“People who do bad things, like kidnap families. I don’t mean to worry you, but there’s nothing about this situation that reassures me.” Kenna stood. “I believe they’re in very real danger, and I intend to find them.”
Denise didn’t quite meet her gaze. “How would I know about people like that?” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I hope you do find them. They’ve been through so much. They don’t deserve this.”
Kenna stuck her hands in her coat pockets. “Denise, is Ellayna the kind of kid who would take it upon herself to do an interview with a true crime podcaster to talk about her experience with the Seventh Day Killer? Would she have told her mother about it?”
Denise sighed. “I don’t want to say she’s that kind of child, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Did she really do it?”
Kenna nodded. “We have the audio. He interviewed her.”
And if they didn’t find out who he was, they might never solve this case.
Denise said, “I have no idea if she told her mother about it. None of them said anything to me last time I saw them.”
“And when was that?” Jax asked.
“A couple of weeks ago. Abe had a head cold, and Crystal asked me to go to the store and pick up her grocery order. Other than the baby being sick, they seemed fine.”
“Thank you for your time,” Kenna said.
She walked first to the front door, and Jax protected her back. Then he went first outside, trusting that Denise wasn’t a threat—at least not any more than someone out front might be.
But there was no one on the street, just the same chilly scene of old snow and dampness everywhere. The blue sky didn’t seem to fit, but the lack of clouds just made everything colder, and the temperature hadn’t warmed enough to melt the remainder of the snow.
The rental he’d picked up might not have the same armor plating as their vehicle, but it was a whole lot less conspicuous to drive while the other one was being fixed.
Kenna got in the front seat and checked her phone. She had a missed call. Zeyla had followed that up with a text. “Zeyla is at the house. She said she found Ellayna’s phone.”
“Good. We need to find them.”
“Problem is what we might find when we do.” She didn’t want to lose hope that the young family would still be alive, but no one had received a ransom demand. Unless that was what Marcus had been doing that got him killed. “We have more questions than answers right now.”
Jax put the car in drive and pulled out. “Let’s go see what the phone can tell us.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
As soon as Jax pulled the car into the RV park, she spotted Preston sitting at the picnic bench with his laptop open. He had a jacket under him on the seat, a hot cup beside him, and he wore a beanie and a pair of fingerless gloves. Thick sweater and jeans. He looked like a model from an L.L. Bean catalog.
Jax had just parked when Maizie opened the door to the RV like she knew they’d arrived. Kenna gave her a wave and got out. “You connected to the phone?”
Maizie said, “Yeah. How did it go with Abe’s grandma?”
“No idea who might’ve taken them. No idea who killed Marcus.”
Maizie’s expression saddened. “They must be so scared.”
Jax hopped up to the stepstool in front of the door and gave the young woman a side hug. “We’re going to find them. And we need to keep praying that they know God is with them, as much as we’re praying for a lead.”
Kenna didn’t want to say aloud that she was starting to wonder if the family was still alive. Gerald Rickshire had implied he was connected toDominatus, something that could link the disappearances to that group.
The only play she had to find out if it was true would be to call the president.
Kenna went over to the picnic bench and sat opposite Preston on the cold seat. “What are you working on?” She was assuming it was family business, but it could just as easily be personal.
“I just got a call. Your car repairs will be finished tomorrow morning.”
Kenna’s brows rose. “That fast?”
He shrugged.
