Page 16 of Fatal Thrill
Jaya was making silly noises at Sloane, getting the baby to laugh and clap. Beatrice took a moment to enjoy it. Every day, Sloane changed a bit more, and she wanted to remember it all—these simple stolen moments, when she could watch her baby enchant a complete stranger, did her heart a lot ofgood.
The strain in Jaya’s face returned as she looked over at Beatrice. “Your cloning myphone?”
“Your privacy will be maintained, but Rory needs time to find where the text and video originated from. Meanwhile, I’ll dig into the last known whereabouts of your father and brother and see if I can trace their movements.” She glanced at Jon. “Take Jaya to your place and let her get some sleep. I’ll be in contact as soon as I have anyleads.”
Jon gave her a quizzical look, knowing she could probably have information for them within the hour, but she returned it with a hard stare that brokered no questions. It was easy to see that Jaya was about to fall flat on her face fromexhaustion.
Just doit.
Reading her command, he knew better than to quiz her, so when Jaya started to protest, Jon lifted Sloane from her arms and returned the baby to Beatrice. “We need a starting place,” he said to Jaya, helping her with her coat. “It won’t take long for B and Rory to get us the necessary details, and then we’ll be all over it. Ipromise.”
As Jon continued to placate his girlfriend, he led her to the door. Beatrice hoped Jaya used this time to tell him about the “emergency” she’d shown upwith.
“Be sure to pick up the cloned phone from Parker before you leave,” shesaid.
Jon nodded. “Thanks, boss. And we’ll discuss who covers the fee for this later,okay?”
Like his name suggested, Jon was a lone wolf. Beatrice had once been the same. It was challenging for him to look at his future and see a real home and family in it, and Beatrice had to hope he was going to take the information Jaya needed to share with him in a goodway.
“You take care of Jaya,” she said to him. He had money to burn—a billionaire, thanks to family money—and probably would pay the bill before Savanna could, because that was just like him. He didn’t like owing anyone anything. “I’ll take care of therest.”
The door shut softly and Sloane whined, upset that all her playmates haddisappeared.
Beatrice pulled her close, snuggling and kissing her temple. “You may have a new friend in a few months,” she said,smiling.
A moment later, Trace stuck his head in. “Everythingokay?”
Beatrice nodded. “You and Savanna stay focused on thewedding.”
“Savanna’s worried this isn’t the best time for it. Maybe we should think aboutpostponing.”
“Over my dead body.” Words she never said lightly. “In our world, there’s rarely a good time for a celebration, but I’ll be damned if I let anyone screw up your day.” She owed Trace for so many things she’d lost count. “We are not postponing the wedding. If I personally have to find Finn O’Sullivan, Iwill.”
Trace grinned but knew she spoke the truth. “Jon can find him. I think the real issue will be that cross and Sean O’Sullivan. Sounds like a lot of people could be after that artifact, and that makes this whole thing a lot moredangerous.”
Sloane sat on her lap and reached for the pen. Beatrice grabbed the discarded pacifier and handed it to her, but the baby wanted nothing to do with that. She wanted the Mont Blanc. “One thing at a time. First, we get Finn back, then we’ll deal with Sean and thecross.”
Trace’s gaze fell on Sloane as she wiggled enough to reach the pen. “I can’t wait to havekids.”
Beatrice smiled. The SFI family was continuing to grow in more ways thanone.
