by Misty Evans
“They can help you,” Savanna insisted. “Trust me, I know.”
“No offense to Shelby, but if you go to the Feds,” Jon continued, “they’ll halfheartedly look in to it and move at the speed of a snail. The kidnapper only gave you seventy-two hours. You need us, Shadow Force International, with all of our technology and expertise.”
“Shadow Force International?”
“I’ll get Rory tracking where the text originated and Sean and Finn were last seen,” Beatrice said. “We’ll have boots on the ground before noon.”
“I’ll cover the fee,” Savanna said, “in exchange for your wedding services.”
“Wait.” Jaya stood, her legs now buzzing with agitation, like she had to get up and move. Her gaze went from Jon to Beatrice, to all the others in the room, before it came back to the woman behind the desk. “This really isn’t just a bodyguard service?”
“Jeez, Jaya.” Colton grunted. “Since when are you so damn slow on the uptake? We’re a paramilitary group of former SEALs with all the toys who still know a thing or two about kicking ass. Yeah, we do private security, but the heart of the organization goes well beyond that. We’ll save Finn, find your dad, and figure out the cross shit. You onboard or what?”
Fiery annoyance burned in her chest. “Excuse me for needing a moment to fully comprehend that my”—she waved a hand in Jon’s direction—“boyfriend was lying to me, and for wrapping my head around the fact that my brother has been kidnapped.”
“I didn’t lie,” Jon said, frowning. “I’m a bodyguard too. Rock Star is a legit business.”
Parker slid into the melee and picked up Jaya’s phone from the desk. “I’ll take this to Rory and bring him up to speed.” She quietly exited.
Beatrice scrolled through the text on the tablet’s screen. “Sign here,” she said, pointing to a blank line.
Jaya wondered if the whole world had gone crazy, or if it was just her. “I’d really like to talk to Shelby—”
Colton interrupted. “I’ll bring Shelby up to speed, but Jon’s right. You need to move fast and the Bureau is a red-tape nightmare. Your case will end up behind half a dozen others. Just sign the fucking contract so we can go find Finn.”
One thing Jaya hated above all else was being bullied. “Back the hell off, Bells. I need to think and your attitude is making me see red.”
Sloane, still on Colton’s hip, waved a tiny fist at Jaya. She was frowning and gibberish came from her mouth, but she canted her body toward Jaya and Jaya’s natural instincts kicked in. She reached for the baby without hesitation, lifting her out of Colton’s arms. “And you’re upsetting the baby, so knock it off.”
Colton rolled his eyes but let Sloane go. Chubby hands came up to pat Jaya’s cheeks, her face brightening into a smile. A couple teeth peeked through.
God Almighty, what a cute kid.
She was going to be a heartbreaker. Already was by the way all the men around here were gaga for her.
Jaya bounced Sloane slightly, smiling back. Family. This was what it was all about. Feeling loved, protected, and happy. Family was supposed to give you that, but Jaya had rarely felt it. She’d been the giver, the protector, the one trying to make everyone else happy.
Her brother was in serious trouble and the men and women in this room wanted to help. Jaya was proud, but she wasn’t above accepting help when it was needed.
Especially when she had no other options.
Jon stood and met her eyes over the top of Sloane’s head. “Finding people—search and rescue—it’s my specialty. I can find your brother.”
My knight in shining armor. How could she say no? “You have some serious explaining to do.”
He nodded, giving her a woeful smile as Sloane patted her cheeks again and laughed.
Shifting the baby to one hip, Jaya stepped forward, said a silent prayer for her brother, and used her finger to sign the contract.
Beatrice’s phone buzzed as Jaya was signing her name to the SFI services contract. Rory was on the other end.
“Do you need this back?”
“Yes,” Beatrice said.
“If I’m going to trace the origination of the call, it’s gonna take a while. Plus, I’ve got three other pending emergencies.”
“Put Parker to work. Ms. O’Sullivan needs a replacement phone, so have Parker synch Jaya’s to one of ours for her use. She’ll need her contacts, messages, etc.”
