Page 58 of Now or Never
“If someone is killing the next generation, it could be another part of the plan.” Kenna paused. “Or it’s a distraction meant to keep me from figuring out what they’re really after.”
She wouldn’t put it past Petyr or the president to try and distract her with a threat. Especially right now. Even if the ghost was out there killing people, it could still be a deadly plan to keep Kenna and her people occupied so they didn’t work out whatDominatuswas really doing.
Kenna said, “What do you know about theImperatorisvote?”
“They have a few contenders for the top spot,” Felicity said. “One is the Croatian president. If he becomes the head of the European Union in the next few years, no one will be surprised.Dominatuswould have a foothold there as well.”
Kenna pushed out a long breath. “I didn’t want to get involved in international politics.” She shook her head. “Who wants the Croatian president dead?”
“Anyone running against him forImperatoriswould be my guest. They’re all in a battle for power, with differing views on how it should be run.”
Kenna figured the person who wanted control of most of the governments of the world was the top contender for the suspect behind all of this. The bombing and the lawyers being framed, the murders and anything else going on right now. “Do you have a list of suspects?”
Felicity smirked, but it seemed kind of sad. “That’s what they are. And yet I’m the one going to prison for life.”
Kenna wanted to tell her to watch her back, but what she needed was evidence that they’d been framed so she could get them released. “How many of you were arrested?”
“Three.” Felicity’s eyes rimmed with tears. “Someone knows who they all are, but their name will be on the list. If you track them down, how do you know you’re not staring the culprit in the face?”
Kenna had friends who would track down each one of the suspects, assassinate them all, and head home to celebrate a job well done. She wasn’t going to call Preston Lightwood or anyone with Miami Security International—or what was left of them.
That might have been exactly what the lawyers were also planning. It put Zeyla and Amara’s motives into the “suspect” column. All because Kenna had been ignoring the fight and trying to live her life on her terms.
“Would killing anyone vying forImperatoriseven solve the problem?” Kenna asked. “Someone else would just fill the void and take control of the organization.”
“So instead of someone who parses out information to individual groups, we’ve got a unifying figure. Let’s call him Hitler for the sake of this scenario.” All the upset Felicity had been feeling a second ago was gone now. “What guarantee do any of us have that Hitler is even the worst option to be the new head ofDominatus? What if we choose wrong and end up making it all so much more terrifying?”
“Does anyone know who they all are?”
“I suppose they do, among themselves they’re aware of who the competition is. I figure that’s why one is trying to kill the competition and framing us for the attempt. They’ve probably got someone else out there pulling off parts two and three of the plan.”
“And if they’re all taken out, then we have no idea if we’ve unleashed a worse monster on the world.”
Felicity shrugged. “We don’t know who’s in the wings, holding out for the right time to take over.”
“Is Petyr the best option?” Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if the man who considered himself to be her father was the leader ofDominatus. It could be awful, but not nearly as horrifying as the alternative possibilities. That was the essence of what Felicity had said.
“I suppose if I’m in here, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve got other problems.”
“I’ll decode the images,” Kenna said. “We’ll do the work to prove you were all framed. You don’t need to spend the rest of your life in here.”
Felicity stood, the chains jingling as she rose. “Just donate some books to the prison library. I’ll need something to do.” She turned to the side and yelled for the guard.
He escorted her out, leaving Kenna alone in the room, trying to figure out this whole mess.
Time to get to work.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kenna pushed out the front door, already dialing Maizie’s number. She blinked at the sun peeking out between gray clouds. The prison parking lot consisted of rows of mid-range cars, nothing fancy, all standard colors. In the center of the lot, Jax walked toward her, while Ramon and Zeyla waited by the two cars parked side by side.
Maizie answered the phone before the first ring. “How did it go?”
“Tell me about the wildfire first, and what’s going on there.” Kenna tucked the phone between her cheek and shoulder while she put her sweater back on over her business clothes.
“Firefighters came through the property, and Elizabeth made them all coffee. They ate lunch on the lawn.”
“Did you talk to them, or stay in the Airstream?”
