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A second later, the building she’d been in exploded.
“There were people in the basement,” she pointed out. Including some who were innocent of the crimes Kart and his friends committed. “You just killed them all.”
The van raced through the broken front gate, and she spotted a line of people walking down the dirt road. They turned one by one as the van passed them, each one haggard and covered in soot. Navarro’s men had set them free, then blown the building.
Kenna had to know if they had killed everyone. “What about Kart?”
Someone said, “Está muerto.”
She hoped he really was dead.
They drove in silence for twenty minutes before the van pulled over. She spotted a rusty pickup ahead, and one man in the driver’s seat. The door slid open, and one of Navarro’s men waved her out. “Come.”
She climbed out past the man who liked that single-word order. “Gracias.”
He grinned, then the van was gone in a cloud of dust.
Stairns climbed out of the pickup truck. He looked her up and down and winced. “Hospital.”
For once, Kenna didn’t argue.
ChapterFifteen
By the time she spotted it, Kenna wasn’t so sure. She gripped the door handle. “You know, I might not need to see a doctor.”
Stairns pulled into the hospital parking lot, the building a squat two stories that couldn’t be much larger than a medical center in the US. Probably because they were so far from a big city. “I have a place inside where you can wash up and change your clothes.”
“Okay. But why can’t I do that at the hotel?” They were still in Cielo Ardiente. Part of her had expected him to drive to an airport, or straight to the border. But Maizie had said she was in town at a hotel.
So why the hospital?
Stairns shoved the rattling pickup into park and cut the engine. “Because Jax is here, and I figured you’d want to see him.”
She gaped. “Still? Why haven’t they taken him back to the US already?”
“They decided it was too risky to move him with his wounds. They want to wait until he’s more stable before they transport him back home. Something about a head injury.”
Her stomach lurched. “So the hospital is crawling with FBI agents?”
“I don’t want Maizie seeing you until you wash up and change.”
Kenna wanted to fire back something sarcastic about how terrible he apparently thought she looked, but just couldn’t bring herself to form the words. It would be a while before she’d be able to quip back about anything.
“All I need is sleep.” But if Jax really was here, then she definitely wanted to see him. Could she leave the country knowing Jax was still here, with his health undetermined? She ran her fingers along the handle.
“Let’s just find out how he is.” Stairns shoved his door open. “And if you happen to run into a doctor, then no harm, no foul.”
She climbed out, saying nothing. If he wanted to push it, that was up to him. The fact was that her skin itched in a way that made her want to stop and scratch everything. “I need a shower.” But she knew it wasn’t that. “And some chips and queso.”
They walked together to the front doors.
Stairns glanced over. “You’re going to want to go easy on the spicy foods. Maybe stick to something plain at first and see how your body does with it. You look like you’ve lost more than a few pounds.”
She saw the question in his expression but didn’t offer him an answer. She wanted to not say anything at all and keep her own confidence, at least for a little while.
She’d have to talk through everything that happened. Run it all down for them, so they knew what she’d been through. Maybe Elizabeth had an appointment for her—since Stairns’ wife seemed to be doing a great job with Maizie.
Stairns spoke in Spanish to the older woman behind the desk who nodded and waved toward the hall. Kenna frowned. He must have seen her expression, because he said, “I speak enough Spanish to get by. Don’t lose your mind.”