He huffed. “Parker’s not touching my toys. Besides, she’s a scientist, not a computer expert.”
Parker was former CIA and had ties to the NSA as well. In the background, she said, “Get over yourself, Rory.”
Beatrice silently seconded that suggestion. “Parker has the necessary experience with our technology, and this new case is of critical importance. Our deadline is seventy-two hours.”
A strained sigh came through the line. “Fine, but I still need more help. Call that cranky bastard, Zeb, and tell him to get his ass in here.”
Jaya continued to bounce Sloane on her hip, Jon watching her with a gleam of pride and a whole lot of love in his eyes.
He’s going to make a good dad.
Colton leaned over the desk and murmured, “I’m going to give Shelby a heads-up.”
He booked out of the room, Trace and Savanna following suit after she gave Jaya a hug.
“Why don’t you call Zeb and see if he’s free?” Beatrice suggested to Rory.
The former spook, an expert at wet jobs, no longer wielded a gun, but was still adept at bringing down bad guys. “I’m not speaking to him.”
One thing Beatrice had always admired about Rory was his ability to separate his emotions from the job at hand. He and Zeb were poured from the same mold and rubbed each other entirely the wrong way, but with people’s lives on the lines, Rory usually wasn’t above asking for help. Today, of course, seemed to be the exception.
“Personal feelings have no place here today. Put them aside and take your petty ego issues up with Zeb on your own time.”
“Petty ego issues?” She could practically see Rory rearing back in his wheelchair, full of indignation. “I don’t have—”
She hung up on him. That would rile him up more, but he did, in fact, have a healthy ego, and she knew just how to use that against him. In this case, it meant getting him to call in help on his own.
Jaya was making silly noises at Sloane, getting the baby to laugh and clap. Beatrice took a moment to enjoy it. Every day, Sloane changed a bit more, and she wanted to remember it all—these simple stolen moments, when she could watch her baby enchant a complete stranger, did her heart a lot of good.
The strain in Jaya’s face returned as she looked over at Beatrice. “Your cloning my phone?”
“Your privacy will be maintained, but Rory needs time to find where the text and video originated from. Meanwhile, I’ll dig into the last known whereabouts of your father and brother and see if I can trace their movements.” She glanced at Jon. “Take Jaya to your place and let her get some sleep. I’ll be in contact as soon as I have any leads.”
Jon gave her a quizzical look, knowing she could probably have information for them within the hour, but she returned it with a hard stare that brokered no questions. It was easy to see that Jaya was about to fall flat on her face from exhaustion.
Just do it.
Reading her command, he knew better than to quiz her, so when Jaya started to protest, Jon lifted Sloane from her arms and returned the baby to Beatrice. “We need a starting place,” he said to Jaya, helping her with her coat. “It won’t take long for B and Rory to get us the necessary details, and then we’ll be all over it. I promise.”
As Jon continued to placate his girlfriend, he led her to the door. Beatrice hoped Jaya used this time to tell him about the “emergency” she’d shown up with.
“Be sure to pick up the cloned phone from Parker before you leave,” she said.
Jon nodded. “Thanks, boss. And we’ll discuss who covers the fee for this
later, okay?”
Like his name suggested, Jon was a lone wolf. Beatrice had once been the same. It was challenging for him to look at his future and see a real home and family in it, and Beatrice had to hope he was going to take the information Jaya needed to share with him in a good way.
“You take care of Jaya,” she said to him. He had money to burn—a billionaire, thanks to family money—and probably would pay the bill before Savanna could, because that was just like him. He didn’t like owing anyone anything. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
The door shut softly and Sloane whined, upset that all her playmates had disappeared.
Beatrice pulled her close, snuggling and kissing her temple. “You may have a new friend in a few months,” she said, smiling.
A moment later, Trace stuck his head in. “Everything okay?”
Beatrice nodded. “You and Savanna stay focused on the wedding.”
“Savanna’s worried this isn’t the best time for it. Maybe we should think about postponing.”
