Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
Bear looked at her, a haggard expression on his face. “We didn’t take Maizie.”
“Your people took Ellayna. Why would I believe you didn’t take Maizie?” Kenna looked out at the view off her front porch. What a nightmare this had turned into. Cold air blew across the snowy fields and rattled the screen door. Kenna spotted the dogs running across a field and heard a whistle.
She looked back at Bear. “Let them go, and we’ll talk about this, because you guys have some explaining to do.”
“We don’t work for you, Kenna.”
She didn’t think they worked for her, but she had thought they were friends. Colleagues. People who kept each other in the loop and shared information. She was about to argue but didn’t get the chance.
He said, “We work with the president.”
“Is that supposed to put us on the same side, then? The president exposed my team to the world and put us all under the spotlight. And for what? So she could make herself look better. Now it seems like you’re the reason behind everything going on with us.
” She leaned back in the rocking chair. “What am I supposed to believe? Except that you kidnapped a family and are holding them against their will.”
Bear said, “They’re good in the car. We need to talk first.” He grabbed his radio and held the button. “All positions hold at the vehicles.”
The MSI operatives started to back up to the vehicles, creating a perimeter around them. No one relaxed. If anyone with MSI made a wrong move, Preston’s security team would open fire.
Bear said, “There’s a faction of MSI that broke off from us when our boss, Earl Jonas, was killed. They went their way, and we went ours.”
Jax had told her about that because it happened right around the time he rescued her from Dominatus. Yet another time when Maizie had been in danger, and Kenna hadn’t been able to help.
She wouldn’t let Maizie suffer now.
Bear continued, “They split from us, and we haven’t been able to figure out what they were up to.”
“You were busy,” Jax said. “Taking over old military bases that Schnell controlled. Scooping up assets after he was arrested. Building up your team with our people.”
None of this convinced her that they didn’t have Maizie.
But if it was some rogue division of MSI, then they’d knocked her out with something that wouldn’t hurt the baby.
Not that she was going to thank them, but with the Dominatus people she’d met being so adamant that they didn’t want to hurt her baby, that might be the only part that fit.
“And working for the president,” Jax finished.
“Which is funny,” Kenna said. “Because I thought we were the ones under her thumb.”
A tendon in Bear’s jaw flexed. “A few weeks ago, we intercepted a transmission between the interim Grand Master and the rest of Dominatus.
It said that they intended to choose a new leader and that it would involve testing each of the candidates to see who came out on top.
That person would be the new leader, along with their spouse.
A single person with authority, or a power couple who could push the group into the future.
“One of the names on the list was yours. One was the president. There are a few others on it, such as Petyr Blazevic and a guy we found in Norway—the Dominatus accountant, Lief Holmberg. Each one was to face a test that would stretch them to their limits.”
Bear shifted his weight from one boot to the other. Resigning himself to telling the whole story. “Also on the list were your mother, Amara, and Bruce.”
“A power couple.”
“We had to take several players off the board. We knew if we could control the outcome of the tests, we could ensure the person we wanted was sworn in as the new leader. We went to the president with a plan to make sure it was her that ended up in charge. I mean, she’s a public figure.
She has a solid reputation and is gaining popularity.
If we paired her with one of the men on the list, she could land in the top spot. ”
“And you believed she would be a good fit as their leader?”
Bear looked at her. “We told her that if she became dangerous, we would take her out.”
“You threatened to end the life of the president of the United States?” Jax asked him, a dark look on his face.
Bear said, “We’re at war with these people. This is how we end the war.”
“What about Jax and me?” Kenna asked. They’d certainly thought through the plan. She wanted to know to what extent they’d done that.
Bear sniffed. “We knew what the test was going to be.”
“The killer was hired to take out the baby and Crystal and kidnap Ellayna so I’d have to find her.”
Bear nodded. “That’s why we sent you the contract, so you’d understand.”
“You intercepted and saved their lives.”
“We’ve been keeping them safe. But we need that tech to finish the job. We have to make sure the president gets the vote. That’s why she’s getting married tomorrow to the Norwegian accountant. The software will manipulate the polling and ensure a win.”
“You’re going to rig the election,” Stairns said.
Bear nodded. “Then we control Dominatus.”
“What about Shawn Terrance, Marcus Neerwood, and Wallace Lofton. Three men dead because of this.” She shifted her weight on the chair, and it started to rock, which meant she had to keep hold of the shotgun.
“There’s a Dominatus asset onto us. She’s trying to find information about my team so she can stop us,” Bear said. “I’m hoping she finds the faction first. They’re the ones who shot at you and Zeyla.”
