She should probably be concerned for other children being exposed to evil, but it felt like taking on the weight of the world right now. With how pregnant she was, Kenna wanted to spend a short period of time worrying about her baby. Focusing on her child.
Zeyla said, “The police are going to investigate Neerwood’s murder, but it’ll take them weeks to come up with a suspect. The detective told me fingerprints and DNA can take that long just to reach the point where it’s tested. By then, the guy will be long gone, out of the country, probably.”
Maizie lowered her fork, a bit of cheesy lasagna on the tines. “Do we know if it might be connected to what happened to Shawn Terrance? Like, what if it’s the same killer?” She put the fork in her mouth.
Kenna wiped her hands on her napkin. “I doubt the deaths are connected to each other, but it’s possible the same person was hired to…”—she glanced at Luci, who grinned at her with cheese around her mouth—“do the job.”
“So an assassin?” Zeyla perked up.
“Either way, we still need to find Ellayna and her family,” Jax said. “If Neerwood was taken out because of it, that means he knew something. Now we’ll never know what it was.”
“Unless he wrote it down or sent the information to someone.” Maizie lifted her brows. “I’ll ask the PD techs I’ve been talking to if we can take a look.”
Ryson glanced at the young woman. “Good idea.” He nodded, working on his own plate.
Kenna said, “We need to unpack his life. See who he’d have confided in.”
Jax nodded, finishing up his bite. “Maybe he has a girlfriend or best friend, or even his mother. He might’ve shared concerns with them.”
Valentina shifted the baby from where he’d been nursing, and her husband accepted the sleepy child. He dropped a kiss on Valentina’s forehead. “I’ll put him down.”
She said something in Spanish, in a soft voice, that Kenna didn’t catch.
Ryson took the baby down the hall, while Valentina removed the cover and cut a bite of her lasagna with the side of her fork. “Anything else we can talk about, besides murder?”
Zeyla leaned over the corner and made a little figurine of a horse dance across the table toward Luci, who squealed in delight. “Ma-dur!”
Valentina’s eyes flared. “Great. Now I’m being a bad influence.”
Kenna sputtered. “I’m not a bad influence.”
“I love you, girl.” Valentina shot her a look. “But not much of what you do is child-friendly.”
Jax sounded like he was trying not to laugh.
“But I guess you’ll figure it out soon enough.” Valentina motioned to Kenna’s baby bump.
“You think I’m going to be terrible at this.” The irritation—disappointment?—was going to give her heartburn.
“I didn’t say that.” Valentina shook her head.
Ryson wandered back in, holding the baby monitor. “Say what?”
His wife glanced at him as he settled back at the table. “That Kenna is going to be a terrible mother.”
“You told her about our conversation?”
Kenna glared at him. “Excuse me?”
Ryson looked like his hand had been caught in the proverbial cookie jar. “It’s just…” He didn’t continue.
Valentina stepped in to save him. “You aren’t going to be a terrible mother, Kenna. We just… No one knows what they’re doing when they have a child. You learn as you go and hope you don’t mess things up too badly.”
Beside her, Ryson nodded.
“You’re going to choose your own path, and it isn’t going to look like what anyone else thinks youshouldbe doing.”
Kenna pressed her lips together. Jax reached over and held her hand.
