Page 70 of Once a Hero

“It’s been right behind us since we left the bank.”

“Then it’s too obvious.”

“I wish Ken and Ray were a hundred percent well. I could use them right now.”

“What about me? I’m here.” Jake realized he wasn’t of much help with a bad leg. “I’m sorry I’m no use until my leg heals.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. Not every battle requires a sword. In some cases, it’s a battle of the mind.” Beatrice glanced in her rearview mirror. “Is the truck still there?”

“It’s gone.” Jake was happy to report that. “It veered off.”

“Oh. Maybe I was mistaken.” She still gripped the steering wheel. She leaned forward.

“It’s okay to be careful.”

“To be honest, I’m freaked out right now. If Ken and Ray were here, I’d worry less. I pay them to drive and shoot.” She laughed nervously.

“You and your team…”

“What?”

“…are a mystery to me.”

“So are you, Mr. Kessler.”

“Let’s dispense with the Mr. and Mrs.—oops, a slip of the tongue. I meant Mr. and Miss.”

Beatrice seemed to mull over what he had said. “Matthew 12:34 says, ‘for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’ I wonder if it was really a faux pas.”

“Please don’t read too much into it.” Even as he spoke it, Jake knew that his feelings for Beatrice were getting stronger by the hour as they spent more time together.

He prayed that it wasn’t a fleeting feeling. A crush of some sort. After all, she was a woman of mystery who suddenly showed up after twenty-five years of hiding, rescued him several times, and then confessed that she was indeed the daughter of the infamous treasure hunter, Chisolm Wright, as well as the world’s most wanted criminal, Molyneux.

How could any one person be so unfortunate?

And yet there were two of them: Beatrice and her older brother.

In the three years that Jake had infiltrated Molyneux’s organization and rose through the ranks, he had never once heard Molyneux or the people close to her mention her adopted children. What he knew, he had learned from Helen Hu’s sleuthing ability. Court documents provided the rest. How Helen had obtained those files, he could not begin to ask.

In the driver’s seat, Beatrice drew a deep breath and her shoulders relaxed. She lifted a hand away from the steering wheel to wipe sweat off her forehead.

Jake saw how much her hand trembled. He reached out to hold it.

“I can’t drive with one hand,” Beatrice said.

“Cruise control?”

“Never used it in my life.” She pointed to the highway sign. “The airport is up ahead. We’ll be out of here soon.”

“I can’t wait for this entire nightmare to be over.” Jake looked out the window.

“And I can’t wait to go home. I haven’t seen my brother in six months…” Her words tapered off, as if saying more would be to give away secrets.

“Tell me about your brother,” Jake said. “Maybe if we talk about happy things, it will get our minds off what happened today.”

“My brother is paranoid times a thousand.” She laughed. “That about sums him up.”

“You love him very much. I can tell.”

---