“Over my dead body.” Words she never said lightly. “In our world, there’s rarely a good time for a celebration, but I’ll be damned if I let anyone screw up your day.” She owed Trace for so many things she’d lost count. “We are not postponing the wedding. If I personally have to find Finn O’Sullivan, I will.”
Trace grinned but knew she spoke the truth. “Jon can find him. I think the real issue will be that cross and Sean O’Sullivan. Sounds like a lot of people could be after that artifact, and that makes this whole thing a lot more dangerous.”
Sloane sat on her lap and reached for the pen. Beatrice grabbed the discarded pacifier and handed it to her, but the baby wanted nothing to do with that. She wanted the Mont Blanc. “One thing at a time. First, we get Finn back, then we’ll deal with Sean and the cross.”
Trace’s gaze fell on Sloane as she wiggled enough to reach the pen. “I can’t wait to have kids.”
Beatrice smiled. The SFI family was continuing to grow in more ways than one.
4
Jaya fell asleep in Jon’s car.
She hadn’t mean to. The heater was blasting warm air, Jon was humming softly, not flooding her with more questions, and her body simply shut down. Lights out.
When she woke, Jon was gently shaking her. “We’re here.”
The sun was shining brightly, reflecting on the snow along the sidewalk of his apartment complex. The three-story building was familiar and welcoming, she just wished she were visiting again under better circumstances.
There never seemed to be a good time for the two of them. During her last visit in the fall, he’d been rehabbing his shoulder and going to physical therapy every day. Eventually, he’d gone back to light office duty, and now she understood so much more about his job than she had then.
Shadow Force International. Rock Star Security. How many other secrets was he keeping?
Like she was one to talk. “My van…?”
“Colton’s bringing it by later.” He helped her out of the car and they started for the building.
“Knowing Colton, he’ll change all my radio stations and leave a bunch of empty beer cans in the back.”
“Yeah, he likes you.”
She snorted, trudging up the steps to the second floor, and rubbing her tired eyes. Funny way of showing it. “He’s like the annoying older brother I never had—or wanted.”
“He’s got your back, just like Shelby.”
Jon let her in, and she shrugged off her coat. The place smelled like Jon—earthy, woodsy, comfortable. Not much had changed in decor; he took a minimalist approach, using the furniture Colton had left behind when he and Shelby moved to a new place in the burbs and Colton had sublet this place to Jon.
Jon hung up their coats on the single hook next to the door, his over hers. Somehow, that seemed almost romantic, as if it was protecting hers.
Jeez, she was turning into an emotional wreck.
“Want some coffee? Breakfast?” he asked.
Breakfast, right. It was only 7:45. Jaya had been up for so long, and so much had happened in the past 24 hours, she’d totally lost track of time.
Surprisingly, her stomach growled at the thought of food. Coffee sounded amazing as well. “Do you have decaf?”
Jon gave her a questioning look as he headed for the kitchen. He set her new Beatrice-approved phone on the breakfast bar. “Since when do you drink decaf?”
Her stomach growled again. Loudly. “Um…” Maybe this was a good sign; she hadn’t felt queasy for the past forty minutes and now she was actually hungry. The nap had done her good. It’s a virus after all. Has to be.
Yeah, right. “How about some tea and toast? Do you still have some of that organic green tea?”
He opened a cabinet and pulled out a box. “You’re the only one that drinks it, so there should be plenty.”
While he dug out the toaster, she filled the kettle. It was almost like before, comfortable and homey. They’d always worked well together in the small kitchen, and Jaya liked the closeness. It reminded her of the kitchen of her childhood home. That had been tiny too, but the meals she’d created with her mom were one of her fondest memories.
Jon hummed as he heated a skillet and broke a couple of eggs into it. Soon Jaya had her tea and toast and Jon bellied up to the breakfast bar with a feast of eggs, sausages, and bacon. The man loved his meat, that was for sure. On top of it all, he added hot sauce. The scent of dark roast scented the air from the big mug that Jon had, steam rising from the cup into the air and making her think of her dad.
