Page 9 of Storm and Tempest
Ramon huffed. “Your way is taking too long. She’s still out there. We have no idea what’s happening to her!”
“That sentiment has been shared.” Jax wasn’t going to take the bait, even if Ramon didn’t need to get mad at him. They were all doing the best they could to find her. If this guy wasn’t happy with how long it was taking, then he could join the queue to register a complaint.
“You’re still thinking like a fed,” Ramon said. “Now you’ve got Maizie tied up working there, doing other cases for you. She needs to be helping us find Kenna.” He motioned at Bruce. “We’re the ones out there gathering information.”
“Yeah? What information have you found?” Jax shot back. The video they’d just told him about had been sent to a reporter. “Friend of yours at a news outlet—is she gonna leak the video? Tell the world that Kenna Banbury has gone dark side?”
“She wouldn’t be able to run with it if I had Maizie working with me! We’d have deployed a virus in their computer network by now, and the whole thing would be squashed.” Ramon sucked in a breath. “Butno. You’ve got her wanting to follow the law so she can live up to your perfect Bureau standards.”
Jax pushed off the car. “You’re mad that Maizie shouldn’t want to break the law? Do you want her to go to jail?”
“No one is going to jail,” Ramon argued.
“Right. Because you’re going to find a legal way to squash this news story, right?Dominatuswants to undermine us. They want to wreck our chances of finding her, which means they believe we might actually do it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be trying to stop us like we’re a threat.”
“We aren’t a threat. We have no idea where she is, no idea how to find her, and…that’s it—we have nothing!” Ramon yelled. “But you want to go to your office every day and pretend it’s fine that we’re nowhere.”
“I’m not pretending.”
Ramon shifted closer to him. “No? Going to that Bible study. Telling them you’re trying to find her. That won’t happen while you’re waiting for warrants. Or processing evidence. Or telling everyone your sob story.”
“You know how the Bureau works.”
“I know I won’t go back. Kenna will be dead before you find her.”
Jax faced off with Kenna’s colleague. “Because you’re making so much progress working outside the law? You haven’t found anything either.”
“At least I’m looking. I’m not sitting behind a desk.” Ramon’s body shifted again toward Jax, aggression in the movement. “I’m finding her.”
“Then find her.”
“It’s gonna happen faster than what you’re doing.” Ramon scoffed. “Wasting your time with reports and evidence.”
They were nearly chest to chest now. Jax heard Maizie sniffle, but everything sounded like a buzz in his ears. “You thinkI’mnot doing my job?” He pointed at Ramon. “You wish you were the one married to her.”
“If I was, she wouldn’t be missing.”
“You’re the one who let them take her. If you cared about her, you wouldn’t have let that happen.” Jax shoved Ramon with both hands because he hadn’t denied what Jax said. “You’d have kept her safe, right? No matter what. So tell me,Ramon, is it you that’s working forDominatus? Is that why I can’t find my wife?”
Maizie gasped, and it sounded like a sob.
“You’re looking for anyone to blame.” Ramon shoved him back. “Because you can’t face yourself when you’re not in control of everything. You don’t even realize you’re already spinning out.”
Bruce shoved them apart.
Jax stumbled back and sat on the hood of his car. Ramon turned and paced away, running his hands through his hair.
Maizie wiped her face. “You guys shouldn’t fight. We need to work together.”
Jax pushed off the car to go to her.
She held up a hand. “Don’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you aren’t. You want to fight Ramon because you think it will make you feel better.” Maizie sniffed. “Elizabeth said he’s an easy target because you know he won’t quit looking for Kenna. But that means you shouldn’t fight because you’re both on the same side.”
“We’re not fighting,Hermana.” Ramon rolled his shoulders.
