Page 93 of Storm and Tempest

Chapter Twenty-Five

Earl Jonas stood at one end of the huge conference room. “This presents a considerable problem.”

Jax wasn’t so convinced. “I don’t show my face in public until Kenna is found. Problem solved.” He pushed off the wall, antsy to get this thing going.

They’d left the RV at the warehouse but brought Jolene. She was now the office mascot at the MSI facility in Seattle. Though, here they didn’t call it Miami Security International. The doors had another far more generic name on them, and the place had no online presence.

Bear and a couple of his teammates were absent. They’d captured one of the people that attacked the warehouse and had the guy in an interrogation room. Jax was surprised that Amara and Bruce had opted to join the meeting. Then again, Amara had spent most of it talking quietly to Zeyla and earning heated looks from Ramon.

Maizie had been distracted by the walkthrough of the tech lab and decided to stay there after being introduced to the office technician—a tall and stocky dark-haired woman with a pixie cut that included shaved sides and three cut-in stripes above each ear. It hadn’t hurt that Earl Jonas had given her carte blancheaccess to the MSI system, and the technician, Hazel, had taken a shine to her.

That, more than anything, told him these people didn’t have anything to hide.

Amara was the one that concerned him. Especially considering the look she’d given Maizie at the warehouse.

Preston said, “Speaking as someone who has been arrested for murder and spent years in prison, it’s worse when you didn’t do it.”

Someone said, “I bet the payday is better, though.”

“I don’t want to find out.” Jax shifted his weight and folded his arms. “It doesn’t matter if the FBI is gunning for my arrest. I didn’t kill Elliot Adams and I didn’t order the hit. Any proof they come up with is going to be fabricated. So all we’ve got to do is prove them wrong, starting with the GPS location of my phone, and the fact I’ve contacted no one using it to order a hit.”

“We’ve got more important priorities.” Ramon leaned his chair back, tipping it onto the two back legs.

“Exactly.” Not that Jax wasn’t worried, or didn’t think he could end up with a serious fight on his hands if he was forced to prove his innocence. It’s just that he didn’t consider it more important than finding Kenna. “It’s all just more of a distraction. Ways for them to slow us down, get us hung up and occupied by nuisances rather than focused on finding her.”

“That’s why I sent a couple of my guys to the shipyard.” Jonas leaned on his cane. “They should be back soon.”

“You weren’t going to tell me?”

“You can’t be seen in public. We know what we’re doing.”

Jax clenched his back teeth.

Ramon and Zeyla both glanced at him.

“What about the man you have in custody?” Jax asked.

“So far he hasn’t been cooperative.”

Ramon said, “I’m surprised they don’t have cyanide capsules in their teeth for just such an occasion.”

“It’s not unheard of,” Zeyla said. “But if you screw up or get caught, you’re cut loose. It won’t be long before they send someone to take him out.” She looked from Jax to Mr. Jonas. “They’ll dispatch an operative to kill him.”

One of the MSI guys said, “Do they have tracking devices on them?”

Zeyla looked distressed. “Even if this one doesn’t, it won’t be long before they find him. Just like they found Samuel Chistane.”

Ramon tipped his chair back down. “They’re probably kicking themselves they didn’t take out Elliot then. Or at the bank.”

Jax had thought about that a whole lot during the hours of driving, talking it through with Zeyla while Ramon slept. They’d concluded that Special Agent Herron had to be more than just someone they were using for their ends. She came across as more deeply embedded than just being coerced into losing evidence or giving orders that suited them.

“We know who they’re targeting,” Jax said. “So it’s worth checking in with everyone in this building.”

“Like a lie detector test?” Preston asked. “Because just asking the question doesn’t mean you’re going to get the truth. These people are under duress.”

“A lie detector test sounds like a great idea,” Amara said. “I’m sure they have tech that can function as one. Everyone should be questioned.”

Jax shrugged. “Or that’s just more distraction, and we should go.”