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She gasped. “We need to—”
“Kenna.”
She swallowed what she’d been about to say and sat there in his hold, shuddering. Blood. Pain.Maizie.“Jesus, help us.”
Jax’s lips touched the side of her forehead, beside her hair. “Amen.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. Elizabeth. She would have to call Stairns’ wife and tell her what happened.
Please don’t let him die. It’s more than just Maizie and me who need him.
She sucked in a breath that caught.
“Here we are.” The car swung into the parking lot and bumped up the curb. Whichever agent was driving pulled right up to the emergency bay doors. The two of them shoved open their doors. She didn’t even know their names, but they might have saved her family.
The agent caught Stairns before he fell out and hauled him up and inside through the sliding doors. She spotted a couple of doctors, or a doctor and a nurse. A gurney.
“He gave his life for her.”
Jax didn’t let go.
“If he doesn’t make it…”
“Kenna, don’t—”
“If we don’t find her…” She squeezed her eyes shut and fought back the panic building. “I can do it when it’s me. I can handle it.” She’d found the end of herself. Instead of an iron core of strength her dad had instilled in her, Kenna had found…God. At the end of it all, she’d found Him.
Maizie didn’t have that.
“She’s trapped in her nightmare, and I said she would never have to face it again.” Kenna gasped. “I need a phone.” She had to find Maizie.
“That girl is a different person now. Not the kid who suffered all those horrible things.” Jax paused. “She’s strong.”
“It’s only been a few months.” She felt the burn of tears, but her eyes remained dry. “She can’t go back there. She won’t survive.”
“You did. You faced your nightmare, and you’re still here.”
He really thought she’d done that?
Kenna sighed. “Whether I’m whole or not remains to be seen.”
How did she know she hadn’t completely lost it? Maybe she’d cracked mentally and wouldn’t realize it until after everyone else had. Maybe this whole thing had been nothing but a crazy dream, or a figment of her warped mind, and she would wake up, back in that cell with no hope.
Jax dead.
Bradley gone.
No hope. No future.
She hadn’t realized she said his name aloud until Jax sniffed. Kenna turned, facing backward on the seat so her upper body faced him even though it was uncomfortable. She touched both hands to his cheeks and leaned her face close. “Tell me this is real.”
His brow flickered.
“Tell me I’m not imagining you. That I’m not trapped back there still, and you’re dead and I’m all alone. And no one is coming to rescue me.”
His expression softened. He leaned down a fraction and kissed one cheek, then her other. “Feels pretty real to me.”
She could only whimper and hang on. Tight.
