Page 95 of Every Which Way

She wanted her family. Lord, have mercy, but sheneededthem.

Which, of course, would only get worse. Eventually, she wouldn’t be able to live without them. Then she wouldreallybe in trouble, because the moment one of them left for good or died, even in peaceful circumstances, she would be left suffering in the aftermath. Contending with grief all over again.

Langford wandered over. “You okay?”

“Sure. Peachy.” Kenna wiped her cheek on her shoulder. Even just that made her arms ache. She bit the inside of her lip.

“This is where I remind you that you’re supposed to be keeping me in the loop.”

“Drive me back to my RV, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Langford chuckled. “Maybe later.”

Kenna sat in that chair, her arms cuffed behind her, and there was nothing she could do but watch firefighters in their gear traipse through the house with axes and all kinds of cool things.

No one spoke to her for the first hour. After that, Miller had an officer move her cuffs to the front so she could rest her hands in her lap. He gave her a cup of coffee. As if that was going to placate her.

By the time the second hour had passed, Miller finally came over. He handed her his phone. “It’s for you. Don’t think this means we’re good.”

She touched the screen and saw the active call was connected toJaxton. “Jax.”

“I just got off the plane.”

“Can you pick me up?” She sniffed.

“I’ll be there in half an hour.”

She sagged back against the wall. “I love you.”

He chuckled. “I’ll be Oliver, your rideshare driver.”

She frowned. “Oliver sounds weird. You’ve been Jax for two and a half years.”

“And you’ve been trouble.” He paused a second, then said, “I called Laney, but she hasn’t answered.”

“They were here, but I told them to leave earlier. I don’t know if they got out before the cops came in. I need Miller to tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t throw my weight around until I’m there and I’m the ranking person on scene.”

“I’ll enjoy watching that.”

“And you wanted me to quit my job.”

She smiled.

“I’ll be there soon.” He said goodbye and hung up.

Miller came over. “Feel better?”

“Where are Adrielle Jaxton and Elaine Caliveri? Are they here?” She held on to his phone, needing to know what happened to Jax’s family. “And I need to make another call.” Allowing him to have Maizie’s number was a calculated risk, but she needed someone out there looking for Amara and Zeyla. Where had the senator taken them?

He held out his hand. Guess she wasn’t going to get another call.

“Answer the question.” It was the first of many Kenna had for him.

“I’ll find out.”

She handed him his phone. “You do that. He’ll want to know where they are when he gets here.”

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