Page 35 of Fatal Thrill
“Jaya was obviously beingfollowed.”
He shook his head, his mind a blur of Jaya, the baby, and the bastards who’d tried to kill them all. “No one fucking followed us from my apartment to the airport. After Jaya’s van blew up, I made sure we were extra careful, and no one could follow us once we were in the air, so it had to be someone insideSFI.”
“Be careful, Nickleback.” Beatrice’s tone brooked no tolerance for his line of thinking. “The only people here who knew about your plans are above suspicion. The most likelyexplanation—”
“Is that Jaya has a tracking device under her skin and a dozen other conspiracy theories, none of which aretrue.”
His boss was silent for a moment, but it was an extremely heavy silence. “In order to find her father, she would need to go to his last known whereabouts. Any moron with a few active brain cells could have figured out she was on her way to Ireland to look for Sean. The kidnappers seem to think she knows where to find him or at least the cross. What doesn’t make sense is why—if they need her to find her father—they tried to kill her before shedid.”
They were all thinking the same thing. “The owners of the bed and breakfast—do you think they had anything to do with our surprisevisitors?”
“You were registered under false names, but it’s still possible since that’s the exact place Sean and Finn were staying. Whoever’s after the cross could have ties to the Doyles, but we ran a background check on the couple and found nothing that tripped my internalradar.”
The Queen B’s radar was always spot on, but everyone made mistakes once in awhile. “We don’t have enoughintel.”
“The place you’re at now is secure and you have the necessary accommodations,” she said. “For now, lay low, and I’ll be in touch with further instructions within the hour. How’sJaya?”
Pregnant. “She’s a fighter. She’ll befine.”
The line went dead and Jon blew out a frustratedsigh.
Abaasounded from the barn off to his left, apparently from a sheep he’d woken with his conversation. The caretaker had informed him and the others that the once luxurious grounds were now used by the man’s sheep and goats for pasture. But then the sheep and barns were only covers for the truth—the place was actually a black site used by Interpol, CIA, and MI6 to interrogate terrorists and other criminals. No surprise Beatrice had vettedit.
The caretaker, named Kieran, whose giant wolfhound looked about as old and grizzled as his master, emerged from the shadows near the door where Jon stood. The dog, whom he called Eamon, stayed right next to him. “The ladies are settled. Your friend is keeping an eye on them. Would you like to see the warroom?”
What Jon wanted to see was Jaya. He wanted to be the one watching over her, not Colton, but he was in charge of the mission and that meant he needed to make sure the place was secure first and foremost. “I take it that’s where the security system and cache of weaponsreside?”
“The security system, yes.” Kieran only nodded and started to walk toward the icy steps leading to a side door. He’d hidden their beat-up car in one of the barns and reassured Jon and Colton that while the maze of low stone walls to keep the sheep in didn’t look like the height of security, each contained rows of laser sensors and hid a multitude of smart weapons that could be fired from inside the castle via Kieran’s phone. “A few firearms aswell.”
The world of intelligence and technology atwork.
The wolfhound’s ears pricked and he didn’t follow the old codger to the stairs, instead issuing a lowgrowl.
Jon swiveled to follow the dog’s gaze and cocked his own head to listen. The sleet had stopped and Jon picked up a soft, deep rumble. “Someone’scoming.”
The castle stood on high ground, a long, curving road leading to the main gate. Kieran ruffled the dog’s ears and brushed past Jon. “Lorcan’s bringing yoursupplies.”
“Whatsupplies?”
Kieran gave Jon a curious glance. “Do you have wool between your ears, lad? Supplies—food, bottled water, bullets. You know, thebasics.”
Jon followed him to the drive. “You don’t have bullets in the warroom?”
“A few. This place is for torture, not defense, need I remindyou.”
Torture. Great. “Who is thisLorcan?”
“A friend of youremployer’s.”
Beatrice’s contacts must have made for a hell of a Christmaslist.
So Lorcan, like Kieran, was someone Jon couldtrust.
Except, Jon really didn’t trust anyone, and Beatrice was a world away right now. Not to mention that added responsibility he had on hisplate.
I’m going to be adad.
The frozen landscape crunched under his boots as he watched a large van make the turn below. “Do you know why we’rehere?”
