Page 21 of Every Which Way

They’d made it about family.

Roxanne said, “Then this is right up your alley. And you could get the answers you’re looking for.”

That was what she was afraid of. “She’s your asset. Why don’t you find her?”

This woman had to be trained. There was no way she wasn’t. Whether she was here officially or under the radar, she had skills. Why involve Kenna? Unless they needed a scapegoat.

Kenna had to tread carefully with this, or it would blow up in her face.

And sometimes, that happened literally.

Roxanne said, “Aren’t you the one looking into the operation, trying to find a way to fight back? At least, I figure that’s why you broke into that finance company and copied all their files the other day. Finding this woman and uncovering what she was working on will be another blow. The resistance might even…owe you.”

And how did she know all that?

Regardless, it seemed they didn’t understand Kenna and what drove her, but she wasn’t going to let on about that. Instead, she said, “I guess the resistance needs my help, after all.”

“You can’t blame them for being insular, given the threat. Or for being wary of outsiders. Proud and wanting to do it themselves.”

“They’ve been at this a lot longer than I have. Even as long as I’ve been alive, someone has been fighting. Trying to regularly deal a blow to the organization’s operation. If I wasn’t a threat to the company, then that woman wouldn’t have tried to shoot Jax and me in Greece.”

She watched Roxanne for a reaction to that, which might be telling one way or another. Or not at all.

Her expression shuttered. Roxanne pulled onto a side street and into the parking lot for a low-budget motel. Good place for a clandestine meeting.

Not many cars were in the parking lot, probably due to the crime scene tape across one door on the upper level.

Roxanne said, “You wanna live a long and happy life, that’s your business. The rest of us want to stop the company from hurting people. And if you’d like to help, this is how we’re gonna do it.”

ChapterSix

Kenna pushed open the car door and got out. Smoke lingered on the air, along with the earthy tang of something else. Trash littered the parking lot in a few places. The cars were either older high-end models or the kind of rusty compact that looked like the engine was about to fall out.

An unmarked police car pulled into the lot at the far end. Antennae for their radios on the roof was a dead giveaway, along with the unit for a blue-and-red flashing light at the bottom of the dash window, though it was currently dark.

The engine revved in the car she’d just been in.

Roxanne pulled away from the space and left the parking lot in a hurry.

“Great.” Kenna turned back to the cop car and watched them pull up by the stairs. Two detectives got out, a male and a female. Both wore dark-colored suit pants and a white shirt, over which the woman had pulled a dark green cargo jacket.

They both had short hair, though the man’s was about as rumpled as his suit. The woman had gelled her pixie cut to lay close to one side of her face.

Instead of going to the stairs and up to the crime scene, they crossed to her.

Kenna asked, “Who ratted me out?”

The woman said, “Your boyfriend told us to wait an hour, then try the crime scene. Lo and behold.” She waved at Kenna.

“He told you where to find me?” At least it was intel that gave them something to do. He’d probably figured if she didn’t want to be found, then she wouldn’t do the obvious thing—come here. “I guess that means I have nothing to hide.”

The male detective eyed her. “We’re the ones who’ll make that determination.”

“Kenna Banbury.” She held out her hand to the woman. “I’d love to know where you got that jacket.”

The woman grinned. “Detective Naomi Langford. Give me your info. I’ll send you a link.”

Kenna shook hands with the other cop as well. He said, “Detective Sebastian Davis. Nice to meet you and all that.”

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