Kenna wasn’t going to admit she’d met the asset. “Who planted Zeyla’s prints at the murder scenes?”
“The Dominatus test had to strip you of your team. That’s why Zeyla was taken out of play. And likely Maizie, too.” Bear looked like he was about to lose his cool.
“Your people? Working for Dominatus? That’s who is doing all this, putting me through my test?” The asset had to be Sylvia Caughton. Kenna had been played on more than one front through this whole thing. “They should’ve told me so I could let them know where they could shove their test.”
Bear said, “I’ll send a team, and they’ll get Maizie back. These are my people who went rogue. It’s my responsibility to clean up the mess.”
He had to know they’d spoken to the killer. After all, the team who took Maizie knew where to find them. “We have an IP address for the person who hired the contract killer to take out Ellayna’s family.”
“Chicago?”
She frowned. “How did you know where the IP address would lead?”
“The person behind all this is the interim Grand Master. The governor of Illinois,” Bear said.
She couldn’t picture the man’s face in her mind, but she could imagine what kind of person he was. “Of course, it’s a governor.”
“The president is getting married in Chicago tomorrow. The governor will be officiating. They’re going to force the vote right after the ceremony and get the GM to swear them in as the couple in charge of all Dominatus.”
“Honestly,” Kenna said. “I don’t care what they’re doing. I don’t want anything to do with this. You should have told me they were going to be testing me. I’d have made it real clear where I stand on being considered as the new leader of Dominatus. The answer is no.”
The only thing she cared about was Maizie.
“You don’t get to object. That’s just how it works, and you were on the list.” Bear lifted a hand and shrugged. “None of us can stop it.”
“So they’d have killed me if I refused?”
“No, that would have harmed the baby,” Bear said. “They’d have killed Jax.”
Kenna stared at him, her lips pressed tight together.
“None of us asked to be a part of this. That’s why my team left you out of it. We didn’t want you anywhere near them or any of their operatives. We were trying to keep you safe, Kenna. To let you live your life.”
By giving her a constructed “test” to keep her occupied? Of course, they’d think that would satisfy her.
She had more questions. “Where are Bruce and Amara?”
Bear said, “They’re supposed to be witnesses at the wedding. That way, they can put their collective vote toward the president and Lief.”
“This entire situation is insane.” She wanted to shake some sense into him and all of them.
“Give me the tech you got from the software company. I’ll let the family out of their car, and we’ll leave. You don’t need to have anything to do with it.”
Jax folded his arms. “We’re supposed to sit here and wait for you to get Maizie back from the people who were your team? There’s no way we’re going to do nothing.”
“As soon as I’m able, I’ll find them. I’ll get her back for you.”
Stairns shook his head. “Not good enough. Not after what she’s been through.
We’re not waiting for you to make this deal with the president and get yourselves in a position of power so you can think you’re controlling Dominatus.
You’re all cracked if you think they’re going to listen to you.
That having your pick in power will change anything. ”
Bear said, “I get that you care about Maizie. I care about Maizie. We all do. But this is about the whole world. We can’t let them choose their leader. We have to make sure the choice is the right one.”
“You can have the tech. You give us Ellayna and her family, and I suppose we owe you for saving their lives. But you’re going to send Ramon, Amara, and Bruce home. You’re going to give us what we need to find Maizie, and then you’re never going to contact us again.”
Jax glanced at her.
Kenna wasn’t going to back down. “You and I”—she motioned between herself and Bear—“we’re done.”
“Bruce and Amara—”
“I don’t care what you have planned or who you’ve forced to be involved.” Kenna lifted her chin, wanting them back with her but knowing they could take care of themselves. “I only want my family back, and you’re going to make that happen. Maizie. Ramon. Amara and Bruce. Send them all home, Bear.”
Bear turned his head and stared at the line of vehicles. Chewing over what she’d said? It wasn’t that complicated. And she was so done with this. He’d made the wrong choice, and now Maizie was caught in the middle.
Kenna was not going to allow her to become collateral damage.
“People are getting killed. Lives are being destroyed because of these people. Because of their tests. Because they think they can do whatever they want.” She took a breath.
“Now you have my people in danger, right in the middle of this insane plan. Maizie is in danger. Amara and Bruce have to stand up in front of people who’ve been trying to kill them for years.
Ramon is a guy trying to do the right thing, and what do you have him doing? ”
“He would have stopped us.”
“What does that tell you about what you’re doing?
Ramon is a guy who chose integrity instead of descending into the depths of what life could have turned him into.
He chose to protect people and work every day to bring justice and make the world a better place,” she said.
“The fact that what you’re doing put you on opposite sides of this war should be a huge red flag that what you’re doing is not the right thing. ”