"I don't think there's going to be anything easy about it," he said, as he pulled up in front of a light-blue house and turned off the engine.
They sat there for a good minute, and then he unbuckled his seat belt, and she did the same. She followed him to the front door. He rang the bell and then rocked back on his heels, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
First, she heard barking. Then the door opened, and two golden retrievers bounded onto the porch, greeting Jax with happy licks. A woman with blonde hair and brown eyes appeared behind them. Carol Kenin was dressed in cargo shorts and a T-shirt and was short and curvy She gave them a friendly but shocked smile.
"Jax, oh, my gosh, what a surprise." She pulled him in for a hug. "I did not expect to see you at my door, but I'm so happy. And who is this?"
"Maya Ashton," Jax said, stepping back as the dogs now came to greet her.
She tried to pet them as they jumped up and down in front of her.
"Down, boys," Carol commanded.
The dogs settled down, but they were still barking and nuzzling Jax's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Maya. I'm Carol," the woman said.
"It's nice to meet you, too," she replied.
"Well, come inside, you're letting all the heat in." She waved them into the house, and the dogs ran down the hallway as a man came toward them. He was of average height, a bit overweight, with thick, dark hair.
"Jax," he said, giving his son a hug. "You're looking good."
"You, too," Jax replied. "This is Maya."
"Hello," Maya said, a bit taken aback when Rick swept her into a hug. He was certainly a friendly guy.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Carol asked. "I just made some iced tea. Why don't you come back to the kitchen?"
"That sounds great," Jax said, as they followed his parents into the kitchen at the back of the house. They sat down at a round kitchen table by the window while Carol filled tall glasses with tea and then passed them around.
"Now, it's always good to see you," Rick said. "But is there some reason for this visit?"
"There is," Jax admitted.
Rick's smile faded a bit at Jax's tone. "You sound serious."
"I am."
"What is it?" Carol asked with concern. "Has something happened?"
"Something has come up about my—parents." Jax seemed to stumble over the word, as if he were afraid to offend Carol and Rick.
Maya watched their reactions closely. Rick became guarded. Carol looked worried.
"What about them?" Carol asked.
"I found some information about my dad. He was playing chess at an LA club called the Russia House. It appears to have been the gathering place for a Russian spy operation. Dad's name was mentioned in the journal of someone who was most likely a spy. Which leads me to wonder if he was as well."
"You think your father was a spy?" Carol echoed, her eyes widening. "That's crazy."
Maya didn't think she was as surprised as she was purporting to be. There was something about her tone and the quick look she gave her husband.
"We told you before that we did everything we could to find out what happened to them," Rick put in.
"You did tell me that," Jax agreed. "But what we never really discussed was why they brought me to you that weekend. You had moved from Alexandria to Boston a year earlier, and there were babysitters closer to home who had stayed with me before. But they took me to another state, and they packed a bag with clothes that would last weeks, not just a weekend. They made sure I had my favorite toys and my chess set." His voice grew husky with emotion. "And when they left, I remember my mom squeezing me so hard I almost couldn't breathe. She said to always remember how much they loved me and how proud they were of me."
"They just wanted to make sure you were comfortable," Rick said. "You looked them up on your FBI computers and you never found anything about their deaths not being an accident."
"I never found anything about them at all," he admitted. "But now, I have information I didn't have before, and I need you to be honest with me, because, frankly, I could be in danger. I ran into someone at this club. It exists now under another name, and he kept staring at me. He said I reminded him of someone,