Page 94 of Every Which Way

He strode toward her, glancing around. “Everyone outside! Langford, get the fire alarm.” His expression washed with the kind of thunder that preceded a bolt of lightning that cracked across the sky and the kind of storm that destroyed entire towns. “Got yourself in trouble.”

“Woodford left with my mom and my sister and a few goons. One of them shot at me.”

“Not having a very good day, are you?” Miller looked her up and down. “You look a bit…”

“Don’t finish that.”

The agent holding her arm said, “Sir, she’s under arrest for aiding and abetting.”

Kenna frowned. “Is the senator who you were looking for? What are the charges?”

The agent shook her arm, but not super hard. “What did I say about keeping your mouth shut?”

Miller looked at him. “You can let her go. I’ll take it from here.”

Kenna studied the agent as well. “You might want to check his creds. There’s something definitely off, at best. At worst, he’s in their pocket.”

The agent exploded into movement, drawing his weapon from its holster on his belt. Everyone around them reacted. The agent’s face twisted with rage.

Miller strode to him, grabbed the guy’s collar, and walked him back. Away from Kenna. All the way until he had his back up against the wall. “Put your gun away. Chief Richards!”

A uniformed older police officer strode over. “You need some help, Special Agent Miller?”

“Yes, sir. If your men could take this man somewhere quiet and have a conversation with him, that would be appreciated.”

Two cops walked the agent away. Kenna didn’t move from her spot, hands still cuffed behind her. Miller turned to her, and she said, “Bad day.”

He frowned. “You can keep those cuffs on.”

She bit her lip.

“Humor me and stick around. There will be paperwork, and you’re not goinganywhere.”

She couldn’t say,Do you know who my fiancé is?That wouldn’t be professional. But she thought it.

Miller said, “We’ll get to you.”

He led her to the ballroom and sat her in a chair. Kenna protested, “And we need to go outside, not sit around in here! This building is on fire.”

Someone strode over to them, a dark-haired fed who was about forty. “Sprinklers are on downstairs. We’re figuring out what happened.”

She’d had enough of new people for one day. Where was Bruce? She needed to call Jax. Find out if his mom and sister were out.

Figure out how to find her own family.

Sleep.

Find some shoes.

Take a pain pill.

She sniffed back tears that wanted to flow and sat in the chair feeling sorry for herself. Tonight had not gone according to plan. In fact, it was kind of a disaster. But every time something like this happened, she wanted someone she loved to come and rescue her.

She wanted Jax to walk through the door and make it all right.

Or Stairns, with his connections and the respect he’d earned over a lifetime of service to the bureau. She would even take Ramon right now. Bruce. Maizie.

That was how she knew she was a lost cause.

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