by Misty Evans
Jon took the papers. “I could be working with Maggie too, if you want.”
“Where is Maggie?” Hunter asked, looking around.
“Cal has a meeting at the DOD this morning. Maggie’s attending with him. And there’s no way Cal will put her in the line of fire by letting her become a search and rescue K9.”
Understood. Cal suffered from PTSD like many of them. He had it mostly under control these days, but with the birth of his daughter and the circumstances surrounding that nearly fatal day for his family, a few of his issues had flared up. Maggie, his black Lab, had always been his rock, helping him cope with it, and she was now certified as a therapy dog. Cal took her pretty much everywhere he went and wasn’t about to send her off on missions, unless she was by his side.
Beatrice had benched Cal for the time being, insisting she needed a liaison between SFI and the current administration in the Oval. Jon suspected it was because of Cal’s rise in symptoms, but they did, in fact, need someone to keep the lines of communication open with the big wigs at the Capitol. While SFI tried to lay low and stay off the radar, the Pentagon and other higher-ups were calling on them more and more frequently for their help with certain sensitive cases where the government wanted deniability if the shit hit the fan. Or those involved were of special interest to the government, but the Pentagon and Justice Department had no jurisdiction, funding, or official go-ahead to intervene. Which was becoming more and more prevalent.
“Nyx is at the compound, getting a checkup by the vet.” Another new addition to the ever-growing team, the compound was slightly undersized for training exercises and now, K9 training to boot, but Beatrice was looking for larger digs.
Nyx had been a search and rescue dog for the military for two years after Jon’s mom had taken her off the streets, until she’d been injured in an accident and needed months of therapy. That was one reason her jaw was misaligned. She still needed another surgery or two if they were to fix it, but Jon was convinced it would be better not to. She ate fine, wasn’t in pain according to the vet, and he was worried a surgery on that area could mess with her sniffer. A K9 who couldn’t smell was worthless for search and rescue. “She’s fine, but Dr. Hurst wanted to check her out anyway.”
“It’s part of protocol, now,” Beatrice said. “Just like you guys getting debriefed and having a full physical eval before you head out on the next mission. Everyone, including Nyx, has to be at the top of his, or her, game.”
“So what’s next?” Bells asked. “Any new assignments come in while we were gone?”
“Yes.” Beatrice thumbed through a couple folders. “But none for the three of you.”
Bells moaned.
Beatrice ignored him. “Trace is off until he returns from his honeymoon. You, Mr. Bells, will be helping Connor run the office since I’ll be in the wedding party and will need some time off over the next couple of days.”
“In other words, I’m the new nanny?”
The answer was a small smile from B.
Another groan from Bells, but he stood and gently took Sloane from Hunter. “Quit hogging her, man. If I’m the new nanny, she’s hanging with me.”
The men of Shadow Force were all enamored with the kid. Jon kept his distance. He loved babies, he did, but they sort of freaked him out with the crying and spitting up and… Well, everything. Sloane was small and fragile and with his big hands, he was scared he’d hurt her without meaning to. Worse, he might lose his heart to her like the rest of the big, stupid oafs in this room already had.
And right now, Jon had a different female on his mind. “What about me?” he asked Beatrice. “What do you have for me?”
“You’re going to speak with Ms. O’Sullivan, get some rest, and be ready for bodyguard duty on Saturday. I want you, Miles, and Jaxon to do a full security check on the plantation and run through the ceremony with the team I’ve handpicked. We’re providing protection for Trace and Savanna, of course, and their wedding party, but the guest list includes a generous amount of celebrities and politicians. Some will have their own security, and others will be relying on Rock Star. Jax will coordinate the outside teams with ours, and I want you and Miles to assign an RSS bodyguard to everyone else on the list Rory has cataloged. I’ll have him send that to your phone.”
“Mine is a piece of shit,” Jon said. “Whatever Rory did to it with his latest software enhancement jacked it up. I can’t even turn the ringer off.”
“See him about that before you leave.”
