Page 81 of Storm and Tempest

“Ouch.” Zeyla slumped back to the floor. “That hurts.”

Ramon crouched behind her, touching her shoulder. “Pretty nasty graze.”

“No doctors.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “You take care of it.”

Ramon’s jaw shifted. “Fine.”

Jax shook his head. “Elliot has a lot to explain.”

He looked around the bank at the ocean of FBI agents and the dead woman on the ground who’d pretended to be his wife. And apparently done well at it, given his colleagues were now looking at him with some serious pity.

Great.

“Forget it,” Jax said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jax opened the kitchen cupboard and found the spray can marked Dermoplast. Maizie had set up her workstation at the breakfast bar, using the stool Kenna tended to occupy. He didn’t want it to be bittersweet that she sat in the same spot but couldn’t help how he felt.

Maizie had Jolene the cat on her lap and absently petted her with one hand while she clicked the mouse with her other.

Jax glanced at the screen as he passed her. She navigated to another window via the desktop, which had an image of Cabot, Kenna’s dog, on the screen. He didn’t react, even though she’d covered what she was really doing and didn’t want him to see.

“Jax?”

He stopped by the end of the breakfast bar. “Yeah, honey.”

She glanced at him, surprise on her face.

“Sorry.” He didn’t know what her abuser had called her, and he didn’t want to know. But he also didn’t want to bring up old wounds by using a name attached to her trauma.

Maizie shook her head. “I actually…liked it. It sounds nice.”

“All right,honey.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t make it weird.”

Jax chuckled, surprising himself. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to pass some of this to that financial analyst you sent me to a few months ago.”

“Who did I send you to?” It had been so long he couldn’t remember what name he’d given her.

“Samantha Littleton.”

“Right.” He nodded. “She did a good job?”

“She gave me a full report and got on a video call with me to explain it all,” Maizie said. “She’s great. She showed me her house, too. She lives on a ranch in Wyoming and has chickens, goats,anda cow.”

It probably sounded more enjoyable than nearly getting shot in a bank. “I need to give this to Ramon. I’ll be back.” Jax got up.

“I’m good,honey.”

He walked away with the spray antiseptic. “Don’t make it weird.” He smiled as her laughter chased him down the hall, then knocked on the bathroom door.

He heard, “Come in” and eased the door open.

“I brought the stuff.” He waved the spray can.