Page 91 of Now or Never
Zeyla stayed by the door, putting one elbow on the headrest of the passenger seat, while Kenna sat in one of the two recliners between the dinette and the front cab of the RV. “You good?”
She nodded. “There was a lot to explain to the police. They didn’t exactly believe me that Simon was the one who tried to murder Andrette, but I had enough information on my phone to prove I’d been investigating his crimes. They also called Langley, and he backed me up.”
Zeyla shook her head. “Good riddance. I’m glad you shot him.”
“So am I!”
Kenna smiled in Jax’s direction. “I’m glad no one is hurt.”Thank You.“God protected us.”
It hadn’t taken more than an hour to get things squared away with the police so they could leave the scene. They weren’t happy that Jax didn’t want more than a cursory assessment from the ambulance crew but couldn’t argue with his legal right to be miserable at home instead of at the hospital.
“Jax is laid up in bed.” Zeyla shook her head. “How is that protected?”
“He was wearing a vest. I wasn’t hit. Simon is dead, not either of us.” She could go on, but that pretty much covered it and she was tired. Kenna flipped the footrest of the recliner up and sighed. “Tell me what else is going on. You drew the short straw and got protection?”
Zeyla made a face. “I volunteered.” She rolled her eyes. “Everyoneflippedwhen Maizie said you called 911, and the report was multiple gunshot victims. One deceased.”
Kenna winced. “Sorry you all were worried.”
She’d wanted to call them all and explain, but the cop wouldn’t allow her to use her phone. When she’d finally looked, she had so many missed calls and notifications it had been overwhelming. She’d sent a quick text on the group thread with everyone and drove Jax back to the RV park.
Zeyla grabbed a can of soda. “Nothing to be sorry for. Like I said, good riddance.”
Kenna stared at her, marveling that this woman appeared so tough and no-nonsense but cared about all of them the same way. She’d known it was possible that deep down Zeyla loved them all like family. It was just that her cousin didn’t show affection the way most people did.
Zeyla had been groomed as an operative, targeted by the enemy, trained for war, and likely hadn’t known peace and family during her growing up years. She was also the biological daughter of the man Kenna considered her father, Malcom Banbury. As far as she was concerned, that made her more of a sister than cousin.
Kenna smiled. “Thanks for coming here.”
Zeyla waved. “Whatever. No big deal.”
“I want to get everything unhooked and get on the road.”
“You’re leaving?” When Kenna nodded, she said, “Good idea. We’ve got this.” Then paused. “Well, the others have it. I’m with you.”
At any other time, Kenna would reassure Zeyla that it was possible something interesting might happen, but now she hoped it was boring. “Can you go outside and unhook everything?” She explained how it worked enough Zeyla would get the gist.
“I’ll do that.” Zeyla nodded. “You wanna leave soon?”
“As soon as we’re good to go, I’ll drive. Might be after I sleep a bit, but I’d rather be ready.”
“Did you get anything from the president yet? Maizie hasn’t called me back, but I’m hoping when she does, we’ll have what we need.” Zeyla sipped her soda.
Kenna shook her head. “Once Petyr wakes up and explains what I asked for, it shouldn’t be long. But we can’t count on it, I don’t think. Not with everything that’s happened tonight.”
“Hopefully, you will before Ramon and Bruce have to figure out how to get in that military facility. They’re doing reconnaissance, but it’s hard to see more than the exterior of all the buildings. If your stuff from the president comes through, they’ll be able to walk on base. At least, we hope so.”
“Us, too.” Fatigue washed over her. She’d have to balance pushing through and resting for the sake of all the stress on her body lately. The exertion. Still, she wasn’t the one with a giant bruise on her chest. She was the one who’d been protected.
For the sake of letting Jax rest, she could drive, and she would worry about being tired later. “I’m ready to get out of here.”
Zeyla jogged her knee up and down, her weight braced on her straight leg. “What about the general? Can we tell the FBI that one of the lawyers is hiding on the base, get them to raid it?”
“You’d need physical evidence, or they won’t go in hard.”
“We need SWAT teams with rifles and helicopters that swoop down. They all rappel to the ground and karate chop everyone down there.”
“Have you thought about applying for one of those teams?”