And with that, they were dismissed. Hunter and Jon bailed, both eager to get downstairs, while Bells hung back, Sloane riding one of his jean-clad hips.
As Hunter and Jon descended in the elevator, Jon kept seeing Jaya’s tired face in his mind. Something was wrong, but what?
“Guess your girlfriend will be here for the wedding,” Hunter said, his hands folded in front of him. In the reflective paneling, Jon saw the crooked grin on the man’s face that showed up every time he talked about it. “That’s cool she’s helping Savanna. My phone’s been exploding with her worried texts since last night. The hair stylist had an accident.”
Cool. Yeah. Jon wanted to think that too, only his gut told him it wasn’t all roses and wedding vows that had brought Jaya back to DC. “Jaya’s a good person. She wants to help everybody all the time.”
“A rare quality.” The elevator dinged; they’d hit the first floor. Hunter was still grinning, anticipating seeing his fiancée. “You should hang onto her.”
Hang onto her. As Jon cleared the open doors and turned left, his eyes immediately scanned for Jaya.
She sat on a bench, her gaze coming up and locking on him, her big, beautiful blue-green eyes haunted instead of their normal playful and lighthearted. Savanna stood on one side of her and Parker the other. None of them looked like they were discussing the upcoming nuptials. They looked…
Worried. Freaked out, even.
“Van?” Hunter had picked up on the anxious vibe too. He crossed the floor in a couple of long strides. “What’s wrong?”
Jon swallowed hard and started forward, following in Hunter’s footsteps. As Savanna stayed next to Jaya, firmly gripping one of her hands, she looked straight at Jon.
A chill of apprehension ran down his spine. He had the nasty suspicion that his malfunctioning phone and the secrets he’d been hiding from Jaya were the least of his worries.
3
Of all the absurd turns her life had taken in recent minutes, Jaya never expected this latest one.
That was saying something since her life had skidded off the rails at top speed before she’d even entered the building.
Jon stalked across the tiled floor toward her as Savanna spoke to her fiancé, and Parker rushed to the receptionist desk, telling Connor to get Beatrice on the line.
All because of the text that had just come from a blocked number.
Even though Jaya was staring at Jon—strong, confident, take-no-shit Jon—all she could see was the horrible video on her cell phone’s screen that had accompanied the anonymous text. Her baby brother’s features had been distorted in pain, blood, bruises… He’d cried out, telling her to find Dad. To give the man holding him what he wanted, or Finn would end up dead.
You know what we want, the text read. You have seventy-two hours or the kid dies.
The text was so brief, the video so brutal, it had taken Jaya a moment to put two-and-two together. Seriously, for half a second, she’d thought it was a joke—had to be a really bad one.
But on her brother’s chest, the kidnapper had carved a cross. Deep in her bones she knew this wasn’t a joke. That damn cross symbolized a real one—and that one was cursed.
My family is cursed.
Her stomach roiled, but not from an overload of hormones or any virus. Luckily, she was seated or her shaking legs would have left her flat on her ass.
Her foolish father, Sean O’Sullivan, had taken Finn on yet another treasure hunting expedition for the lost O’Sullivan cro
ss.
Had he found the damn thing? It appeared so. But why send her the threatening text and video? Had they sent it to her father as well?
Maybe they had, and he hadn’t responded and never intended to.
Damn him.
“Jaya?” Strong hands grabbed her wrists, then gave a squeeze. She snapped out of her mental chaos to see Jon bending down in front of her. “What’s going on? Savanna said something’s up with your brother?”
Jaya bit down on the inside of her cheek. Where to begin? What to say?
Her teeth grated on each other before she opened her mouth, not sure of the words that would come out. When nothing did, she simply swallowed and held the phone out to him. “My brother’s been…kidnapped.”
Savanna and Trace crowded in. In the distance, Jaya heard Parker telling Beatrice they had a situation, and that Jaya needed help. Jon took her phone, saw the image on the screen and hit play.
