’ve been if she’d been raised in a family controlled byDominatus.

Maizie said nothing, that sheen of tears still in her eyes. Ramon had quit eating and looked a little sick.

Zeyla pressed her lips together. “I can call Mom and see if she and Bruce figured out anything new.”

“We have an appointment at the bank.” Jax needed something else to focus on or he was going to lose it. Maizie, and even Ramon, needed him to keep it together so they could help him work the case rather than being focused on supporting him. “Maizie, are you authorized on the account?”