Page 31 of Once a Hero

“The way you smile reminds me of someone.”

“Good or bad?”

He swallowed. Placed his palm on his thigh. And winced.

“Are you okay?” Had she triggered a memory?

He drew a deep breath.

It made no sense to Beatrice. How could he even suggest that they worked together? Didn’t he remember all the things her team had done to his team?

Raynelle had stolen the three-amber brooch from under Jake’s nose.

Kenichi had hacked into Jake’s burner phone.

Beatrice had typed texted messages on that phone.

And yet he wanted to team up? Would that mean they would see each other’s resources? Secrets? Methods?

Jake lowered his voice. “The fact that they know we’re here means they’re probably at the cabin as we speak.”

The cabin.

Beatrice wondered what they would find there. Perhaps Philomena had kept some photos of Dad. Those memories would be more precious to Beatrice and her brother than anything else.

Possibly even more precious than the Amber Room.

That had been more of a mission of revenge than anything, right? To get to the Amber Room before Molyneux did had been Beatrice’s mission for the last ten years.

Maybe Jake could help. He was a former FBI Special Agent. Surely he could be trusted.

“What’s the cabin to you?” Beatrice asked.

“A place of intrigue and history. Maybe it has secrets we don’t know about.”

“Pieces of the puzzle?”

“Something like that.” Jake studied her. “Maybe if we go in the late morning we could catch lunch afterwards.”

“Did you just ask me to lunch?” Beatrice acted surprised, but she was warming up to him.

Eventually they’d have to tell each other the truth about themselves.

“Looks like it.”

“A business lunch if we’re working together,” Beatrice said. “I saidif.”

Still, she was grateful that Jake had come to her rescue behind the redwood tree. She and Earl would have both died because she could not pull the trigger.

She couldn’t do it.

That was why she had hired Raynelle to be her security detail.

All these close brushes told her one thing: Molyneux was onto her.

Eventually they would have to confront each other.

Beatrice had so many questions for Molyneux. Why did she have to kill Dad? Why not just walk away after their divorce?

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