Page 53 of Fatal Thrill
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Jaya saton a stool in the castle’s kitchen, arms wrapped around herself as she rocked back andforth.
She didn’t even know Charlotte and Miles but she felt awful all the way to her bones. Poor Charlotte had been shot in the shoulder, the bullet passing through it and nearly ending up in Miles from what Jon had toldher.
Now Charlotte was in the hospital twenty miles west, apparently okay, with Miles by her side. It had been a long night for all of them—another night of no sleep and too muchfrustration.
They were running out oftime.
Colton had taken Shelby to meet with a Garda detective and an Interpol agent at Blackrock. Fitzpatrick’s body had already been taken away and the murder scene analyzed but the detective and his Interpol counterpart wanted to talk to Colton and Shelby in more detail about how they’d “discovered” the body and why they werehere.
Jaya’s stomach cramped. She jetted off the stool and just made it to the sink. Once the worst passed, she wiped off her face and propped herself against the worn cabinet, staring out the window at the creeping fog. It never seemed to completely clear up and the gloom wasn’t helping hermood.
“That was Miles.” Jon blew into the kitchen, pocketing his cell. The shadows under his eyes had deepened, but he didn’t seem the least bit tired. “Doctors released Charlotte fifteen minutes ago and they’re on their way. The police say it was a trio of boys out joyriding. Alcohol was involved. They claim they were shooting at cars, not people, and didn’t seeus.”
His voice sounded tired, but more than that, a little odd. “You don’t believe that, doyou?”
“They have the boys in custody. It really doesn’t appear it was anything more than what the police are claiming.” He ran a hand through his hair. “As soon as Miles and Charlotte get here, the three of us will track down the old O’Sullivan castle and make sure Finn isn’t being held there. Or your dad isn’t holed upthere.”
“What do you mean, the three of you? Charlotte was shot last night. The last thing she needs is to go on a huntingexpedition.”
He filled the kettle and set it on the stove. “She’s fine and we might need her if we run into theGypsies.”
“You’ve got to be kiddingme.”
His hand stopped in midair as he reached for a clean mug. “What?”
“I don’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me and my family, and also…”—scooting off the stool, she turned off the burner, lowered his arm, and closed the cabinet—“I don’t want any moretea.”
A deep breath made his chest expand and then he slowly let the air out, facing her. “Actually, I was going to make myself somecoffee.”
“Oh.” Kieran didn’t have a coffeemaker, not even a French press. All he had was some kind of contraption where you poured hot water over grounds and let it steep. Jaya reached over and turned the stove burner back on. “Sorry.”
Jon took her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes, all the way down to her soul like he always seemed to do. “Whatdoyou want,Jaya?”
Damn this man. Why couldn’t he be like the other people in her life and get mad at her once in a while? The pressure inside her kept building and she was going to blow. She didn’t want it to be at him, especially over something as unbelievably nice as his endless patience and caring. Something she’d never had in her life up to this point. “I honestly don’t have an answer to that, outside of ending this nightmare with everyone intact andsafe.”
His gaze dropped to her belly. “Charlotte is former MI6. This isn’t the first time she’s been shot. It comes with the territory, and luckily, our shooter was drunk, lucky, and ridiculouslyunskilled.”
“This wasn’t a random drive-by by a couple of drunk kids. Someone put those boys up to it, I knowit.”
His gaze returned hers, patient. “You have every reason to believe the shooting is connected to our mission, but sometimes a shooting is, in fact,accidental.”
“Like my van?” She shook her head. “It wasn’t an accident. Someone is trying to scare us off by terrorizing me, but not actually killing anyone. I don’t know whether to be relieved that Charlotte is okay or pissed off that it happened, but they are not chasing me off. I’m notscared.”
That was sort of a lie, but she was going with it anyway, like one of those positive affirmations Shelby was always writing on sticky notes and hanging on her bathroommirror.
Jon grinned. “I can see that, but trust me, Charlotte is okay and Beatrice is already looking into the three kids’ backgrounds, just in case. If there’s anything remotely suspicious, she’ll find it. And Charlotte was laughing about her latest GSW when I was on the phone with Miles. Said that once it healed, she was getting a new tattoo around the scar. She’s kind of crazy likethat.”
Crazy fit right in with this bunch. Jon had filled her in about the Gypsies and the outcasts at the bar that Charlotte and Miles had seen exchanging money. “I want to go to the O’Sullivan castle withyou.”
Jon’s dark brows dipped ever. “I hate to say no, but that’s out of thequestion.”
“I’m not hanging back any longer and asking everyone else to put their lives on the line forme.”
“You’re carrying our child. That trumpseverything.”
“But…” How could she argue withthat?
