AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not only in case Maizie had doctored the heel of one and could track her.
Kart drove. Benjamin sat on the passenger side, occasionally smirking at her wet hair. No makeup. All so they could head into town and meet with Navarro.
She’d tried to check on Jax, but they refused to let her back in that room. They’d shut her up in a storage closet all night, and she’d slept on the bare floor. Listening to female screams from across the compound. Staring at the ceiling. Praying she didn’t lose hope.
Keep him safe, God.
She didn’t want to be the person who only turned to God when she had nothing else and ignored Him anytime she could take care of things herself. If she decided to believe, it would change everything for her and not just some things.
The car bumped over a rut in the road and onto the blacktop that led into town.
She closed her eyes and tried to push away everything but what she needed to focus on. Thinking about her need for survival meant a chronic level of panic. Calm was the name of the game. Control she didn’t have, except over her reactions and emotions. These men didn’t get to tell her what to think, or how to feel. She might not have power in anything else right now, but she had that.
Nothing was more important than saving Jax.
Not even her need for vengeance.
The distant sound of traffic, the bustle of humanity that occupied hamlets of people where life moved at a steady pace as they went about their business. Kenna wasn’t the kind of person to reach for connection. She preferred the peace of solitude and knowing she was cared about by people she cared for in return.
Until now.
Now it seemed like she needed someone—anyone—to notice her.
She opened her eyes and soaked in the sight of houses. People walked the sidewalk, past cars parked at the curb. She spotted a storefront. A school. In the center of town, a church reached up to the sky as if it possessed the same yearning inside her.
Kart pulled over at the curb down the street from a café on the corner, milling with a few people. Honest, small-town folk. This place would be nice to visit on any other day. Even if some cast furtive glances at them and walked quickly, that was the same as it would be anywhere when Kenna had these men for company.
Kart pushed his door open. “Let’s go.”
Kenna stayed where she was until he reached in the back door and dragged her out by her elbow. She walked the fine line between defiance and a refusal to cooperate. Her leverage over delivering those messages back and forth to the Navarro cartel had dissipated overnight, and she was back to a commodity they could use to get business done, until such a time as Sheriff Preston from Colorado showed up.
Kenna needed to not be around when that happened.
Her feet hit the ground and she stood out of the car.
“Stay here.” Kart closed the door. She took a moment to lean against the back quarter panel while he scanned and held his phone to his ear. After a minute he said, “Copy that,” and stowed his phone. “Let’s move.”
The group of four men and Kenna headed to the café on the corner and a couple of tables that had been pulled together. A harried waitress came out, the shadow of fear in her eyes. She spoke in Spanish, and one of Kart’s guards replied.
The chair had a wood seat and a woven backrest, the upper frame of which dug into her shoulder blades. Kenna welcomed the discomfort that would help keep her aware and alert.
Kart sat beside her, watching the street.
Two minutes later they had a serving of coffee and mugs deposited in front of them on a tray with sugar cubes in a bowl and no cream or milk.
Not waiting for orders, Kenna poured herself a cup. Kart swiped it before she could take a sip, so Kenna poured another one. She remembered when she’d visited Jax at the FBI office in Salt Lake City months ago and the agents she used to work with did the same thing. That slice of normalcy gave her enough to hold on in the next moment.
Navarro crossed the street, surrounded by at least six men. Traffic stopped for him. The morning sun glinted off the shades he wore.
“Gotta hand it to the guy,” Kenna said. “He might be bad, but he looks good doing it.”
Plus his nephew wassupercute. She wasn’t going to mention the child to Kart, though. She had no idea if he knew Navarro had a family, and if it was up to her at all, he wasn’t ever going to find out. A child shouldn’t be a target.
Resolve crested inside her, pushing out the fear that had been constant.
Thank You, God.
He’d given her something else to anchor to in the middle of all this chaos to draw strength from—the innocence of a child. A light moment before everything real came crashing back in.
