Page 81 of Once a Hero

“I’m sure it’s very hard work. Has anyone ever attempted to kill you?” Jake asked it in jest. Surely hunting for treasures couldn’t be as hard as working as an FBI Special Agent.

“Countless times.”

“No kidding.” Well, he took back his assumption.

“It means a lot to the heirs to see their family heirloom returned to their home.”

“So you risk life and limb for them.”

“It’s worth it.”

The afternoon sun shone in through the airplane window on Beatrice’s hair. In the sunlight, there were strawberry blonde strands among the brown in her hair. Her eyes were brown too. They were soft and kind. Gentle eyes.

Like she was the most fragile woman in the world.

And yet, Jake knew she wasn’t frail.

She had entered a giant forest at night to rescue him and Earl. It took a lot of bravery for her to risk her own life.

And then the dagger incident. She had distracted John Doe away from his plan. Jake was almost certain that if Beatrice hadn’t done that, he would have been dead by now, or at least badly wounded.

Jake finished his chicken pot pie. He sipped hot tea. “We’re very much alike in several ways.”

“Yeah?” Beatrice also finished her lunch.

“Uh-huh. We both like to help people. We’re happiest when we can truly help someone else.”

“That’s why you joined the FBI.” Beatrice pointed at him.

Jake nodded. “However, the last three years have been frustrating.”

“Because you couldn’t help the world.”

“Well, if you put it that way…”

“Maybe your goal was too lofty there. You wanted to take down Molyneux’s organization. It’s a formidable task.”

“Not to be done alone, I know. There are many people working together.” Jake sighed. “Still, it’s been fruitless.”

“Not altogether.” Beatrice smiled. “We met. We joined forces. We can do this.”

“With God’s help.” Jake didn’t mean to correct her or anything. He merely spoke what was in his heart. If it wasn’t for God, he wouldn’t be here today. And neither would Beatrice.

“Of course. And at the end of the day, God gets the credit.”

“Amen.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

In spite of feeling like she could use a nap after lunch, Beatrice decided to work in her office instead. It was her brother’s office, but he had never used it. In fact, it had been his idea that the family Gulfstream would function as a flying laboratory with enough tools to help her get to her objective.

The jet also came with a satellite-driven ultra-high-speed secure internet connection, which enabled them to be all over the internet while cruising by at forty thousand feet in the air.

While Kenichi was busy teaming up with Helen Hu’s hacker associates to track the fake brooch box and find other ways to uncover Molyneux’s actual physical location, Beatrice had started feeding the photograph of the golden key through their extensive worldwide database of old keys to narrow down its potential origin.

Thanks to Benjamin, they had access to many types of databases, from old doors to old roads to paintings to keys. Beatrice used to think they were trivial databases, but she had changed her mind after several successful matches in the past.

The jet was still flying over the United States, and somewhere at the back of her mind, Beatrice hoped to get a call from Benjamin asking to join the search party. If he did, they’d make a slight detour to Charleston to pick him up.

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