Page 75 of Once a Hero

He could try to find out more about Beatrice. What she liked, disliked. Who her family was. Her brother, for example.

At some time during the flight, they were scheduled do have an in-flight meeting with Benjamin Glynn. Jake looked forward to that even though he wasn’t sure what his own contributions were other than the one-amber brooch that Philomena had given him.

That posed a dilemma. How could he prepare for a meeting he was unprepared for?

He could check his email to see if Helen had anything for him. He scrolled through his email, and found a long rigamarole Helen had sent him hours before.

As the plane cruised above the altitude above 40,000 feet, Jake pored over her notes about Chisolm Wright’s children. The information obtained by the FBI ended twenty-five years prior.

On that note, he sent another encrypted email to his friend inside the bureau. He wanted to know if Stella Evans had found the mole.

And he complained to himself about his phone again. The phone screen was small and he spent a lot of time scrolling through Helen’s meticulous notes. The ever-intrepid private investigator had found the rest of the missing Wright years.

Jake pored over the photographs of Beatrice at the prom in high school with a date, her years in college and the master’s program, studying World War II history.

He paid particular attention to her personal life, noting that she had never been married. She spent most of her career hunting for treasures lost in world wars.

A career woman.

And he, a career man.

Jake had never married either. Pushing thirty-nine, he had spent most of his adult life in the employ of the FBI. At some point, he would like to settle down, but with whom? He’d have to trust God to provide the best partner in life for him.

The door to the conference room swung open. Kenichi limped out on his crutches. “All roads lead to Paris, right?”

Since Jake was the only one there, he assumed Kenichi had directed the question to him. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

“Oh no. Not this time.” He limped forward, trying not to put pressure on his broken leg in a cast.

“Where does the road lead?”

Kenichi kept walking. “Let me check with Bee, and we’ll know for sure.”

“She’s taking a nap.” Jake tried to be helpful.

“I’ll wake her up.” He made his way toward some closed doors. “She’s going to want to hear this.”

Jake wondered how he knew which sleeper cabin was Beatrice’s. And then he remembered that those two had worked together for years.

Still. “If she’s asleep…”

“She’ll let me in. I’m her second big brother. By the way, if anybody hurts her, Benjamin and I will go after them with a big stick.”

That sounded like a threat.

Halfway down the aisle, Kenichi stopped and knocked on the door. Jake couldn’t hear what Beatrice said from behind the closed door, if she said anything at all. But he stared when Kenichi turned the knob and went inside.

A lump of jealousy dislodged from Jake’s heart and rolled onto the floor.

He heard two voices now. At least they had left the door open.

He quickly returned to his phone with a “so what” look on his face. His ears were perked, listening to what Beatrice was saying. He glanced up to find her knocking on another door. Raynelle’s?

Inside the cabin there was a perpetual sound—something like a loud air-conditioner—that muffled distant voices. Even though the Gulfstream was smaller than a commercial airliner Jake had flown in, the distance between him and the two of them were still far enough away that he could not make out what they were saying to each other.

Thankfully, the voices came closer.

“Jake?”

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