Page 72 of Fatal Thrill
“Bloody Fitzpatrick blackmailed me. He was supposed to help me find a buyer without raising any flags. Instead, he got himself killed and meshot.”
“The men who killed Fitzpatrick shotyou?”
Sean fiddled with the edge of the sheet. “Mercenaries. They work for a black market Frenchwoman named Moreau. She buys and sells stolen jewels from all over the world. She only wanted the cross for theemeralds.”
Jon and Jaya exchanged a look. Could the woman in the grave be thisMoreau?
“Where did you find the cross?” Jaya asked. “Did you steal it from someone? Is that who kidnapped Finn or was it thisMoreau?”
“The cross wasn’t stolen, baby. I always knew where it was, I just didn’t want the Catholics or English to get their grubby hands onit.”
Jaya looked like she was going to smack him for real. “You knew where the cross was all theseyears?”
“I’m the one who put it in its hiding place. After your grandpa passed, I found it in his safe. It had been right under my nose all along, but I hid it and left it alone, knowing there were too many people after it. The French, the Pope, our own family, those rotten Doyles. I thought it could be an insurance policy for us. A safety net if we ever neededit.”
“Doyles?” Jon asked. “The bed and breakfastowners?”
Sean made a disgusted face. “Lot of family inbreedingthere.”
“They knew you had thecross?”
“Hell no. Our families go way back, and they’ve been searching for the cross for generations, but didn’t know I had it.” He chuckled but it was strained. “Lorna will piss her pants if she finds out my dad and his before him had the thing all along. But she and Paddy were after it and hired Fitzpatrick to find it. I just didn’t know my old friend wasn’t really my friend. He only wanted to steal the cross fromme.”
“Why now?” Jon asked. “Why unearth the cross now and bring it back toIreland?”
Sean sighed, looking down at his hands, still gripping Jaya’s. “I planned to sell it to pay for Kala’sexpenses.”
That took Jaya aback. Her mouth worked, but nothing cameout.
“I know, I know,” Sean said. “You don’t believe it, but it’s true. I saw how hard it was on you and Finn. He told me your business was taking off and you had a chance to expand it big time, but your finances were drained every month due to your mother’s health. I hesitated to take the cross out of hiding and find a buyer, but you need help, Jaya. That cross is worth a lot of coin. It can pay off your debts, and keep you afloat with your mom’s expenses. I contacted Fitzpatrick, who told me to bring it here. He ended up dead, I sent Finn away, and it all resulted with Paddy and the mercenaries coming after me, so I went into hiding. Got shot along the way. You know therest.”
Not all of it, Jonsuspected.
He wasn’t sure if she believed his supposed self-sacrifice. She didn’t soften like most daughters would upon hearing their dad was looking out for them. “It’s worth 177 million dollars, and don’t tell me you weren’t skimming some of that for yourself. WhatIneed is for you to come home and help me take care of mom, not pay me off to do it foryou.”
Sean’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment. “I don’t have any money, Jaya, and I don’t know how to take care of yourmother.”
“And you think I do?” Jaya pulled her hand away. “Do you understand the guilt I feel having to put her in a home? The anger I have at a disease, for Christ sake? I’ve taken care of everyone from the time I was old enough to walk, and now I need help, Dad. Real help. Money is nice, but what I need is myfather.”
Moisture seeped out the corner of Sean’s right eye. “I don’t know how to be…thatman.”
How many people in the world felt the same way? Jon had experienced the exact same feelings about having a child, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to use the same excuse to abandon or neglect the kid. “Parenting doesn’t come with a handbook, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t feel like they’re dog paddling in rough waters when they have a child. Doesn’t mean you can’t figure it out or learn how to become a better father to Jaya and Finn. Lots of people doit.”
Sean’s eyes snapped open. “I suppose you know all about having kids, doyou?”
Jon glanced across the bed at Jaya, beautiful in her outrage. “I’m aboutto.”
Now she softened. All the pent up anger and fear just evaporated as she met Jon’seyes.
He hadn’t meant to blow the big surprise, but she didn’t seem to mind, her lips curving in a smallsmile.
“Wait just a minute, here.” Sean looked back and forth between them. “Are yousaying…?”
Jaya nodded. “You’re going to be a grandfather in about seven and a half months,Daddy.”
Sean’s face did all kinds of theatrics as he processed the news. “HolyMoses.”
“Yeah,” Jon said, “so you need to be there for Jaya and Finn. Their mom, too. Our baby’s counting onyou.”
