Kenna said, “All he said was find the family. Sounded more like he’s bought in all the way. We haven’t heard from the software company.”
“They got their tech back.” Maizie gave her a pointed look. “If they don’t know we have a copy of all the files, maybe they think the damage from the leak will blow over. Those other guys believed they’d failed after they realized what we gave them wasn’t real.”
“Any break-ins, or incidents at the company office?”
Maizie said, “I’ve been keeping an eye on police reports, social media, and the company website, but there haven’t been any reported incidents. I was wondering if those guys from the bridge were going to try again.”
“The company might purposely keep it hush-hush.” Unless someone suddenly died under suspicious circumstances or was murdered. That was a lot harder to bury. “Question is whether what’s going on here in Salt Lake is connected to what we were working in Pueblo, or if they are two separate incidents with different perpetrators.”
All of it was just a distraction from worrying about Ramon. Kenna grunted. “We have a whole list of things we don’t like about what’s going on, but no concrete proof of anything, andthe bottom line is that Gabby was killed because we took the case. Not to mention that Ramon might be in serious danger. Wherever he is.”
Jax’s expression softened. “What happened to Gabby wasn’t our fault.”
“She might not have been kidnapped if we hadn’t taken the case.” Sometimes, things were just that simple. “She would still be alive.”
Jax said, “Gabby wanted answers about what happened to her brother. None of us knew that would be the result.”
Kenna didn’t know what was going to allow her to let it go. She probably just needed to grieve. Visit the woman’s grave and apologize. But none of it would change what had happened; it would just alleviate some of the guilt.
“So, they tell you to focus on finding Ellayna and her family now,” Maizie said. “Like you need something to do. Like they’re doing you a favor or something.”
Kenna pushed out a long breath.
Her phone rang. She looked at the screen, then lifted it from the counter. “It’s Ryson.” She answered it and put it to her ear. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I’m going to ask you a question, and you’re going to be very careful about your answer.”
She thought about the audio recording from her voicemail because it didn’t sound like there was any other noise on the line. This could be fake like her conversation with Ellayna. “Ryson?—”
She heard a heavy door click shut and then the sound of traffic passing by wherever he was.
“I need you to tell me if you or Zeyla went into Marcus Neerwood’s house. I need to know what you touched. Specifically.”
Kenna’s mind conjured that smell. The realization Marcus Neerwood was dead and had been that way for several days bythe time they found him. “Why do you need to know what we touched at the scene?”
“Just answer the question.”
Kenna didn’t like the sound of this either—add that to the long list of things that were “not okay” right now. “If you find a boot print on the front door, it belongs to Zeyla. I didn’t go inside. She walked around, but I told her not to touch anything. I don’t even think she touched the body. He was clearly already dead.”
“You have two problems.”
“Okay.” Kenna bit her lip.
“The first is that forensics found Zeyla’s print on the frame of the door, like she touched it going out.”
“I watched her step out. She didn’t touch the door frame.”
“The other problem is that the ballistics on the weapon used matches the death of another man shot in his home.”
She already knew the name he was about to give her.
“Shawn Terrance.”
Kenna closed her eyes. “The same person who killed Shawn Terrance also killed Marcus Neerwood.”
Jax shifted in his seat, straightening at that news.
“And the Salt Lake City Police Department believes the killer is Zeyla?”
