Page 53 of Long Road Home

The guy in the next cell woke up, sputtering, and fell to the floor by the sound of that thud.

Kenna moved to the side so she could make sure he hadn’t hurt himself.

“What the heck is that?” He sat up, breathing hard. Eyes glassy.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kenna said. “Did you hurt yourself?”

He patted himself and shook his head. “I hafta pee.”

“I’ll give you some privacy.” Kenna moved, and the guy disappeared behind a half wall.

Marion sneered in the man’s direction.

If what she’d said was true—though Kenna didn’t think the killer from Forrest’s book was the one who’d cut off Mr. Wells’ head—it changed things. It meant a connection between Marion’s case and the rest of what might be going on in this county.

Like Pastor Bruce’s death.

“J.Pierce?” Kenna lifted her brows. “You know who he is?”

“What do you care? It’s not your case.”

“It would make for a juicy story. Forrest’s book would probably be a bestseller if she revealed his identity.”

Marion snorted. “So you don’t care for you. You justwanna tell Forrest who it is.” She shook her head. “Figures. You are a do-gooder after all.”

As opposed to being as self-serving as Marion? “Come on, you’ve got to want to spill the secret. Maybe you could even make a deal with the district attorney. Get a lighter sentence, or some other concessions, and in return you tell them who J.Pierce is.”

Now Kenna knew why God had her in this office and not out working the crime scene. Even if she wanted to run out and go see what had happened to Bruce, there were cops working that. She had a lead on a connection to all of this—and maybe even whatever had happened to Bruce.

The waitress had said he collapsed at the diner.

So was it an accident, natural causes…or murder? Seemed entirely too coincidental for it to be an accident. She’d planned to speak to him. He knew something about murder written off as accidents. The guy was candidate number one to be silenced by a killer.

Forrest was on that list, too. Which meant Kenna needed to warn her—as soon as they ran into each other again, or Forrest replied to a text.

“I’ll think about it.” Marion went back to her cot. “And I’ll be talking to my lawyer rather than you. MaybeI’llbe the one that writes a bestseller.”

Kenna said, “All the best with that.”

She double-checked on the drunk, who had gone back to sleep, and went out to the main office. No one was back yet. That same restlessness permeated her, making her want to run. Get to work, pursuing a suspect. But with not much in the way of leads, she didn’t have much to do but stay here. Look up that case.

Or deal with the real issue that was going on right now.

Kenna wandered to a corner of the office outof anyone’s earshot—which meant the receptionist Paulette. She pulled up her texts and took a deep breath, pushing it out slowly. She held down the button to record a voice message. “You were hanging from a hook. Just dangling there, covered in sweat and blood. I thought you were dead.” She had to clear her throat but didn’t let go of the button. “I thought I lost you before we ever started.”

She let go of the button, sending the message, and had to sniff. Swallow against the lump in her throat.

She stowed her phone.

Relationships suck, You know?

She figured if there was anyone who understood what went on in her head, or how her feelings worked, it was God.Things were easier when I was alone.Not that they’d been better, but there was less to work through because there hadn’t been anyone else to contend with.

But now that she had family and friends in her life, people invested in her who she cared about in return—and the whole other category that Jax fell into—things would get sticky. She’d have to contend with the fear that came up. With her need to be the one who went in, alone, to save the victim.

She’d done it with Forrest in Marion’s house and found that girl, saved her life even. Forrest had backed her up. But Kenna had been full of herself and her own ability to solve a case. Today that felt a whole lot different. The Christian she was trying to be didn’t need to be irritated because she had to babysit the office. Or that she had time to process what was in her heart and mind about Jax coming here.

She’d felt free to do what she wanted and go where she felt like going for years. She took cases she wanted to take and left the others. Flying under the radar, making the world better. All that.

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