Page 13 of Fatal Thrill
…my friend.Jaya had only just met these women, and yet they were acting like Shelby. As if they’d known her forever and had herback.
“That’s really not necessary,” Jayasaid.
Savanna hit the elevator button and the doors slid open soundlessly. “Get your butt in gear, Jaya. Let’s go talk to Beatrice. She’ll know what to do to get your brother back safe andsound.”
Jaya looked at Jon and he nodded, taking her by the hand and helping her stand. Thank goodness. She wobbled, her legs still weak and shaky. Everything was happening so fast, she hadn’t had time to recover from one issue before the nexthit.
My life in anutshell.
But Jon’s presence steadied her. He was here, in one piece, but why oh why did this have to happen rightnow?
Life is like that, her mother would say.Shit happens and then more shithappens.
Thanks,Mom.
As Jaya walked across the floor to the elevator, Jon by her side, she wished she could call her mom and ask for advice. She had pressing matters to discuss with Jon, but now they had to take a backseat to finding herbrother.
How did being unexpectedly pregnant and needing to tell the father take a backseat toanything?
Her mom couldn’t help her now, anyway. Not ever again. Kala Hotti O’Sullivan’s mind was lost in a different time and place. Often these days, she didn’t even recognize who Jayawas.
You still don’t know for certain you’re preggers. One thing at atime.
Jaya had no idea what the protocol was for this, but she leaned on Jon a little and let him guide her into the elevator. She’d never been much for protocolanyway.
“I’ll find him,” Jon murmured. “I’ll get himback.”
Jaya squeezed his arm. He was a bodyguard. What could he do? Yes, he’d been a SEAL before Rock Star Security, but those days were over and gone, according tohim.
The ride up to Beatrice’s office was over before Jaya could blink, her brain a million miles away, jumping from one thing to another. She’d tried calling her dad downstairs before Jon had showed up, but was told by an automated voice that the number was no longeractive.
Is Dad even stillalive?
God, she was going to lose everyone before she even hit thirty yearsold.
Inside the office, Beatrice motioned her to a chair and Colton asked, “What the hell is going on withFinn?”
Because Colton knew all about her screwed up family, since he and Shelby were from the same small town. He was aware her father was always on the hunt for another treasure. His biggest quest had always been the O’Sullivan cross, and he’d managed to talk enough bullshit about it to sucker her brother into the hunt aswell.
Like growing up without him around wasn’t bad enough, now Finn was about to pay for their father’s foolishness aswell.
Choices loomed in front of Jaya as she took the same seat in front of Beatrice she had earlier. She couldn’t exactly tell them all to forget it and go about finding Finn herself, not after they’d seen—and heard—the video. Plenty of times, she’d hunted down her father, cleaned and sobered him up, and brought him home to Oklahoma, only to have him take off on another adventure and leave her, Finn, and their mother behind. But this was different. Sean O’Sullivan had apparently screwed over the wrong people and Finn was smack dab in the middle of it. On top of that, Jaya had no idea where to start or how to saveFinn.
Jon sat one hip on the edge of Beatrice’s desk, and faced Jaya. “It’s okay, J. Tell us about the cross, your dad, and brother. Why would someone kidnaphim?”
How many times had she warned Finn not to believe in the tall tales their father was always spinning? “My father, Sean O’Sullivan, is a treasurehunter.”
Trace leaned on the fireplace. “Like for real? What does he look for? Lost gold?Shipwrecks?”
“His specialty is family heirlooms, especially those associated with nobility or famous people. He’s actually found a few, mostly Civil War-era stuff, like jewelry and artifacts stolen and ransacked from southern plantations. His Holy Grail is the O’Sullivancross.”
Beatrice tossed her Mont Blanc pen on the desktop, now strewn with blue file folders and a pacifier. “A lost heirloom belonging to yourfamily?”
How many arguments had Jaya heard between her mother and father over the elusive cross? How many nights as a young girl had she listened to his bedtime stories about its magical powers? “He’s been hunting it my whole life and now he’s gotten my younger brother obsessed with it too. He won’t rest until it’s recovered, and this time, he might actually have found it. I tried calling him. The number’s been disconnected. He may be in trouble as well, or he’s just pulling a dad and hasdisappeared.”
“What’s the story behind this cross?” Beatrice asked. “I assume it’svaluable?”
According to dear old Dad, it was priceless. “Family lore claims that the emerald-studded, shamrock-shaped cross was given to my great-great grandfather by an Irish lord in the House of Kildare back in the 1500s. He refused to be governed by England or the Pope and was constantly stirring the pot. Supposedly, the Crown sent an assassin to take out the lord and squelch the rebellions he’d been instigating. My grandfather worked for him and saved the man’s life one night, and hence ended up with the cross for his service. Then Cromwell took over, the O’Sullivans scattered, and the cross went missing. Various O’Sullivans have been hunting for it ever since, most notably myfather.”
