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“But he got what he wanted.”
Maizie flinched.
Kenna didn’t let go. “He wanted to see me destroyed, and he did it.” Plus whatever else he’d taken from Maizie that had her like this. “We need to go.”
Maizie shifted.
Kenna spoke the words she imagined her young friend wanted to say. “I don’t want to be here anymore.” They needed to get Maizie to Stairns’ wife, Elizabeth, so they could talk it through, and hopefully soon Maizie would be on the path to being the young woman she had started to become over the past few months.
There were so many other things she wanted to say.
Maizie should never have come down here. Stairns should never have brought her, or allowed her to come. Her young friend should’ve been smarter than to come to Mexico, regardless of their need to find and rescue Kenna.
She wasn’t worth all this.
Jax injured, hospitalized. Stairns now in surgery. Maizie broken…again.
They’d all given so much just to help her.
Too much.
She almost couldn’t handle it. She wanted to tell them all that it hadn’t been worth it. The cost was too high.Shewasn’t worth it.
But the fact they’d taken the risk regardless meant they thought she was, something that turned out to be a kind of grace. A reflection of how God felt about her, and the gift He had given her.
Thank You.
Jax came over and crouched in Maizie’s line of sight. The last thing Kenna wanted was for the girl to be scared of him. But she stiffened on Kenna’s lap and didn’t move. She needed to learn the difference between a good man, and the kind who only wanted to victimize her.
Kenna said, “Thank you for saving both of us.”
Jax leaned down slowly and touched his lips to hers. Just a simple, soft touch. Brief but with a wealth of statement even in something so small. “Always.”
He stood, the stance a whole lot like he was keeping guard.
The gunfire on the shore had ceased.
It took a few minutes, but eventually she heard one of the agents approaching—it had to be a friendly because their sentry didn’t shoot the person. The agent moved to Jax’s side so she could see him without turning around.
The one who had confronted her below deck on the ship crouched. Special Agent Farnes. “Are you ladies all right?”
Kenna nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
“We’re going to search the island. My agents are already going to the structure up there.” He motioned over his shoulder. “So hopefully we can find something that ties the man that took you to a bigger operation.”
She knew it was about the scope of the case, and how wide they could cast the net. That way they might be able to find someone involved that wasn’t dead as of tonight.
They would also want to find the person who’d killed their agent at the compound.
Though, right now Kenna couldn’t figure out who that might be.
“We would like to get out of here,” Kenna said. “We can take one of the boats.”
The skin around Farnes’ eyes flexed. “I will need statements from both of you, and you should get checked out by a doctor. But unless you’ve got a line to a private company that can send a helicopter to pick you up, I’m afraid you’ll be leaving when we do.”
Kenna stared at him. Then she glanced at Jax. “Can I borrow your phone?”
Four hours later, the rented black SUV pulled up outside the hospital in Cielo Ardiente. Not because either of them wanted to see a doctor. Maizie still hadn’t said a word, but Kenna could guess she didn’t want to be seen by a medical professional. Poked and prodded.
