Page 36 of Fatal Thrill
The dog loped alongside its master. “No need for us to, right,Eamon?”
Kieran plodded ahead of Jon, quick on his feet for an old guy, and Jon let the subject drop. Obviously, Kieran, and probably this Lorcan fellow, were used to keeping their lips sealed about what went on in thisplace.
Looking back over his shoulder, Jon tried to ignore the creeping sense of doom looming over him. Not from the eerie shadows or the ghostly castle behind him. Nothing about this mission had been straightforward so far and he had the feeling he was missing a key fact. Maybe more than one. Someone had known the moment they’d landed in Ireland and had sent mercenaries afterthem.
But were they actually sent tokillJaya? Whatever this cross was, it had attracted a lot of attention, but Beatrice was right—whoever wanted Jaya to hunt down her dad and return the cross shouldn’t be trying to kill her. After the van incident, he was more convinced thanever—
There’s more than one partyinvolved.
The guys who’d kidnapped Finn were trying one tactic to get the cross back and there were others who quite possibly thought threatening Jaya would bring Sean out of his hiding place. Sean’s two kids, two different enemies targetingthem.
Whoever the bastards were, they hadn’t tried to kill her per se. They had to have known she wasn’t in the van when they blew it up, and the men in the car had scared them good, but if they’d really wanted to take her out, they could have done it on that icy road, regardless of Colton’s drivingskills.
Jon stalled near the drive, waiting for their new arrival to park. Under the cloudy night sky, the truck looked like a washed-out blue. The man driving got out, eyed Jon a moment, then not saying a word to Kieran, he went to the back and opened the latch. Eamon sniffed at the cargo and Lorcan scratched between the dog’s ears a second, as if they were old friends. It made Jon missNyx.
The man handed a large plastic container to Kieran. “Got everything on the list, including crackers and ginger tea for the pregnantone.”
Jon did a double take, closing the distance between him and the men in a couple strides. “How do you know she’spregnant?”
Lorcan was bearded and wore a tweed cap pulled low over his bushy brows. “The Morrigan said to bring brown bread crackers and tea for the mam-to-be. Tea being the solution for every problem andall.”
Mam—mother? “Are you saying Beatrice already knew?” She had to be this Morrigan he referred to. Was it some kind of code name? “That’s who told you about the pregnantwoman?”
Lorcan pushed the container into Kieran’s arms and said something in Gaelic that Jon couldn’t interpret. He was fluent in four languages, including his father’s native Lakota, but Irish Gaelic wasn’t one of them. Kieran chuckled and Lorcan got back in his van and droveaway.
Kieran handed the heavy container to Jon. “Make yourself useful, lad. When you’ve finished in the kitchen, you can find me on the second floor, westside.”
He and the dog left Jon standing under the cloudy sky, the castle towering high into thefog.
The inside of the castle was about as updated as the outside, the kitchen a slight exception. A farmhouse sink, beat-up counters, and peeling paint added to the décor, but there was at least an electric stove and a fridge. Dingy lace curtains hung over the single window and the random overhead lights gave off a sickly yellowglow.
He set the container on the island countertop and started unpacking the assortment of dry goods, soda, cans of soup, honey, and marmalade. Wasn’t that a British thing? The crackers appeared to be homemade, wrapped in white cloth. Jon popped one in his mouth and it tasted slightly like wheat but had the consistency of cardboard. Maybe it was better with the marmalade or a piece ofcheese.
Over the door hung a sign in the shape of a shamrock.All you need is a little goodluck.
Boy, did he. So didJaya.
If I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.Jaya’s words rang in hishead.
Well, screw that. He might not be a lucky charm, but he would do everything in his power to bring her some good luck for achange.
Colton ambled in as Jon filled a kettle to heat water. “Food! Yes. I’mstarving.”
“Do you know why Beatrice would use the code nameMorrigan?”
“Because it’s Irish? Who understands anything the Queen B does?” He laid a gun on the counter and dug through the contents of the container. He pulled out a loaf of bread. “Is there atoaster?”
Jon got the water to heating and located a mug in one of the cabinets. None had doors, exposing their shelves except for under the sink where a pair of curtains hid the plumbing. He pointed to the slightly dented and rusty machine in the corner. “Is thatone?”
Colton appraised the apparatus while unwrapping the bread. It smelled freshly baked and appeared to have raisins in it. “Yeah…looks like a electrical accident ready to happen. I’ll pass on toastinganything.”
He grabbed a knife and sliced the bread, offering Jon a piece. Jon’s stomach rumbled and he accepted it, hoping it tasted better than thecrackers.
“So how are you?” Coltonasked.
A totally normal question under most circumstances, except A) Colton never asked anyone normal questions; and B) they both knew what he was reallyasking.
“Fine. Good,” Jon answered, because shit, what was he supposed to say? A big, bad, former SEAL afraid of a baby? He stuffed his mouth with bread. “This isn’t halfbad.”
