Maizie eyed her. “You know something.”
Kenna shrugged. She’d looked through the photos on that real estate website and seen the difference between the living room when the house was purchased eighteen months ago—before it was turned into a rental property—and the living room in its current state.
A low-slung, dark gray sectional hugged the wall. A TV unit was covered in cases for game console disks. No art on the walls, but for a single man, maybe that wasn’t so surprising. He hadn’t lived here long enough to make it his. Except for the changes that—she assumed—he would’ve run by his landlord.
“What?”
Kenna said, “I studied the interior photos we found online before we came. The detailing in the wood columns of the fireplace surround isn’t the same.”
Maizie dashed over just as Jax and Zeyla came back in. Zeyla glanced at Kenna, then at Jax and waved away whatever she saw. “It’s been minutes. You guys don’t need to make moony eyes at each other because it’s beenso longsince you’ve seen each other.” She stepped up behind Maizie. “What are we looking at?”
The young woman crouched, explaining about the detailing. “Maybe there’s a hidden compartment, or something.”
“Or he just liked this trim better than what was previously there.” Zeyla went to the other column.
What did Zeyla mean about “moony eyes”? Jax was just looking at her. Then again, when he looked at her likethat. She cleared her throat. “Find anything?”
He shook his head, about to say something when the doorbell rang.
Maizie spun around, almost falling out of her crouch. “What do we do?”
Jax said, “You rely on your team.” He strode out of sight, down the hall.
Kenna pulled her gun because having it ready in her hand was always better than being caught off guard. She had no intention of getting into a gunfight, fistfight, or any other kind of fight.
She backed up to the wall and peered around the corner just as Jax opened the front door. He held his gun behind his leg, out of sight. He’d swapped his FBI suit for more casual clothes lately, and today he wore black boots, tactical black pants with plenty of pockets, and a long-sleeved Henley in light gray.
“Can I help you?”
A high-pitched squeal came from the doorstep, and Kenna spotted a flash of blonde hair beside his shoulder. “It is you! I thought I saw theteam. Are you really all here in Pueblo? Are you investigating a murder?” The woman gasped. “Is it aserial killer?”
Jax stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind him.
Kenna turned back to the fireplace and the two women in the living room. “Nosy neighbor came over to fangirl.”
Zeyla smirked. “You probably want to go out there and rescue your husband from an overzealous suburban housewife.”
“He’s a big, strong guy,” Kenna said. “I’m sure he can handle one woman.”
Maizie grasped the pillar on the left of the fireplace, wrapping her hands around it. She wiggled it away from the wall, and it popped free. “Here we go.”
Kenna wanted to cross the room and see, but right here, she had a better vantage point of the back patio door and the hallway. “What is it?”
Maizie dug behind the wood in what looked like a recess. Maybe a cutout in the wood used as a secret hiding place. “Flashdrive.” She held it up. “I think this is what Shawn Terrance was killed for.”
Chapter Three
Maizie swung her backpack from her shoulders and pulled out a tablet. She inserted the flash drive into a port on the side but quickly shook her head. “Nothing is coming up. Like I didn’t plug anything into this port. It’s not registering the flash drive.” She paused for a second, chewing on her lip.
“What is it?” Now that they had what they were looking for, they needed to hit the road. Before whatever was causing this antsy feeling between her shoulder blades came into fruition.
Years of investigating murder had left Kenna with instincts that now yielded to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Either way, she figured that the impulse to pack up and leave because of safety would protect all of them. The adults in the room, and the unborn baby she was carrying.
“This kind of flash drive is something I’ve seen before,” Maizie said. “I actually bought one online a couple of months ago. The drive pairs with a port that is effectively its twin. You can only access it by marrying the two together.”
Zeyla shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “So there’s a port somewhere in this house? Or some kind of drive?” She turned around to the fireplace and tried to peel back the column on the opposite side. “This won’t budge.”
“Too easy to hide it there.” Kenna looked around. “It will be somewhere out of sight.”
