Wait and See

Book 0: Kendra Michaels

by Iris Johansen, Roy Johansen

Genres: Female Sleuths; Romantic Suspense; Mystery

Synopsis

Investigator Kendra Michaels—formerly blind and now with uniquely insightful observational skills in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes—returns in this novel from the #1 New York Times and Edgar Award-winning writing duo Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen.

Release date: June 9, 2026

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Print pages: 432

Sample

Adam Lynch ducked as another bullet whizzed by his head. Didn’t these assholes know he had a plane to catch?

BLAM!

Nope, they obviously didn’t care. Lynch crouched low and bolted toward a pile of concrete and crumbling tile. He was at the site of a nineteenth-century school building in what had once been a thriving factory town in these hills. Now, however, the factory, shops, homes, and schools were rubble, relics of a bygone era.

Which he would be, too, if he didn’t find a way out of here, Lynch thought. If he counted correctly, there were four men trying to kill him. He leaned over and found an opening between chunks of concrete and took aim with his automatic.

BLAM! The concrete next to his head exploded before he could squeeze off his shot. He’d been spotted! Lynch rolled away and scrambled toward the remains of a gardening shed.

He stopped to listen.

Three sets of footsteps were charging toward his old location.

But where in the hell was the fourth?

More footsteps, behind him.

He spun around and threw his knife. Contact! Right in the chest. His would-be killer fell less than fifteen feet away.

Close one. He was probably luckier than he should have been. Can’t depend on that kind of luck again.

This was supposed to be a simple mission, he thought ruefully. Fly to the U.K., set up the target, then get the hell out of Dodge.

No such luck.

The simplest jobs were always the ones that could get you killed, his mentor had often told him. The guy was so right; after a lifetime of dangerous missions all over the world, he’d been killed by a dumb, dirty cop in rural Mississippi.

Lynch shook his head. He wasn’t going down. Not here, not today. He retrieved his knife from the man’s body and pressed himself against the old gardening shed.

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! Bullets riddled the backside of the shed, penetrating the tin walls all around him. Except one, which skimmed his back and went through his upper arm.

Dammit! Lynch grabbed his wounded left arm and rolled several feet toward a rusty VW bus. Which, he realized, probably wouldn’t stop bullets any more than the shed.

He stopped and listened. All the movement was still on the other side of the shed. But they were coming his way.

He needed to play offense, not defense.

His sleeve was sopping with blood. Shit. The wound was more serious than he thought. It hurt like hell, and he was getting lightheaded.

Fight through it. He’d been through worse.

“Mr. Lynch . . .” It was a man’s voice speaking in an Eastern European accent. “We don’t want to kill you.”

Sure they didn’t.

He continued. “We just need some information.”

He knew exactly what they wanted, and he also knew that a bullet to his brain would quickly follow. No dice.

Was he trying to elicit a response from him so they could zero in on his location?

No, he realized. The guy was trying to distract him, to keep him from hearing the two other men surely heading his way.

“What do you say, Mr. Lynch? Do we have a deal?”

Lynch peered underneath the van and surveyed the broken patio beyond. No sign of his pursuers, but there was something he couldn’t immediately identify . . . 

Ah, hell.

It was a spotty trail of his own blood, leading directly to him. If the gunmen hadn’t spotted it yet, they soon would. He took off his shirt and wrapped it tightly around his upper arm and the minor wound across his back. That would stop the blood trail, at least for the moment.

Wait a minute . . . Maybe this could work in his favor.

As he watched, two large pairs of feet in matching combat boots stopped at the trail of blood. That’s it, guys, put it together . . . 

Lynch loosened his shirt and backed away, drizzling more of his blood over the cracked pavement. He rewrapped his makeshift bandage and took a new position behind a stack of tractor tires, faded and worn from their age and exposure to the elements.

The men were trying to be quiet as they crept toward the van, but Lynch could hear them splitting up and moving to either side.

The first man appeared from the rear, his assault rifle extended before him. The second man appeared from the front a heartbeat later. They studied the pool of blood where Lynch had been standing only a minute before.

