Page 80 of Fatal Thrill
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Leavingher father behind in Ireland was one of the hardest things Jaya had ever had todo.
She didn’t expect it to be. She wanted it to be as easy as it always seemed for him to leave her and Finn behind when he went off on one of his treasurehunts.
But it wasn’t. Even though Shelby had stayed, and the police were keeping tabs on Sean, it still worried her to leave him. She’d called his room and told him she had the package—Jon wouldn’t let her use the word cross just in case—and that she was headed back toAmerica.
I have the cross, she’d texted the kidnappers under Jon’s watchful eye. He’d told her exactly what to type. She’d attached a picture so they would know she was telling the truth.Where do I findyou?
Wolfe knows, came the reply a few seconds later.Have him bring me the cross—no one else or your brotherdies.
Me? Was there only onekidnapper?
That fact and the directions had made Jon antsy—he was stewing over the connection of Thief River to what had happened in his past and this made him even more agitated. Beatrice had called and he’d gone to the back to speak privately to her, making Jaya wonder. Was this really about the O’Sullivan cross or something much, muchbigger?
But when she asked Jon, he’d told her he wasn’t sure either, and that in the end, it didn’t matter. The goal of the mission was to save Finn, nothingelse.
As the plane taxied down the runway, Jon seemed relieved to be getting her out of Ireland, and she couldn’t say she blamed him, but a part of her longed to stay. Under better circumstances, she would have. She’d only scratched the surface of finding out about her family and learning more about the Gypsies. Once things settled down, she hoped to return and go about getting to know her family morethoroughly.
Of course, there was her business to run, her mother to take care of, and Finn—what was she going to do with him? He needed direction with his life, and unfortunately, her attempts so far to steer him toward something productive had met with totalfailure.
On top of all of that, she was going to have a baby around…she scrolled through the weeks on her phone’s calendar. If her calculations were correct, the baby was going to make an appearance the first week inAugust.
The cabin was dark except for some running lights on the aisle and the overhead one above Jon. Colton was up front with the pilot, Moe. Charlotte and Miles sat in the back with Percy, talking and finishing up the meal they’d made from the plane’s pantry of luxury food items, Jaya had requested a cheeseburger. Jon had nearly danced a jig to see her eat and had made sure she had all the fixings to go withit.
He was texting with his boss again, having not eaten anything himself. His brow knit with worry and his jaw wastight.
“August,” Jaya said softly. “EarlyAugust.”
His gaze came up and met hers. As understanding dawned, his brow softened. “I love latesummer.”
“Metoo.”
They shared asmile.
“I’m so torn about all of this,” sheadmitted.
His brows drew together again. “The baby, youmean?”
“I’m happy about the baby, but I’m scared for Finn. Scared for my dad. I don’t know…what’s going tohappen.”
Her eyes teared and Jon put the phone away and swung over to sit next to her. “Finn’s going to be okay, but I doubt he’ll be interested in treasure hunting after this, so that’s a good thing. The rest, with your dad, we’ll figure out. He’s got some good people on his side—Percy, Shelby, Beatrice. They’ll do what they can forhim.”
She laid her head on his shoulder, watching his fingers intertwine with hers. “August. Seems like a long timeaway.”
They sat like that for a while, the hum of the plane and her full stomach lulling Jaya tosleep.
When she woke, it was to Jon buckling her in. “We’rehere.”
As the plane descended, Jaya saw it was still dark out. Mountains rose like black sentinels in the distance, miles and miles of tree silhouettes rolling down them, blurring into a single shadowycarpet.
“We’re heading straight to Thief River. Beatrice has already secured a safe house there and that’s where you’ll hang out with Parker and Ruby while Colton, Miles, and I hook up with Trace and his team. They’ve scouted the area and have the site narrowed down to three cabins. I’ll figure out for sure which one Finn is in and then we’ll decide whether we flush the kidnapper, or kidnappers, out or we goin.”
“Ruby? Who isshe?”
“Jaxon Sloane’s girlfriend. You haven’t met her or Jax yet, but you will. Ruby is CIA. She was in town for the wedding and Beatrice told her what was going down. She insisted onhelping.”
There it was again, that automatic friendship. A woman who’d never met her offering to help rescueFinn.
