Page 89 of One More Chance

That was good. She’d be sure where he was and that this wasn’t some kind of ruse. “Any way to see what they’re doing or if they’re meeting someone?”

“That’s more your deal than mine.”

Kenna said, “I’ll take a look at the area and talk to Jax about FBI assistance.”

“Just you and your husband.”

“That’s not your decision.”

“Then don’t bother. These guys will inform the doc you’re coming for him, and he’ll disappear. You’ll never catch the guy.” Gregorio scoffed. “You think this guy doesn’t have a fed in his pocket?”

He was probably right about the bureau. After all, Buzard had a cop on his payroll.

Gregorio said, “They could lead you right to him if you hurry. Guess you should get a move on if you want to take this guy down. ’Cause if they’re here to warn him, then the guy is gonna show up sooner or later. Don’t you want to be here when that happens?”

Kenna blew out a breath. Of course, he was going to manipulate her into being the one who finished this. He would swoop in and rescue Nicola, not caring whether justice was done or not and what the collateral damage might be.

She had a wider perspective than that, but her focus was those two children. Jax could take care of the official part, where Buzard went before a judge.

“Send me the location.” Kenna hung up on him and texted Jax rather than trying to find him in this maze of offices.

Her phone pinged, and she copied Maizie in. She’d just finished articulating the request in a text when Jax pushed the door open.

“What do you have?” He strode over.

She explained Gregorio and his orders. Not a request. Jax made a face before she was even done but waited until she was finished before he said, “I don’t like it.”

“Either way…”

He nodded. “We should go check it out.”

She slid off the stool. He checked in with his people who were doing their operation planning, and she had Melissa send her a rundown of what she’d discovered so far. But delaying either of them would only make this take longer. If she and Jax could find the old men and get a handle on what they were doing—especially if Buzard showed up—then it would help everyone.

Twenty minutes later, Jax turned off the highway into the parking lot for a state park. Her phone pinged with another text, a steady stream of updates she’d been getting from Gregorio.

“This seem weird to you?” Jax parked by the trailhead, turning off the car before he glanced over. “I mean, why would those guys come out here? There’s nothing out here.”

She had mapped it. “Maybe they’re purposely keeping their distance from that place. I figure they know more than they’ve said through all this, and if they need to keep Buzard’s secrets, it’s because they’ll die without his treatment.” Her throat clogged at the end.

Jax reached over and squeezed her hand. “Let’s go find out.”

They would get a resolution one way or another. The doctor had to be taken down, but when it could potentially cost her life, it certainly put extra weight on the whole thing. Would she lose her life in horrible or painful ways just because what the doctor did to her wasn’t being maintained? Or would she go back to normal, for good or ill? Right now, she couldn’t worry about herself. Otherwise, she might second-guess a decision that could mean the difference between justice and Buzard getting away—or life and death for one of his victims.

She messaged Gregorio that they were here and walked with Jax toward the location the Mafia boss had given her. “Looks like it’s up the trail, then off to the side. Maybe over that ridge.”

“Good thing I wore my hiking shoes.”

She snagged his hand, grinning at the rubber-soled dress shoes he had on. “We’ve already been nearly blown up today. What else could go wrong?”

“You had to say that.” Jax’s phone rang.

She walked beside him, listening to his responses. Unable to discern from his side of the conversation who he was talking to, though it was definitely a work call. Not personal. Had he spoken to his dad recently? It had been clear in Colorado, shortly before their wedding, that his father had been connected somehow toDominatus. Jax’s mother and his sister had been kidnapped around the same time as Kenna. They’d been used as leverage to get her to cooperate when she’d been the target. She hadn’t heard if his father had ever explained what his connection was to the whole thing.

Maybe Jax knew but didn’t want her to think less of him for his father’s actions. As if she would. He certainly didn’t think less of who she was due to her own connections to the enemy she was trying to figure out how to fight.

Huge bushes flanked both sides of the path, just a wide stretch of sandy red dirt. All of it was so dry that it was brittle. Up ahead, hills covered in scrub brush rose from the horizon. Hopefully, they didn’t have to walk that far.

“Thanks, bye.” Jax slipped his phone back into his pocket. “They got to some marked maps, so they’ve got longitude and latitude. They’re cross-referencing who owns those areas to see if there’s a connection to the house that exploded.”

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