Page 19 of Now or Never
“According to Megan,” Zeyla said.
“What’sthatsupposed to mean? She’s upstairs having every abuse she’s ever suffered catalogued and photographed so the police can use it for evidence. Like it’s a piece of paper left behind, or a fingerprint on a knife. They’re going to take aparther life and leave her to figure out how to put it back together on her own.”
Not only that, but with the connection to their enemy, she might be in danger and that would pose a serious risk if she was left to fend for herself. Only if this turned into a federal case—like a corruption charge against those in power who had covered up the murder—did Megan have any shot at a witness protection deal in exchange for her testimony.
“Seems to me however this shakes out, she’s in danger.” Kenna glanced at Jax, who frowned as he approached the table.
Ramon didn’t look any more pleased about this situation than her husband did.
Kenna would have said Ramon was her best friend, if they even needed to categorize it. They had each other’s backs, and that was what counted.
“Thanks for coming in, both of you.” She glanced between him and Zeyla. “I didn’t know you were nearby when I called, but I’m glad you were.”
Given the size of this country, and the fact they’d supposedly been working a case elsewhere, that was an interesting development. Two minutes away sounded more like they’d been on call, ready to assist at any moment. Not just because she’d called on a reflex, and they’d been nearby. She’d contacted Ramon not even knowing if they’d be able to help. Something she wasn’t going to unpack. It simply turned out they were, and she was choosing to be grateful for it.
Jax shifted his weight from foot to foot, not because he was nervous. More likely he wanted to get moving to burn off some pent up frustration.
She wasn’t surprised he’d ensured she was protected.
He pressed his palm to the table and leaned down to kiss her, light and quick. “Yesterday, when it became clear there might bethe slightestDominatusconnection with this case, I called them. They came.”
Ramon sipped his coffee.
Zeyla folded her arms across her chest. “You’re welcome.”
Kenna smiled at her cousin, knowing the other woman was just as on board with protecting the people in this chosen family as the rest of them were. She didn’t exactly know what, if anything, was going on between Ramon and Zeyla and if they were more than just friends, but she was glad for the support.
Jax pulled out a chair, and Ramon dragged one over after confirming the older man with the newspaper didn’t need it. He rotated it and sat leaning against the back. “So what do we know about this guy? Other than the fact that he kept her after his friend died.”
Kenna had spoken to Megan in the ambulance on the way over here, Joseph tucked to her side. The EMT hadn’t been able to do much, considering she had no pressing injuries and didn’t respond to any of his requests. She had answered Kenna’s questions, though. Probably because that made it easier to ignore the EMT.
“Megan told me that she’d already moved in with Mitch before she was reported missing. Neither mom nor her dad paid much attention, and no one really cared where she went. The police did come to the house to ask about her, but Carl is the one who answered the door back then. They were roommates at that point, so Carl told the cops that Mitch and Megan had left town. Headed for Florida, or California, he didn’t know which. They bought the whole story, and no one ever came back to ask about her. No one knew she was being held there, abused and tormented into not even stepping outside the front door.”
“So sad.” Zeyla shook her head. “They didn’t follow up and never checked anything else.”
Kenna hadn’t read the missing person file but figured that was likely accurate. “I’m more interested in going back and talking with Doctor Elenor Walsh about how she not only misconstrued the cause of death, but how she also neglected to include the fact that the deceased had recently given birth before she died.”
Jax reached over and put a hand on her knee.
“Where’s the connection to you-know-who?” Ramon looked around, like saying the D-word aloud and mentioning the name of their enemy was taboo. Or risky.
She’d done it a moment ago. “I’d love an answer to that. It could be a number of things.”
Zeyla sat back in her chair. “Mitch. Carl. Some other parentage of the kid. It could be Samantha’s parents, and they wanted her death covered up. For whatever reason scumbags do that sort of thing.” She drifted into a slight British accent. “Megan. The cops investigating. Some witness, or bystander. Who knows.”
“Hopefully, we can narrow it down more than that,” Jax said. “I’m praying Maizie comes up with something.”
Ramon glanced at Kenna, but she wasn’t sure why. She held his gaze until he shrugged.
“Wanna tell the rest of the class?” A slight smile tugged at Jax’s lips.
Kenna pushed out a long breath. “It’s nothing.”
Ramon shook his head. “Zip. Zilch. Nada.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jax said. “But I want to thank the two of you as well. We appreciate the backup.”
Zeyla shrugged. “You should’ve shot him before we got there. Or let me do it. This whole thing would be a lot easier to contain.”
