Page 107 of Long Road Home

Kenna pushed through the front entrance and checked the directory. “Second floor, to the right.”

They headed up the stairs, shifting out of the way of a delivery guy coming down with an oversized phone in one hand.

She rounded the landing at the top. “Door’s open.”

Kenna drew her weapon, hearing the snick of Jax doing the same behind her. She stepped to one side and let him go first.

They squared up on the door, one on each side of the opening.

Jax indicated he would go right, her left.

She nodded, falling back on the procedure that had been ingrained in her through training so it was sometimes as familiar as breathing.

Jax knocked on the doorframe. “Doctor Rayland, this is the FBI!”

Chapter Thirty

Jax stepped in, swept left to right, and checked behind the door. He opened it wide as she followed him in, covering him and helping clear what turned out to be a tiny waiting area. A few single chairs, and one couch style. The cabinet to the left came up below the chair rail and had a coffee setup on it, one of those single-cup makers that uses pods.

Over by Jax was an entry table with a stand for an iPad, though it didn’t have the tablet in it right now. The whole place smelled like vanilla candlewax. And the temperature in Rayland’s office was warmer than she kept her RV, making Kenna want to immediately start unzipping her outer layers and peeling off her gloves and hat.

“She doesn’t have a receptionist. They just sign in electronically?” Kenna glanced around. “This is a simple setup.”

“Works for a small town, and this space.” He stood by the interior door. “Ready?”

Kenna nodded, and they repeated the same procedure to get into the doctor’s office. Again, they found no one.The only thing amiss was a lamp that had been knocked over, the shade crumpled on the floor where it lay.

One overturned lamp wasn’t sign of an altercation. It was just an overturned lamp. Might’ve been knocked over and missed when the doc left last night.

Jax circled one side around the desk, so she moved between the single chair and couch setup. The tiny end table was the only place where a person could set their cup. She hadn’t had a coffee table in her life, and figured mostly they were places to put your feet up rather than place clutter on it.

The open corner seemed inviting.

But right now wasn’t the time to think about getting a house. They were trying to find a woman. Only, she supposed she’d always assumed she would have a house at some point. Why not think about what she might want to have in that house. It wouldn’t come with all the furniture like her RV that she still hadn’t been to.

“You good? I need to check in here.” Jax pointed to another interior door, behind the desk.

He’d noticed her momentary distraction?

Not surprising.

The guy seemed hyper-attuned to her while she just tried not to get distracted by how good-looking he was. She sighed.

“You’re not okay, Kenna.”

“You’re the one who was in plane crash.”

He eyed her. “I got you a burrito.”

For once this wasn’t about her being hangry. Kenna pointed to the one on her left, at the end of the couch. “This one probably goes out to the hallway. You think that’s a bathroom?”

“I’m gonna find out.”

Kenna stood where she could cover him and waited, pushing all the exhaustion-induced thoughts out of her head.The last thing she needed was for this relationship to turn her into a ridiculous schoolgirl, daydreaming about a guy.

She wasn’t going to tell him it was easier to focus without him here. Did he feel the same way about her?

When he turned back, she thought she saw the answer to her question in the intention of his expression. That look in his eyes.

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