BLAM! BLAM! Lynch dropped them both with two quick shots. The men practically fell on top of each other, dead.

Lynch ran toward the road that had led him to this desolate spot. From there it would only be a mile and a half to the spot where he’d stashed his car, and from there he could—

Oh, shit.

A group of eight men were waiting for him on the road, dressed in the same boots and fatigues as the men he had just killed.

Lynch dropped his automatic and raised his hands. No way could he take on this squad and hope to come out alive. He was good, but he wasn’t that good.

“Still not ready to make a deal?” It was again the man with the Eastern European accent, who had stepped onto the road from behind him. “I wasn’t pleased you managed to take down that many of our men. Unfortunate for you. You’ll wish you’d died much sooner once we start questioning you . . .”

Lynch’s vision blurred, and it was suddenly impossible for him to form words. He had lost too much blood . . . 

He staggered backward as the world spun around him.

The pavement raced toward him.

Darkness.

Wait just a minute. Kendra. What the hell is wrong with your computer?” Olivia stopped just inside the door of Kendra’s condo and fended off her own endearing huge mutt of a dog, who was trying to lick her ear in an ecstatic greeting because her friend and neighbor Kendra Michaels had just brought him back from a long walk. It was a lost cause; in spite of all the attempts to train Harley, he still had lapses when he was certain that Olivia would be gone forever when she walked out the door. That was why she usually asked someone he knew and loved, like Kendra, to walk him when she couldn’t arrange to do it. But today Kendra had decided to take him to her studio, where she counseled early-morning clients in her music therapy practice. Most were young children, and Harley helped them relax with his playfulness and sweet nature. Harley loved his time there, but today he had evidently gotten too excited.

“Down!” Olivia told Harley sternly. He just panted happily and rubbed against her. She pushed him down and frowned at Kendra, whom she could hear chuckling. “It’s not funny. He loves kids. I knew he’d be hyper when he got back, and I was trying to save you. I was going to tell you to just leave him at my condo and I’d soothe him myself. But that turned out to be a disaster, since you didn’t answer your phone—and what the hell is wrong with your email?”

“Strange,” Kendra said. “It was working fine when I accessed it last night. Are you sure you typed in—” She stopped. “Don’t give me that expression. I can feel the venom across the room. I know it was probably my fault. My personal email inbox is probably full again. I wasn’t blaming you. The entire world knows that you’re one of the sharpest businesswomen in this hemisphere and practically never make mistakes.”

“Quite true,” Olivia said as she finally got Harley calmed down. “Though you might have enlarged the compliment a bit. Only this hemisphere, Kendra? I might be blind, but I don’t make mistakes when it comes to computers. Do you ever clean out your email inbox?”

“I said I was sorry,” Kendra said. “But we’ll have to check into it. Let’s change the subject. Yes, Harley did have a great time playing with the children, and they loved him. They couldn’t get over the fact that he has one blue eye and one brown. And he was very gentle with them.”

“Of course he was,” Olivia said. “His instincts are great, he just gets excitable with people he knows and cares about. We both realize he should be better behaved.” She added ruefully, “And the only one who’s ever been able to train him even marginally is Lynch, who’s never around long enough to give him any in-depth lessons. Where is he this time? Any chance of getting him here to do it anytime soon?”

Kendra shook her head. “I doubt it. The last time I talked to him was four days ago. He was on an assignment somewhere in Denmark and planning on leaving there and doing a little prep work somewhere else before he flies back here. I don’t think he’d be eager to drop everything to give Harley a refresher course.” She grimaced. “And I know that the Justice Department wouldn’t think it was worth his time. The last time I checked there weren’t any rogue nations for him to investigate around here, and no wicked international criminals for him to go manipulate.”

“You can never tell,” Olivia murmured. “Maybe he needs to check it out. He may be their superagent, but I bet he’d come here in a second if you needed him.”

“To train Harley?” Kendra chuckled. “You’ve got to be joking. You know I’d never take him away from his work. We have an arrangement.”

