Page 40 of Hidden Dane
One eyebrow rose. “Is that a problem?”
“No!” He stepped toward the door and she grabbed his good arm, her hand on her hip. “No, but if you’re my boyfriend, you need to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?” He unlocked the door. Had he realized they needed a better hiding spot?
She swallowed. Dane was important. He had to know that, but all she said was, “Don’t get killed over jewelry.”
He stepped into the hallway. “Says the woman who refused to give up that necklace.”
That was different. The necklace was all she’d had of Dane. “You gave it to me. I’m sentimental.”
His lips met hers and for one second the world faded away. As the kiss ended, Dane directed her backwards a little. “Good, now, I’m sorry for this.”
“For what?” She tilted her head. The kiss had been magical.
He stiffened his shoulders as he said, “For this.”
With a quick movement he closed the door in her face and locked it from the outside. She tried to turn the handle but it didn’t move. “Let me out!”
He dragged what was probably a chair and shoved it under the knob of the door. “You’re safer here. I’ll be right back.”
“Dane, don’t do this!” She tried the handle again, but it didn’t budge.
Her heart raced. If anything happened to Dane, she’d never forgive herself. He was hers and she wanted to see how far things developed, together. If he died, over jewels, then she’d never, ever be able to look herself in the mirror because she hadn’t been able to save him.
Chapter 13
Dane made it to the top deck of the steamboat that transported people across the English Channel who didn’t want to go through the tunnel. Many were tourists, but a few were locals who shuttled between Normandy and England, and many, many British accents whispered about commotion and Americans with their guns. Dane poked his head into the crowd of passengers huddled together and searched everywhere on deck for Ted.
Around him, families, groups of friends, or complete strangers were all transfixed on the back on of the ship. Dane slowly transitioned his own attention there.
A gun fired and the crowd screamed. Dane’s entire body was alert on adrenaline. Folks around him backed up, but he inched his way forward.
Whatever had happened, he needed to know and protect Emily from it. As he made his way through the crowd, keeping his head down to not be seen, he heard another shot in the air.
People screamed and clutched their children.
No one else needed to die, not over jewelry. He went toward the sound and saw Brady on the edge of the bannister of the ship as Ted held a gun to his head.
Underneath the ledge, two men pinned Henry down. Ted motioned with his gun toward a boat behind them and shoved Brady’s shoulder. “Get in.”
Brady almost slipped but he didn’t follow Ted’s deranged orders. Ted pointed his gun at the passengers, specifically an Asian woman and her young son holding an ice cream cone, and said, “Uriel Delligatti, I know you’re here.”
The boy asked, “Who?”
“Uriel, come on out! Or I will shoot Professor Brady Booker.”
Brady had lost his glasses in the scuffle and squeezed his eyes closed in preparation for a shot.
No. Dane’s heart pounded that this was a mistake but he called out, “Wait!” The mostly English crowd parted as he thought fast on his feet. “The crown jewels ofEnglandare that important for you to steal?”
A few British voices murmured loudly, “Crown jewels?”
Ted pointed the gun toward him. “There you are. Hand them over now.”
Murmurs of nationalistic pride whispered around him and just maybe he could use that to create a diversion. He held out the Irish Crown Jewels and showed them to Ted and everyone who watched as he said, “I intended to give these stolen jewels back to the authorities once we crossed the Channel.”
Ted gave Brady a hard push backward—Brady swayed dangerously close. Ted’s men on the boat below waited to capture him but Brady regained his balance. Dane handed over the jewels in exchange for his friend. “Brady!”