Her brother’s cries filled the air for the second time and Jaya wrapped her arms around herself and bent forward, closing her eyes. She didn’t need to see the screen to replay the video frame by frame in her head.
“Fuck,” Jon murmured. Trace echoed it. “This is your brother?”
Jaya nodded without opening her eyes, swallowing hard to keep the bile pushing its way up her esophagus from reaching its destination.
Jon touched her arm. “What does the text refer to regarding what they want? Do you know?”
“The O’Sullivan cross. That’s why he carved a cross on my brother’s chest.”
“What is that?”
Blinking her eyes open, Jaya took a steadying breath. “You might say it’s a family heirloom. If it actually exists, it’s an Irish national treasure.”
Jon started to say something else, but Parker whistled. “Hold that thought. B wants the two of you upstairs, now.”
“We’re going too,” Savanna said, grabbing Trace’s hand and marching toward the elevator.
“You have a wedding to get ready for,” Parker said. “And you’re not part of the team. I’ll go and find out what the plan is.”
Savanna raised a well-groomed brow. “Someone threatens my friend, I take it personally. We’re all going upstairs.”
…my friend. Jaya had only just met these women, and yet they were acting like Shelby. As if they’d known her forever and had her back.
“That’s really not necessary,” Jaya said.
Savanna hit the elevator button and the doors slid open soundlessly. “Get your butt in gear, Jaya. Let’s go talk to Beatrice. She’ll know what to do to get your brother back safe and sound.”
Jaya looked at Jon and he nodded, taking her by the hand and helping her stand. Thank goodness. She wobbled, her legs still weak and shaky. Everything was happening so fast, she hadn’t had time to recover from one issue before the next hit.
My life in a nutshell.
But Jon’s presence steadied her. He was here, in one piece, but why oh why did this have to happen right now?
Life is like that, her mother would say. Shit happens and then more shit happens.
Thanks, Mom.
As Jaya walked across the floor to the elevator, Jon by her side, she wished she could call her mom and ask for advice. She had pressing matters to discuss with Jon, but now they had to take a backseat to finding her brother.
How did being unexpectedly pregnant and needing to tell the father take a backseat to anything?
Her mom couldn’t help her now, anyway. Not ever again. Kala Hotti O’Sullivan’s mind was lost in a different time and place. Often these days, she didn’t even recognize who Jaya was.
You still don’t know for certain you’re preggers. One thing at a time.
Jaya had no idea what the protocol was for this, but she leaned on Jon a little and let him guide her into the elevator. She’d never been much for protocol anyway.
“I’ll find him,” Jon murmured. “I’ll get him back.”
Jaya squeezed his arm. He was a bodyguard. What could he do? Yes, he’d been a SEAL before Rock Star Security, but those days were over and gone, according to him.
The ride up to Beatrice’s office was over before Jaya could blink, her brain a million miles away, jumping from one thing to another. She’d tried calling her dad downstairs before Jon had showed up, but was told by an automated voice that the number was no longer active.
Is Dad even still alive?
God, she was going to lose everyone before she even hit thirty years old.
Inside the office, Beatrice motioned her to a chair and Colton asked, “What the hell is going on with Finn?”
Because Colton knew all about her screwed up family, since he and Shelby were from the same small town. He was aware her father was always on the hunt for another treasure. His biggest quest had always been the O’Sullivan cross, and he’d managed to talk enough bullshit about it to sucker her brother into the hunt as well.
Like growing up without him around wasn’t bad enough, now Finn was about to pay for their father’s foolishness as well.
Choices loomed in front of Jaya as she took the same seat in front of Beatrice she had earlier. She couldn’t exactly tell them all to forget it and go about finding Finn herself, not after they’d seen—and heard—the video. Plenty of times, she’d hunted down her father, cleaned and sobered him up, and brought him home to Oklahoma, only to have him take off on another adventure and leave her, Finn, and their mother behind. But this was different. Sean O’Sullivan had apparently screwed over the wrong people and Finn was smack dab in the middle of it. On top of that, Jaya had no idea where to start or how to save Finn.
