Page 40 of Now or Never
“A wildfire?” Jax leaned against Kenna’s shoulder and put his arm around her, his elbow on the roof of the car.
“There was a big storm a couple of nights ago, and the lightning started a fire.” Maizie’s tone was laced with worry. “It’s pretty crazy, but Craig said stuff like this happens sometimes. It’s just usually earlier in the year, like over summer. He said because it’s been so dry this year, that everything is just going up.”
Kenna exhaled. “We’ll pray for the situation, and for you guys.”
Only after she said it did she realize how easily that sentiment had come, and how it wasn’t just a platitude. She would pray, because she knew it was the only thing she could do that would be effective in a situation like that.
“Thanks,” Maizie said. “Elizabeth and Craig said we should come to DC if we do have to evacuate, so we’re in the process of packing up just in case.”
“What about Cabot?” Kenna asked, suddenly missing her old dog.
“I’m not sure, because we might have to fly. But there’s, uh, someone who can watch her. Someone that”—she cleared her throat—“that I know. He and Cabot get along pretty well.”
“It’s serious enough he’s been to the trailer? Wow.”
“I didn’t let him come inside. That would’ve been weird, and he doesn’texactlyknow what I do for you. Just some of the admin stuff. And I showed him the website.”
“Are you going to tell your adoptive parents what his name is?”
Maizie was quiet for a moment. “Andrew, but I’m not telling you his last name because you don’t need to have him investigated, and Idon’twant Ramon paying him a visit in the middle of the night and scaring the life out of him.”
Jax grinned.
Kenna laughed to herself, keeping it silent so Maizie didn’t hear. “Of course, we can’t approve of anyone in your life without meeting them first.” She tried to force all humor out of her tone and sound stern.
Maizie sighed. “Craig told me to tell you about him. But it is pretty new. When he came over, it was for a school project, and we were still just friends back then.”
“And now?”
“We’re still mostly just friends, but…I don’t know. I have no idea how to do this. We talked about it, and we both agreed to take things slow.”
“In the middle of a wildfire and the case of our lives?” Kenna said.
Jax squeezed her shoulder. “Happy for you, Maze.”
“In the middle of the case of our lives?” she repeated.
“It’s a good distraction,” Maizie said. “And taking it slow doesn’t mean I’m distracted all the time. He knows I have to work and it’s important.”
Kenna didn’t want to worry that the guy in this young woman’s life was an agent of their enemy, but it was a possibility they had to consider. That and the wildfire being a design to force them from their safe place. Were it not for the lightning storm, Kenna might have thought it was intentional.
She closed her eyes for a second and prayed silently, determined to cling to the Lord in every situation. Even ones that didn’t seem scary.
“Speaking of work,” Jax said while she finished up her prayer, “tell us about this address, and the packet you received. Give us the rundown.”
“Okay, here goes,” Maizie began. She sounded confident again. Now that the big secret was out, things could blow over and get back to normal. Back to work. “The code unlocked everything, but there’s so much we couldn’t even print it and divide up who’s reading what. Elizabeth and Craig are working through parts of it on their own, listening to it super fast. But it could still take days to get through all of it.”
“But you found an address for where they were working.” Kenna stared at the building. “This place is so generic you’d never think anything interesting is happening here.”
“That’s probably the point,” Jax said. “We should go inside and look around.”
There were a lot of contributing factors that went into how they chose to do that, and he didn’t need to explain them all aloud. Kenna had peace about it, because they were here to protect each other. He could go inside alone if it came to it, and if they saw anyone threatening, they’d be out of here in seconds.
She leaned closer into her husband’s side. “I’m ready for some action.”
He squeezed her shoulder.
“Maizie, what is the packet so far?” she asked. “Beyond the address, what’s in the files?”
