Page 17 of Hidden Dane
The explosion boomed in his ears with each blink of his eye.
Somehow if he’d been faster, he might have saved her. He shook it off and banged on his small table. “When I find Ted, I’m done playing games.”
He heard Henry in the cockpit talking to the tower, then, what sounded like “cleared.”
There was no more shots to take. They had to get home, but even home wouldn’t be enough to forget her.
Emily had already haunted him but now she’d star as his biggest mistake. And this was all Ted’s fault. Sure, the man had stolen a few things from various digs over the years and sold them to private buyers, but he’d never been sloppy.
Or a murderer.
Now he was both. Uriel’s blood boiled as he shook his head. “What does Ted want?”
Brady wiped Uriel’s glass clean at the bar while he said, “He’s foiled your finds a few times.”
“He killed Emily.” Uriel straightened as if a dagger had pierced his spine.
Somehow, someway, he’d avenge this awful wrong.
Emily deserved far more.
Brady put the glass down and folded the bar towel. “Look, I didn’t see blood, just smoke. Granted my eyes burned, but I stalled our leaving so I could find more proof. There was no body, no DNA. Look, I’ll go try to dig up more whiskey for you, but maybe you should have some hope that all isn’t lost.”
Brady was the optimist. He was the realist. Emily was dead and his heart shriveled and died with her. For now he needed to drink and forget. Tomorrow he’d channel his biological father’s thirst for revenge and craft out every detail.
He placed his head on the table and hoped the pounding stopped. He heard a ring. He’d have ignored but Brady called out, “Uriel, your phone. It could be the authorities with news.”
He found it, reading the screen.
Dane, we’re on the train to Paris.
Uriel’s eyes sharpened and he read the text again.
Emily.
She was alive. He jumped out of his chair though he swayed from the whiskey as he said, “We need to head to Paris.”
Brady walked from the back toward the cockpit with a bottle in hand though he put it on the bar rather than give it to Uriel. “I’ll tell Henry. Care to explain what changed your mind?”
Uriel handed Brady his phone and tried to shake off the bottle he’d just had. “Emily’s alive.”
Brady smiled like he wanted to say he’d been right all along, but bounced forward and spoke to Henry.
Uriel splashed water on his face from the bar sink. Brady returned and directed him to the bathroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up then. You’ll need a level head.”
Right. Without a care he dropped his clothes and hopped in the compact shower.
The plane took off and Uriel held the handlebars while the water washed away the grime of the explosion.
If Emily was alive, she’d need him.
He’d not disappoint her or let her die, again.
Finally he turned off the water and found a clean black t-shirt and his favorite brand of jeans he’d kept on board in the event of an emergency. Once dressed, he returned to the cabin and saw Brady reading his tablet. Uriel opened a bottle of water and gulped it. “If they are heading to Paris then Ted has her necklace.”
The impulse to text Emily back hit him, but he remembered his biological father’s cautionary advice tonever tell anyone your plans, especially who you intend to see or who you intend to rescue or surprise. Michael’s voice even said the words. This time Uriel would listen to him.
Emily certainly would. Breathing deep, he put his empty plastic bottle in the trash.
