Page 20 of Fatal Thrill
Sloane, still on Colton’s hip, waved a tiny fist at Jaya. She was frowning and gibberish came from her mouth, but she canted her body toward Jaya and Jaya’s natural instincts kicked in. She reached for the baby without hesitation, lifting her out of Colton’s arms. “And you’re upsetting the baby, so knock itoff.”
Colton rolled his eyes but let Sloane go. Chubby hands came up to pat Jaya’s cheeks, her face brightening into a smile. A couple teeth peekedthrough.
God Almighty, what a cutekid.
She was going to be a heartbreaker. Already was by the way all the men around here were gaga forher.
Jaya bounced Sloane slightly, smiling back.Family. This was what it was all about. Feeling loved, protected, and happy. Family was supposed to give you that, but Jaya had rarely felt it. She’d been the giver, the protector, the one trying to make everyone elsehappy.
Her brother was in serious trouble and the men and women in this room wanted to help. Jaya was proud, but she wasn’t above accepting help when it wasneeded.
Especially when she had no otheroptions.
Jon stood and met her eyes over the top of Sloane’s head. “Finding people—search and rescue—it’s my specialty. I can find yourbrother.”
My knight in shining armor.How could she say no? “You have some serious explaining todo.”
He nodded, giving her a woeful smile as Sloane patted her cheeks again andlaughed.
Shifting the baby to one hip, Jaya stepped forward, said a silent prayer for her brother, and used her finger to sign thecontract.
Beatrice’s phonebuzzed as Jaya was signing her name to the SFI services contract. Rory was on the otherend.
“Do you need thisback?”
“Yes,” Beatricesaid.
“If I’m going to trace the origination of the call, it’s gonna take a while. Plus, I’ve got three other pendingemergencies.”
“Put Parker to work. Ms. O’Sullivan needs a replacement phone, so have Parker synch Jaya’s to one of ours for her use. She’ll need her contacts, messages,etc.”
He huffed. “Parker’s not touching my toys. Besides, she’s a scientist, not a computerexpert.”
Parker was former CIA and had ties to the NSA as well. In the background, she said, “Get over yourself,Rory.”
Beatrice silently seconded that suggestion. “Parker has the necessary experience with our technology, and this new case is of critical importance. Our deadline is seventy-twohours.”
A strained sigh came through the line. “Fine, but I still need more help. Call that cranky bastard, Zeb, and tell him to get his ass inhere.”
Jaya continued to bounce Sloane on her hip, Jon watching her with a gleam of pride and a whole lot of love in hiseyes.
He’s going to make a gooddad.
Colton leaned over the desk and murmured, “I’m going to give Shelby a heads-up.”
He booked out of the room, Trace and Savanna following suit after she gave Jaya ahug.
“Why don’tyoucall Zeb and see if he’s free?” Beatrice suggested toRory.
The former spook, an expert at wet jobs, no longer wielded a gun, but was still adept at bringing down bad guys. “I’m not speaking tohim.”
One thing Beatrice had always admired about Rory was his ability to separate his emotions from the job at hand. He and Zeb were poured from the same mold and rubbed each other entirely the wrong way, but with people’s lives on the lines, Rory usually wasn’t above asking for help. Today, of course, seemed to be theexception.
“Personal feelings have no place here today. Put them aside and take your petty ego issues up with Zeb on your owntime.”
“Petty ego issues?” She could practically see Rory rearing back in his wheelchair, full of indignation. “I don’thave—”
She hung up on him. That would rile him up more, but he did, in fact, have a healthy ego, and she knew just how to use that against him. In this case, it meant getting him to call in help on hisown.
