Page 72 of Once a Hero

I don’t want to lose my baby sister.

Benjamin was only five years older than her, but ever since they had been abandoned by both adoptive parents—one could say they had been abandoned twice at that point—Benjamin had felt a heavy responsibility for his sister.

“You keep getting in harm’s way.” On the other side of the videoconference call, Benjamin leaned forward on his favorite couch and stared into the camera.

Oddly enough, his voice softened. “I know you two had to get the brooches from two different banks, but you could at least have some protection. I should have sent someone.”

“It’s not your fault.” Beatrice was surprised that her brother blamed himself. “I didn’t fill you in enough to make it your fault.”

“I could have figured it out.”

“Yeah?”

“There was plenty of time. You had to wait for that FBI dude to check out of the hospital. It took another five hours to drive from Eureka to San Francisco. I could have flown someone there on commercial to meet you, regardless of what your situation was.”

It was all true, but it was too late now. “What’s done is done, as they say. Maybe you can send some extra personnel to meet us in Paris, considering that Ken has a broken leg and Ray a broken arm.”

Beatrice could have made the order for additional security herself, since she owned part of Glynn, Inc. However, Benjamin had been cooped up in the mansion for years, unable to set foot outside their property line. This would give him something to do. Make him feel useful.

“Okay. I’ll send Ansel and his team.”

“Thank you. Of course, we don’t know if the brooch box will end up in Paris, but meeting there will get us closer to wherever we need to go.” Beatrice leaned back in her office chair.

She was feeling tired, like she needed a nap or something, but she wasn’t going to rest until the plane took off. There was a slight delay as they waited for the extra food the flight attendant had ordered for them.

“I was reviewing your report on what happened in Eureka,” Benjamin said. “Maybe you shouldn’t have told them who you are.”

Beatrice knew what he was referring to. “They were going to hurt Jake.”

“You felt you had to stall.”

Beatrice nodded.

“You felt sorry for him because they had tortured him six months ago.”

Beatrice nodded again, and then realized what Benjamin was driving at.

“You felt this and that. It was all feelings, Bee.”

That was another big difference between the two siblings. Benjamin was all head and no heart. Beatrice ran the risk of being all heart and…no head?

She was sure she had made each decision in California rationally.

“I should’ve stopped you from tracking Helen Hu and the FBI.” Benjamin grunted. He did that when he regretted something big.

“That’s how we discovered that the FBI has a mole, Ben. We’re doing them a favor.”

“And that makes it all worthwhile for you?”

Getting to know Jake was worthwhile, but she wouldn’t tell her brother that. It was early in their relationship—if there was one.

“I told you before that you need to rein in your feelings. You crossed the line when you called Helen in Cannes.”

“I couldn’t let Jake drown.”

“Listen to yourself. You said earlier that you didn’t want them to hurt Jake. That’s twice that you went out of your way—way out—to rescue a man you don’t know.”

Didn’t know.

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