“It doesn’t stop him from whisking you away to the nearest exotic place for fun and games whenever he gets the chance. You’re the one who usually puts on the brakes.”

“Because my job working with my music therapy clients may not be earthshaking, but it’s just as important to me as Lynch’s is to him and you know it. Back off, Olivia.”

Olivia shrugged. “Just thought I’d try. We both know that Harley isn’t the only one who could use a bit of care and attention around here. Between your students and occasionally working with the FBI and police, you don’t have much time to think about yourself.”

Kendra nodded. Olivia was right in that there hadn’t been time for much lately. Kendra had been born blind, and Olivia lost her sight in a childhood car accident. They grew up together as students in a special school in nearby Oceanside, but their dynamic changed slightly when, at the age of twenty, Kendra gained her vision via a revolutionary surgical procedure. Although Kendra struggled with pangs of guilt for leaving her friend alone in the dark, Olivia hadn’t shown a trace of envy or bitterness. There had been times when their paths pulled them in different directions, but if anything, they were now closer than ever.

“Okay, Olivia. You can back off now. I already have a mother who has the sense to let me live my own life. I don’t need you to hover over me. Plus, I have coworkers in all my career endeavors that I respect and trust.” She smiled gently. “And when I want a good meal or a friend to talk to, I can just hop on the elevator and go down to your condo and have you at my mercy.” She gave a mock sigh. “That’s providing you can fit me into your busy schedule.”

“I might be willing to push my many clients and devoted fans aside,” Olivia said dryly. She was joking, but Olivia owned and managed a web destination with hundreds of thousands of daily visitors. It was called Outasite, and it was geared toward blind consumers, a market long underserved by the media. The site featured news, interviews, and product reviews, and the worldwide attention made Olivia a frequent commentator on cable news networks. She smiled at Kendra. “Though the next time you don’t answer my phone calls, I may put you on my reject list.”

Kendra frowned. “I’ve accepted your abuse about not responding to your email. That could have happened, though I’m usually very careful. But my phone?” She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone. “No power.”

“You let the charge go down?” Olivia asked.

“It was fully charged when I left the condo with Harley this morning. It should have lasted me for the next forty-eight hours. But it’s dead as a doornail now.” She was examining the phone, trying different ways to get it to boot up. “I guess sometimes weird things happen with phones.”

“Not with my phones,” Olivia said flatly. “And I know Lynch wouldn’t let you be using anything but the best and most reliable one on the market, since it can be safety gear and you’re constantly phoning each other all over the world.”

It was true, but Kendra didn’t want to read anything into the fact that the phone that had never failed her had become inoperable. “But most of the time we send each other emails. It’s more efficient.”

Olivia snorted. “Not when you don’t send it to the correct address.”

Kendra shook her head. “What the hell are you talking about?” Then she remembered that scrap of conversation Olivia had thrown at her when she’d first come into her condo. “My computer. Why did you say something was wrong with it?”

“Because Lynch emailed you a message but he addressed it to me. Or at least I’m the one who received it. It was crazy. That was why I came storming into your condo. I was fed up.”

“I can see why.” Kendra raised the phone to her ear again. What had she expected? Still dead. “I hope it’s all just a glitch, but it makes me a little uneasy.”

“Because you never assume anything different or bizarre is just an innocent glitch if it’s connected to Adam Lynch,” Olivia said. “You expect something a good deal more contrived or dangerous. Isn’t that true?”

“Not in connection with me. He’s always proven himself to be absolutely honest and trustworthy.” She paused. “And he’s always shown himself to be a friend to you, Olivia.”

“Because he realizes how close you and I are.” Olivia shrugged. “But yes, I always find him interesting and amusing. And I like having him around, because it makes me feel you’re safer.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out her Braille smartphone, and handed it to Kendra. “You might as well read it yourself so that you can see why I thought there could be something a little weird about you receiving a message like that from Lynch. As I said, he can be amusing, but there’s no way he’s not direct and to the point. This sounds a little loony.”

Gazing down at the message, Kendra could see exactly what Olivia meant. Only two lines, and she was as confused as Olivia when she read them.

