Page 30 of Every Which Way

“I’m astute.”

Stairns looked over at his old friend. “It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.”

Bruce chuckled.

“I feel like I’m in a sitcom about grumpy old men.” Ramon shook his head, his attention on his phone. “Pizza is on its way.”

Kenna tugged out her phone, but she hesitated. Her mind spun with all the questions she had surrounding the missing woman, the person responsible, and how she was going to find them. Not to mention the woman from the restaurant and the company. But she didn’t call Jax. Yet.

Better to think through the implications of what was happening first.

Maizie was here with all of them only because Elizabeth had gone on a cruise with a friend of hers. With Stairns here, the teen understandably hadn’t wanted to stay home alone with only the dog for company.

Now, she would get what she’d been saying she wanted since almost the first time they’d met. To be in the field with Kenna, working a case.

The time they’d spent in England didn’t really count since they hadn’t been tracking a killer.

If her team accepted this case, then they might be.

“I’ll go outside and wait for the food.” Kenna grabbed the door latch before anyone could object, carrying her phone and her coffee mug. She stepped out into the still night, stars visible overhead but not many. They weren’t all that far out of Denver, so light pollution from the city meant the full spread of natural light was hidden.

She sank into one of the plastic chairs on the rug she’d laid under the step. Maizie had insisted they put up the awning, and she’d strung fairy lights around the edge so that Kenna could sit in the yellow glow of those lights.

The phone rang once and then connected with the hum of being on speaker. “Hey.”

“Driving home?”

“Finally.” Jax sounded tired. “But it was all meetings about new procedures for logging time spent working on a case.”

Kenna leaned her head back on the chair. “Sounds exciting being the boss.”

He chuckled, the sound warm against her ear. “Tell me about your day. From what I heard, it was a whole lot more interesting than mine.”

She recounted the wedding show, crime scene, dinner story. Her mom. The note. The case, and how it might be connected to other disappearances.

“A serial?”

Kenna bit the inside of her lip. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Are you really?”

“It’s an expression. I’m understandably cautious, as opposed to the rest of them who think this is business as usual.”

“Isn’t it?”

Kenna said, “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Oh, I thought I was challenging you to be a better person.”

“That, too.” Kenna blew out a breath. “Maizie is here. This morning, she said that when you and I get married she wants us to adopt her so she can have your last name. Am I really going to let her go chase a killer?”

“I’m more worried about the rest of you than the one person all of you are determined to keep safe. And adopting her is a great idea.”

“I didn’t ever say my worry was gonna be rational.”

“Ah.” He paused for a second. “Laney said wedding dress shopping might not have been a light and breezy experience.”

Kenna was about as excited to talk about that as she was to talk about Maizie helping chase a dangerous person who could target them. “I’m good.”

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