She could see Maizie out of the corner of her eye, sitting at the table with her laptop facing where Kenna stood. All she could do was nod. Give the sensation a second to pass. “I’m okay.”
The kettle clicked off.
“I’ll make your drink,” Maizie said. “You get some rest.”
“Thanks.” Kenna took her phone, and wandered to the bedroom, where she crawled onto the bed and slumped down with her head on the pillow, lying on her left side. A moment later she could see Jax and Maizie having a whispered conversation.
There were still at least ten days for this baby to stay right where she was and keep growing, and be safe.Nothing to worry about.
She leaned the edge of her phone on the bed so she could see the screen and realized she had missed a call.
Kenna dialed her voicemail and put in the code. “Probably spam.” She didn’t have the number saved.
Jax appeared at the entrance to their bedroom, holding a steaming mug. “What’s that?”
“Kenna? Why didn’t you answer the phone?” A child. A young girl. “I don’t know where I am. Kenna, help me.”
Everything in her chilled. “Ellayna.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Across town, on a residential street, Jax strode down the sidewalk toward Lieutenant Ryson. Surrounded by a group of cops in tactical gear, mostly SWAT officers, he was currently on the phone.
Ryson spotted him, and the shift in his body language drew the attention of the other officers. He said something into his phone, then hung up. “We have it. Let’s go.”
One of the officers in SWAT gear held up a hand to stay Jax’s approach. He put a hand on a rifle that was currently clipped to his vest. “Sir?—”
“He’s with us, Simmons.” Ryson motioned for Jax to go with him. “Everyone, move into position.”
Ryson didn’t give Jax much chance to catch up, so Jax picked up his pace and jogged the last few paces on the salted sidewalk. The grit crunched under his boots. He’d double-layered his shirt with base-layer thermals and stuck with a thinner long-sleeve outer layer, with a protective vest over it.
Part of him would still rather be wearing a badge, but Jax loved this life.
Ryson fast walked to the few cops who’d hunkered down where they could see the front door of the house.
“You got the warrant squared away?” Jax asked him.
Ryson nodded. “Soon as the judge found out Ellayna called your wife, he signed it. This guy had her into something she never should have been into. I mean,interviewinga twelve-year-old for his podcast? Talk about sick.”
Jax said, “We don’t even know for sure if this is the guy, but it’s looking pretty good. Wallace Lofton has an online account at this site that’s like a dark web eBay. He buys and sells mementos from crime scenes. The more gruesome, the better.”
Ryson looked like he wanted to hurl. “And he might have the whole family, including a toddler, in there?”
Jax nodded with his lips pressed together.
“Kenna okay? I figured she’d be here.”
“She’s fine.” Jax prayed that the girl would answer the phone, even if Maizie said it wasn’t pinging off any cell towers. “Probably trying to track Ellayna.”
“How’s that work if Zeyla found the kid’s phone under the bed?” Ryson scanned the house, not once looking at Jax.
For the operation to succeed, neither of them could afford to miss something if it happened. “She was calling from a different phone. A burner.”
Ryson said, “All right.” He lifted a radio to his mouth. “All positions, move in.”
Jax drew his weapon.
Ryson glanced at it. “Don’t discharge that unless you have to. Even if I have a chief who told me to give you carte blanche access to anything you want.”