“ ‘Hope all is well at the farm. Be sure to check out the livestock inoculations.’ ”

“What the hell?” Kendra said. “Livestock inoculations?”

“I warned you,” Olivia said. “I thought it might be some kind of private joke. But if so, it wasn’t very clever and didn’t sound at all like Lynch.”

“Tell me about it,” Kendra said. “My phone’s not working and Lynch has forgotten my email address and he’s suddenly decided to become a farmer. Stop grinning. It’s not funny. It’s annoying. May I use your phone?”

“Be my guest.” Olivia leashed Harley and turned to lead him out the door. “In the meantime, I’ll take Harley down to my condo and get him some water and a treat while you have your talk with Lynch. If he wants to make amends for his peculiar behavior today, you might remind him that Harley is really missing him, and all will be forgiven if he spends some quality time training him.”

“Lord, you’re tough.” Kendra was already dialing. “You’re not even waiting for an excuse from him?”

“Nope. Harley needs this, and he’s family.” The door was closing. “But I’ll be interested to hear his explanation. Come down when you’re finished and I’ll give you lunch and you can tell me what Lynch is up to.” The door slammed shut behind her.

Lynch’s private line was ringing and Kendra impatiently waited for him to answer.

But he didn’t. No answer. No voicemail. It just kept ringing . . . 

Which probably didn’t mean anything except that Lynch was working another case and he’d call her when he was free.

But she still didn’t like it.

True, it very likely had nothing to do with that other weirdness that had been happening to her today.

Except that weirdness had been connected to Lynch.

Farm?

Inoculate the livestock?

Think about it.

Find a key and see what door it opened.

Assume it wasn’t weird but a puzzle . . . 

It wouldn’t hurt to look at all this from another viewpoint.

She hung up and then dialed Lynch again.

Still no answer.

She settled back in her chair. Okay, figure it out . . . 

Find the key . . . 

“What’s happening? Olivia asked when Kendra finally answered the phone. “You were supposed to come down here for lunch. That conversation with Lynch couldn’t be taking that long.”

“Sorry. It really didn’t take any time at all. Because he didn’t answer. But by that time, I was working on another idea, and I forgot about you. I even still have your phone. I just got on the road and started moving.”

“It’s a good thing I had another phone at the apartment or I’d be pissed off. You have a habit of doing that a lot,” Olivia said. “May I ask where you’re moving toward?”

“I thought I should try to interpret that email and see where it takes me. If it really was from Lynch, he mentioned a farm and livestock that I’m supposed to take care of.”

“And?”

“Lynch is no farmer, and the only property that he owns in this area is that palatial safe house that the Pentagon would envy.”

“I remember he invited me to a party when you were settling those seals in the pool area when they needed a temporary home because their habitat was being threatened.” She stopped. “The seals? Those are the livestock? But you already returned them to their natural habitat.”

“Except for two that were injured and still had to be under veterinary supervision. Lynch arranged to have a doctor keep an eye on them in the back garden pond area until they healed.”

“Because he knew it would make you happy?” Olivia asked. “My, how the mighty have fallen.”

“Not fair. It was his idea.” Kendra added dismissively. “But that has nothing to do with that email. I’m just following the clues that have been presented to see where they lead.”

“Or maybe you’re being led,” Olivia said suddenly. “What if it wasn’t Lynch who sent that message? You’re alone, and it’s not as if you haven’t made a few enemies in the past. I don’t like this.”

“Easy,” Kendra said soothingly. “I’m just going to take a look around and see if I find anything interesting that might answer a few questions. I’ll take my gun out of my glove box, and you know I can take care of myself. Not to mention, I know the interior of that place like the back of my hand, and I could get lost in there if I chose.”

“I still don’t like it. How close are you?”

“Another fifteen minutes.”

“And I can’t talk you out of it?”

“No, he didn’t answer his phone. It could be nothing. But what if he wanted me to come here and I didn’t do it? I know if it was me, he wouldn’t even question being there if I needed it.” She paused. “Don’t worry. I’ll be safe.” She said quietly, “It’s not as if I don’t run into this kind of thing fairly frequently. If it was Lynch, he wouldn’t send me there if there was a threat. If it’s anyone else, I’m prepared.”

