Page 98 of Every Which Way

“Thanks.” She risked overstepping and just touched the shoulder of the seat he was in, patting it lightly. “Let’s figure out how to find them.”

She called Bruce first, but there was no answer. Her comms earpiece got in the way, so she took it out and slid it into the inside pocket of Jax’s coat.

It took a second to find Maizie in his contacts. She was listed as “M,” which made Kenna smile, despite everything that was going on.

Ramon was the one who answered. “It’s me.”

Kenna responded, “It’s me. Is she okay?”

“Are you?”

Kenna frowned. “Talk.”

“Maizie is fine. She’s just in the middle of a hack. Trying to access the senator’s information.”

“That’s good.”

“And you?”

“We need to find my mom and Zeyla.”

Jax’s dad shifted in his seat. Reacting to something, or simply adjusting his seat? Maybe he thought they should be fully focused on their family.

“On it. Stairns will help.”

Kenna asked, “Have you heard from Bruce? I’m starting to get nervous. The police weren’t going to let me go room by room and search for him. I haven’t seen him since earlier. We lost contact.” At least if the police had rounded him up with everyone else, there would be a name on a list of guests somewhere when he was asked for his information.

Or, like the burned spy he was, he’d somehow managed to slip out. But if he’d done that, why hadn’t he contacted her?

The guy could be lying somewhere in the house, dead or bleeding out.

She bit her lip. “Ramon?”

“I was checking. None of us have heard from him, and he’s not transmitting. Neither of you were from the minute you stepped into that building.”

“But we could talk to each other on comms.” Through the window, she saw Jax come down the front steps and head toward them. But he passed the car and walked to the crowd of cops that had thinned out now that a coroner’s van had shown up. “I wish I knew what happened to him. Not much of this makes sense.”

Ramon said, “You should’ve taken me with you.”

“Because you don’t trust Bruce now?” More likely, he didn’t appreciate being out of the loop.

“Maizie,” Ramon said, not talking to Kenna, “that doesn’t mean I don’t want to stay here and hang with you. No, that’s not what it means. I’m just frustrated.” He grunted. “Fine.”

She heard a shuffle over the line.

Then, “Hi.”

“Hi, Maze.”

“I told him to give me my phone.”

“Good for you.”

“I’m ready for Elizabeth to be done with her…vacation.” She cleared her throat. “I’m surrounded by these guys practically twenty-four seven. I need to paint my nails and talk about cute boys.”

Ramon made a strangled sound in the background.

“Go outside or something. I’m trying to work.”

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