Jon sat one hip on the edge of Beatrice’s desk, and faced Jaya. “It’s okay, J. Tell us about the cross, your dad, and brother. Why would someone kidnap him?”
How many times had she warned Finn not to believe in the tall tales their father was always spinning? “My father, Sean O’Sullivan, is a treasure hunter.”
Trace leaned on the fireplace. “Like for real? What does he look for? Lost gold? Shipwrecks?”
“His specialty is family heirlooms, especially those associated with nobility or famous people. He’s actually found a few, mostly Civil War-era stuff, like jewelry and artifacts stolen and ransacked from southern plantations. His Holy Grail is the O’Sullivan cross.”
Beatrice tossed her Mont Blanc pen on the desktop, now strewn with blue file folders and a pacifier. “A lost heirloom belonging to your family?”
How many arguments had Jaya heard between her mother and father over the elusive cross? How many nights as a young girl had she listened to his bedtime stories about its magical powers? “He’s been hunting it my whole life and now he’s gotten my younger brother obsessed with it too. He won’t rest until it’s recovered, and this time, he might actually have found it. I tried calling him. The number’s been disconnected. He may be in trouble as well, or he’s just pulling a dad and has disappeared.”
“What’s the story behind this cross?” Beatrice asked. “I assume it’s valuable?”
According to dear old Dad, it was priceless. “Family lore claims that the emerald-studded, shamrock-shaped cross was given to my great-great grandfather by an Irish lord in the House of Kildare back in the 1500s. He refused to be governed by England or the Pope and was constantly stirring the pot. Supposedly, the Crown sent an assassin to take out the lord and squelch the rebellions he’d been instigating. My grandfather worked for him and saved the man’s life one night, and hence ended up with the cross for his service. Then Cromwell took over, the O’Sullivans scattered, and the cross went missing. Various O’Sullivans have been hunting for it ever since, most notably my father.”
Jon handed Beatrice Jaya’s phone. “I’m guessing from this video, Jaya’s dad found it, or at least someone thinks he did. The kidnappers want it in exchange for Finn.”
Beatrice watched the video, her eyes scanning it carefully. A couple times, she paused, backed it up, and watched certain frames again. Hand
ing the phone to Jon, she sat back in the chair and rocked. “Do you have the last known whereabouts of your father and brother?”
Jaya shook her head.
“Any idea where they might have been searching?”
“Mostly likely Ireland.”
“What about your mom?” Colton asked. “Do you think the kidnapper sent her the video? Would she know where to look?”
That was one blessing in all of this—her mom couldn’t know about Finn. “She doesn’t have a cell phone, and her Alzheimer’s has gotten to the point she wouldn’t remember anything Dad told her, anyway. She’s living in a home now.”
“Sorry.” Jaya felt Colton’s hand on her shoulder, a reassuring—and completely unusual—gesture from him. “I didn’t realize.”
This time Jaya just nodded, batting back the warm liquid burning her eyes.
Beatrice grabbed a tablet from a desk drawer, tapped the screen, and set it on the desk, facing Jaya. “Our services don’t come cheap, but we get the job done, and because of your relationship to Jon, I’ll give you the friends-and-family discount. If you agree to hire us, I’ll need full disclosure about your father, brother, and any buried family secrets.”
God, her brain really was fried. “I’m sorry, services? I don’t know who kidnapped my brother, but I don’t need a bodyguard. Obviously, they believe I’m their only hope to find my father and the cross. They’re not going to hurt or kidnap me. I have to talk to Shelby. See if the FBI can help.”
“About that…” Jon took the tablet and handed it to her. “We’re not just a bodyguard service.”
Jaya rubbed her temples. What was he talking about? “You’re not?”
“We do other things. Help people who need specialized services.”
She sat straighter. Had he been holding out on her? “What kind of specialized services?”
Jon’s dark eyes were serious but still confident. “Stuff like this. I track people, Bells shoots them. Hunter does…well, everything else. We have some pretty damn good skills that go far beyond the bodyguard set.”