Page 59 of One More Chance

Bruce wandered in and dumped a load of miniature electronic devices on the breakfast bar. “Some of those…you don’t want to know where they were.”

“No, I don’t.”

Though, Jax looked like maybe he did. Like he wanted to smash them all with the heel of his shoe. He scooped them up. “These are going on the grill.” He headed for the slider that led out to the back.

“Anything on your cop?”

Kenna checked her phone for messages while saying to him, “You and I were both planning to check on those kids. Far as I can see, both of us dropped the ball. I hope we don’t regret it any more than I do right now.”

Bruce searched the kitchen, then leaned his hips back against the counter and folded his arms. “I found the social worker who was assigned their case.”

“So they really were taken to the hospital and then turned over to child welfare?” She’d seriously failed those kids. Sure, she’d been dealing with a lot, but that didn’t excuse the fact she’d made far too many assumptions about them being taken care of.

“The hospital wouldn’t give me information on them, so I gave it a day and hit up the social worker. I tracked her down at her office, but all she did was give me the runaround.”

“Okay. That’s at least someone we can follow up with.”

He lifted his brows. “After we work over this cop. Find out why he’s working with that psycho doctor guy.”

Jax came in a moment later. Her phone had pinged with the information.

She asked, “You up for a field trip?”

Her husband said, “I’ll pour the coffee into hot cups so we can take it with us.” He even poured one for Bruce, who’d already crossed the street to his pickup truck so he could follow them.

“He’s a good guy.” Kenna buckled her seat belt and took a sip of her drink before they even pulled out.

Jax returned from taking Bruce his coffee. “He had a flask. He slipped a swig of whatever was in there into his coffee.”

She twisted in the seat to see out the back window through the open garage door. “I’ll talk to him.”

“I called Stairns about it a few days ago, and he said Bruce told him the wound in his chest has healed. At least, according to the doctor. But Bruce didn’t seem to be convinced that’s true.”

“So, he’s still in pain and self-medicating?” She’d been so wrapped up in her own medical situation, and everyone on her team letting Jax and her have time as newlyweds, that she hadn’t checked in. She’d just figured things were good.

Jax said, “I can talk to him if you want. I mean, I know what he’s going through.”

He had told her shortly after they met that he had a pain pill addiction problem in high school after an ankle injury. She thanked him and squeezed his knee.

“As long as I don’t have to arrest him for something, we’ll be good.”

Kenna grinned. She confirmed on her phone that it was the correct cop that Maizie had found. He wasn’t working tonight, and they had his home address. “Time to get some answers.”

If she was lucky, she’d figure out what the right questions were.

The neighborhood was an apartment complex. As soon as Jax pulled up, she spotted the light on in the front window, between the blinds.

“He might be home.” A swell of anger rose up in her at the prospect of seeing him again. She was still freezing, and on top of that, she now had a bruise on the inside of her elbow from where he’d dragged that needle out of her arm.

She pushed out of the car and walked to the front door with Jax, spotting Bruce as he pulled into the parking lot and stopped on the far side of a berm. Hanging back, just in case. If he had a problem with pain management, they needed to address it. This team wasn’t going to work if people were keeping things to themselves. Like recovery that wasn’t going as planned. Or having a relationship with her friend.

Jax hammered his fist on the front door. “Earnest Albertson! Open up, this is the FBI!”

Something shattered inside the house. Was it from surprise, or had something else caused Earnest to drop whatever he had?

Jax pounded again. “Open the door.”

“Maybe he’s calling his union rep before he does that.” She shrugged. But her nerve endings were lighting up. “Back up from the door.”

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