Page 68 of Fatal Thrill
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“He’s crashing!”the surgeon yelled, starting chest compressions as the others ran alongside Sean’sgurney.
“No!” Jaya’s heart seemed to stop the moment her father’s did. “Dad!”
She started after the gurney but Jon caught her up in his arms and swung her around. “You can’t help him now. Let the medics do theirjob.”
The operating room doors banged closed behind the team, leaving Jaya fighting against Jon’s hold. “Let go! I need to be withhim.”
Colton appeared next to her. “There’s nothing you can do and they won’t let you in thereanyway.”
Shelby was by his side, Miles and Charlotte behind them. Percy came through the emergency room entrance, flashing his badge at the receptionist and filling her in on thedetails.
Stunned, Jaya simply stood there, still wrapped in Jon’s arms. In the span of thirty minutes, she’d found her dad and lost him again. How was thatpossible?
“If he dies, I’m going to kill him,” she whispered into Jon’sshoulder.
He stroked her hair and kissed her temple. “You and meboth.”
The double doors swung open and a nurse stuck her head out. “We’ve stabilized him, but he needs emergency surgery. It’s going to be a few hours. You might want to find aseat.”
Relief burned in Jaya’s breastbone, pushing hot tears up her throat. “Thank you,” was all she could say, glad Jon was holdingher.
As the group walked back toward the desk at the entrance, Percy met them. “You’ll need to fill out some paperwork,” he said, handing Jaya a clipboard and pen. “Since it’s going to be a while before Sean can answer my questions, I’m heading back to the castle. I want to look for that crypt he mentioned. Trelawney,right?”
Jaya shot Jon a look, not at all sure she wanted Percy finding the cross if itwasthere. Suddenly, she wanted to be the one to discover it and see what all the fuss was about. She couldn’t leave the hospital though. What if her dad died on the operating table? Even though she couldn’t help him, she sure as hell wasn’t going to be forty miles away. “Trelawney’s just a code word,” she lied. “It doesn’t mean anything about thecross.”
Percy canted his head. “Codeword?”
“Growing up—when Dad was around—he walked me to school everyday and he’d always hug me and tell me he loved me.” That at least was the truth. It maybe only happened a handful of times, but he’d told wild stories about his missing treasures on those walks and she’d never forgotten them. “Around the age of nine, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father, and I sure as heck didn’t want to exchange ‘I love yous’ with him in front of the kids at school, so he made up a code word. Trelawney. It was our secret way of saying I loveyou.”
She was going to give Shelby a run for her money in the bad liardepartment.
“Trelawney is an old Cornish surname,” Charlotte said cheerfully. “Like Sybil Trelawney in HarryPotter.”
Percy gave her a look and then came back to Jaya. “Right, well, I still think I’ll take a scope of the crypt and see what I canfind.”
“What I need you to do,” Jon said, his fingers brushing softly over Jaya’s hand, “is find out who shot Sean. The cross issecondary.”
Percy’s eyes narrowed, causing tiny creases at the corners. “If I didn’t know better, I’d bet my last wages the two of you are tryin’ to distractme.”
“You’ve got a body in that grave,” Miles said, “and Sean was shot somewhere on the castle grounds, so there might be evidence of the shooter if your CSIs haven’t already ruined it. Like Jon said, the cross is not a priority at themoment.”
Percy’s eyes went hard. He was a good-looking guy, very affable, until right now, Jaya decided. That look could melt men—and women—in their tracks. “You wouldn’t be telling me how to do my job, now would you,boys?”
“Of course not.” Colton did his good ol’ boy routine, laughing under his breath and looking entirely innocent. “How ’bout I accompany you back to the tunnel and offer my services? I can hunt for anything that might look like a good hiding place for thiscross.”
“Me too,” Shelby added, smiling with fake cheer. “I’m wasting my time here. Might as well help with yourinvestigation.”
They were all trying to help her and her dad. Jaya slipped her hand into Jon’s. “I think that’s a great idea. I’ll keep you updated on Dad’s condition. I know you want to talk to him, Detective Maitland, so, as soon as he’s awake from his surgery, I’ll give you a headsup.”
“We’re family, Jaya.” Her cousin looked rueful. “It’s Percy. And you better call me the minute he opens his eyes, ye hear? I’ll have an officer here to stand guard within thehour.”
Her natural urge to protect those she loved surfaced. “You can’t give him time to recover before you arrest him? What are you going to do, take him to the station on a gurney with an IV still in hisarm?”
“The guard is for his protection,” Percy said, “not to arresthim.”
“Oh.” Chagrinned, she nodded. “Sorry. It’s just…well, he’s mydad.”