Sean O’Sullivan drank coffee all day, every day. It never bothered his stomach or kept him awake. Often it held a spike of whiskey.
Where was he right now? Why had he taken the cross and left her brother?
Or had he ran into trouble himself and didn’t even know about Finn?
Her dad was trouble with a capital T. If anything, he’d probably taken the cross—family heirloom or not—and ran off to sell it to the highest bidder. She’d long suspected the only reason he even cared about the thing was because it was worth a lot of money. Family didn’t seem to mean all that much to him.
She knew Jon was dying to ask more questions about the cross and her dad, but he waited for her to broach the subject. Another thing she liked about him—he never tried to force her into talking about touchy subjects. He patiently waited for her to bring it up. Which she really didn’t want to do, but…
The teacup was warm in her hand and the toast had gone down and stayed there so far. She was still hungry, but decided to wait a few minutes to make sure everything was kosher before she went for a second piece.
“So you’re some type of paramilitary guy, huh?” Better to start the conversation talking about him.
He loaded his fork with egg and sausage. “I have skills that can help people. SFI gives me the means to do that.”
“You could have told me.”
A wall of silence floated between them as he chewed his food. Jaya had the feeling he was using it to get his thoughts in order.
“I wanted to,” he said, “but everything we do is top-secret. We take an oath to maintain secrecy, and we have rules we have to abide by. Our Rock Star clients never know our real names, only our codenames, and that’s how we want it. Some of the guys have not so great pasts and they don’t want to end up under a spotlight or bring any attention to themselves. Our SFI missions are dangerous, and discretion is the only way we can insure that our friends and family members are kept safe from any repercussions those missions might bring down on us.”
Jaya thought about the baby who might be growing inside her, and resisted the urge to touch her belly again. It was so important to protect the innocent, and never an easy task. At least not in her experience. “I get it.”
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “You’re not mad?”
“Oh, I’m peeved, and a little hurt to be honest, but I do understand. It’s just that, well, my dad kept a lot
of secrets from my mom, from all of us. Still does, obviously. He did stuff behind her back when we were kids. He’s not just a treasure hunter—he’s a grifter, a con man. Being a treasure hunter sounds romantic and exciting, but it’s really a cover for his other not-so-romantic charades. He’s charismatic and intelligent and he’s swindled a lot of people out of their money and valuables, so I get my hackles up when I feel I’ve been tricked or deceived—it brings up nasty daddy issues for me.”
He wiped his hands on a napkin and reached over to rub her back. “Your dad sounds like a real charming guy.”
She didn’t miss the sarcasm. Her feelings for her dad were so mixed up, she wasn’t sure what to say about him. “I love him, but I have a lot of anger too. He basically abandoned us for long stretches of time when Finn and I were kids, leaving Mom to raise us. When he turned up, he was usually wasted, beat up, and broke.
“But when he was sober and he and Mom were on good terms, he made me feel like a princess. He was full of stories about kings and queens, knights and magic. Leprechauns and pots of gold. I thought Ireland must be the most magical place in the world when I was kid and he always promised to take me there. There’s this ruined castle in Kinvarra that he claims used to be an O’Sullivan stronghold. He said he’d take me there for my 16th birthday.”
Jon’s face told her he knew the punch line to that joke. “But he didn’t.”
The one thing she would never do to her kid was make promises she couldn’t keep. “Someday, I’m going to go there and find it. I don’t need him to take me.”
“I’ve been to Ireland a couple times. Mostly at night and under cover of darkness. Didn’t get to take any tours of the countryside, but from what I could tell, it’s a pretty cool place.”
That made her smile. “My ancestral line on that side of the family is full of everything from Gypsies to royalty. Some days, I think my Native side is easier to handle.”
They shared a laugh. Jon had Native blood as well and knew the labels and difficulties it brought.
She set down the tea and fidgeted with the new cell phone next to her. “You said search and rescue is your thing. Was that what you did in the SEALs?”