“The hell you are. You should have called one of your police or FBI buddies. Listen to me. Call me when you get inside the house.” Olivia hung up the phone.

Kendra flinched. She hated to upset Olivia. That was probably why she’d “forgotten” to let her know when she’d decided to go to what she’d sometimes teasingly called Lynch’s lair. But she had to block that out now and just do what was important. She pressed on the accelerator and concentrated on getting to that blasted safe house of his . . . 

“You can relax. I’m inside the house now, Olivia.” She was pressing the combination on the lock on the front door. “I ran into Lynch’s caretakers outside. But they only check in once a day to take care of the seals and make sure there aren’t any problems. They’re gone now, and I’ve just locked the door that Lynch assured me was more foolproof than Fort Knox. Knowing Lynch, I believe it.”

“So do I,” Olivia said. “With all his enemies, it would have to be.”

Kendra chuckled. “Now may I take my look around and then get back to the condo? I’ve missed lunch, but I think you owe me dinner.”

“You’ll get it,” Olivia said curtly. “I only have one more request. When you get back to your car, call me when you start home.”

“Done. Now let me get to work. Bye, Olivia.” She pressed the disconnect and headed toward the French doors leading to the south garden and the lake pond where the two seals were kept. If they were the livestock Lynch had mentioned, it would be smart to check out that area first. Anyway, she had always loved coming here and watching them play; they were so joyous and rambunctious. They’d even been given names: The male was George and the female, Matilda. They were now healing and getting much better after their illnesses. Their vigor was almost back to where

it had been. They’d soon be ready to rejoin their herd.

She laughed as she watched them wave their fins in greeting when they saw her. “So you’re the livestock? I don’t think so. I can see I’m going to get very wet before this is over. But I came prepared. I wore my bikini.” She slipped off her clothes and took a moment to appraise the concrete structure that Lynch had built for the seals. It had a lower level that was underwater while the dual upper level had a cave-like access where the seals were protected from heat and foul weather. Whatever Lynch had wanted her to care for would probably be hidden near here. Which level should she try first? Oh, what the hell. It didn’t matter. She’d be soaked regardless. And she’d just have to trust that Lynch had protected whatever he’d hidden out here. But when he showed up, she’d definitely have a word or two with him . . . 

She stood on the rim of the concrete surround and jumped into the pond. She had the seals with her in seconds wanting to play. She gave them a few minutes and then pushed away and started to swim underwater, trying to see if the concrete wall was sheltering anything even a little interesting.

No luck. Grime and floating leaves and plants were the only things clinging to the sides of the pond.

Try the upper level, which was more like a fountain.

She avoided the seals and hoisted herself to the concrete upper level, then had to push back one of the seals who wanted more playtime. “Sorry. Matilda. Maybe next time.” She began to crawl around the concrete barrier, searching every indentation and larger cavity that she ran across. There were at least a dozen, and she was getting frustrated until she found what looked like a shelf balanced on the next concrete cave.

“Yes!” She began to scramble up to the shelf. It took her another ten minutes to get her hands on the shelf and then another five to get a small package wrapped in waterproof material off the shelf.

It had to be Lynch’s “inoculation,” she thought jubilantly. He’d taken very good care to make sure that it would survive air, water, and the seals. Now to get it out of here and back to Lynch. She was already climbing down from the upper concrete level and jumping to the ground outside the pond. She gathered up her clothes from the ground and ran back toward the house. A quick shower and then she’d dress and get out of here . . . 

And then what? She didn’t know. She’d see what was in the package and decide then.

No, she wouldn’t. It wasn’t her case, and the only one who could make a decision on it was Lynch. His cases were usually top secret and she wasn’t about to interfere with them. Lynch would surely be in contact with her soon, and she would give it only to him. There had to be some reason why he’d played this weird game to make certain that she was the only one who knew where to find this blasted package. She had to honor his wishes.. . .