Page 78 of Fatal Thrill
She relented, unpacking it from the bag once more, fingers careful as she unwrapped the satin material and handed it to him. Percy whistled low under his breath, shining his flashlight on it as he turned it over. Colton, Shelby, and Kieran moved in to peercloser.
The sparkles off the jewels were mesmerizing, the heavy gold in sharp contrast to their dingysurroundings.
“You know I can’t let you remove it from the country,” Percy said. “It’s an Irish treasure, and there are a lot of legalities surrounding its trueownership.”
Jaya snatched the cross away from him. “This is the key to getting Finn back, and just so you know, it’s been out of the country since my grandparents went to America. My dad’s the one who brought itback.”
“Jaya…”
Jon interceded. “I give you my word I won’t let Finn’s kidnappers get away with the cross, but we may need it if we’re going to draw them out. A team in the States is trying to track Finn’s exact whereabouts in Thief River, but we’re nearly out of time, and even ambushing the kidnappers without a solid plan in place could get Finn killed. I’ve worked quite a few kidnappings. If we can show them we have the cross and make a deal to exchange it for Finn, we can get the upper hand and make sure no onedies.”
Percy argued for another minute or so, but Jon stayed adamant about the cross going with them to North Carolina. With the manpower standing around him and Jaya, Percy finally realized he was not walking out of the underground vault with the cross in his possession. The detective swore a blue streak but said, “If anyone ever asks, I never saw that damnthing.”
“All right,” Colton said, breaking up the moment, “wrap that thing back up, Jaya, and let’s get going. Ticktock.”
Jon led Jaya back through the tunnel, Charlotte following, and the others bringing up the rear with the hostages. Jon wanted to interrogate the men to find out who they worked for and if they were associated with Finn’s kidnapper, but he preferred to do it topside, and Colton was right—time was running out if they were going to rescue Finn. He would have to let Percy and the Garda do theirjob.
But Percy decided to leverage his weight once they reached the O’Sullivan castle. “I’m goin’ with ye toAmerica.”
“What?” Colton, who was now three steps ahead of Jon, came to a stop and swung around. “The hell youare.”
Kieran and Miles turned over their attackers to two of Percy’s men waiting for them in the courtyard. The men weren’t wearing Garda uniforms, but they were quick to slap oncuffs.
“I’m sorry,” Percy said to Jaya, “but I can’t in good concience allow you to take that”—he pointed to the bag—“out of the country without me. Plus, I might be helpful in rescuing Finn. I don’t know much about North Carolina, but I do know a few things about these criminals. I’ve been tracking them for a while. If they’re who I think they are, they’ve been working for Fitzpatrick on several heists since 2013. Now that their boss is dead, I’m guessing they’re looking to take over the business. They may even be the ones who killed ’em.”
“You don’t think they’re the mercenaries Dad told us about? The ones working forMoreau?”
“Guess we’ll find out once we interrogatethem.”
The cold evening wind bit into Jon’s neck. He flipped up his collar and eyed Percy. “And our kidnappers? Could they be a rival of Fitzpatrick’s or in on thecoup?”
A dip of his chin. “That’s what I need to find out. I have resources that can help, but either way, your kidnappers are most likely wanted felons. Kieran can interrogate these men while we fly to America. That way, we won’t lose more time, and I can figure out who the kidnappers are in relation to Fitzpatrick and thesetwo.”
“Kieran?” Shelby asked, eyeing the old man with surprise. His counter-stare was confident but guarded. Her gaze flitted over the other two men, now wrestling their attackers toward a dark blue van with no markings on it. “I see. Well, I’d like to be in on thatinterrogation.”
Kieran continued to give her a challenging look. “You familiar with interrogation,then?”
“Of course. I’m an FBIagent.”
Kieran snorted. “This ain’t the FBI, lass. What we do at my place doesn’t follow a bunch of pansyrules.”
Colton chuckled and pointed at the old man. “There’s a reason I likeyou.”
Shelby’s eyes went to Percy, back to Kieran. “Last I checked, you’re not on the Garda payroll,Kieran.”
He and Percy exchanged a knowing look. Kieran nodded. “That be the point, AgentClaiborne.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t know,” Jon said. He wasn’t hip on having Percy tag along and Beatrice was sure to axe the idea. “I understand your position, Detective Maitland, but wedon’t…”
As Jon fought to find the right words, Percy offered them up. “Play well withothers?”
“Law enforcement in particular,” Colton added. “Especially Irish policeofficers.”
“That’s not true.” Jon waved Bells off. “We work with law enforcement on a regular basis, but this situation may require us to, how should I say it? Step outside the lines of what you’re comfortable being witnessto.”
“What do you think we’re doing with those two?” Percy pointed toward the van. “Kieran gets a go at ’em first to see what they know before we turn them over to my Garda teammates where they will lawyer up. I’ll get my hands slapped if they complain, but it’ll be worth it if we get someleads.”
