Page 10 of Hot Pursuit
“Because I could have sworn I saw a jet ski racing toward the dock not even ten minutes ago.”
Thad snorted behind her.
Jo turned to make a face at him, but he was focused on tying knots and securing the yacht to the slip. She turned back to her father. “I just went over to say hello.”
“To the Feds?” he scolded as his attention slid to that old fishing boat, lightning flashing in his gaze. “They’ve been tailing us for days.”
“It’s nothing new.” Jo shrugged. “Just thought I’d try being friendly for once, not that it made any difference. They had a map and some binoculars and a whole heap of frowns for me, nothing more.”
Much to my chagrin, she silently added as Agent Parker’s scowling face came to the forefront of her thoughts. Somehow, he made grouchy look charming. Remembering the scratch of his calloused palm on her arm and the little flash of desire in his eyes, well…it made her heart do a little flip in her chest. Jo was the queen of wanting things she couldn’t have—and a federal agent hunting her father, her best friend, and probably her as well? Yeah… He was at the top of the bad idea list. Number one. Underlined. In bold.
Jo did a mental shake, clearing her head and her heart, then returned her attention to her father. “So, howwasthe trip?”
Thad and her father had gone to the mainland to meet with a few of his former business associates and finalize the details for their upcoming trip to New York. As per usual, Jo had been left behind to man the fort. Not that she minded a few days on her own—after all, it was her only time to hunker down in the kitchen and bake to her heart’s content. But something had felt different about this trip, something she couldn’t quite pinpoint, a nagging fear she’d spent the past few days burying in the back of her mind.
Her father had promised her this would be his last trick.
He’d promised that after this trip to New York, they’d both be done.
Free of the shadows.
Finished.
Jo wanted so badly to believe him. But she couldn’t help but notice how neither he nor Thad would meet her eyes or answer her seemingly simple question.
“Successful, like I said,” her father muttered, gaze cutting to the small boat in the distance then returning to her for a split second before dropping to the briefcase he held made of dark, polished leather. “We’ll discuss it more when we’re inside.”
Jo swallowed her complaint and knelt to help Thad with the knots. Her father took off down the boardwalk, leaving the two of them alone. They worked in silence for a while, washing the salt from the deck and tidying the interior of the boat. When her father disappeared inside the house, Jo collapsed onto one of the leather sofas in the main cabin, worn out and exhausted even though it was hardly past midday. Her coopie energy was rapidly depleting, and the idea of spending the rest of the evening reviewing plans and catching up on the recon she was supposed to have finished days ago sounded more and more daunting with each passing second.
“Is there anything I need to know?” she asked as she dropped her head back against the seat, letting it roll to the side so she could watch Thad emerge from the lower level with a suitcase in each hand. He put them down before dropping into the seat beside her, then grabbed her hand in his strong fingers and ran his thumb over her palm.
“Don’t worry about it, Jo Jo. That’s my job,” he murmured. “The plan hasn’t changed. We fly to New York. Go to the gala. Grab the painting. In. Out. Back in a blink. One last hurrah before we send your dad into a much-deserved retirement. Leave the rest to me, okay?”
Jo bit her lip but nodded.
A few minutes with her computer and she knew she could uncover whatever it was they were hiding from her. And yet, she had no desire to do so.
Instead, she trusted his words.
His promise.
Because Thad had never broken a single one he’d made her.
He stood with a sigh, rolling his shoulders once before snatching the bags from the floor. Thad found her gaze again, this time with more life in his eyes. A smile widened his lips, digging those squeezable dimples back into his cheeks. “Besides, you have more important things to worry about. Your dad and I took a quick look at the security cameras on our way home. What in the hell were you doing all morning?”
“Crap!”
Jo jumped to her feet and raced past him, out the door. The kitchen was a disaster. The oven was still on. Her precious coopies were still cooling on the countertops. And, worst of all, her personal laptop was still open to the chat with her friends—and the dreams her father knew absolutely nothing about. Dreams to leave this island. To follow her own passions. To have her own life. Dreams he would never understand.
“Relax, Jo,” Thad called after her. “I told him to go the long way through the front entrance.”
She stopped cold and spun, relief flooding her chest. She should have known Thad would have her back. He was the only person aside from her online friends who knew anything about the bakery she one day hoped to run, and he’d always protected that hope as though it were his own, just like he’d always protected her.
“I know.” Thad winked as he jumped off the boat and landed smoothly on the dock. “You love me. I’m the best. What would you do without me?”
“I don’t know,” she said and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I really don’t.”
He rolled his eyes but didn’t protest. Jo took one of the bags from his arms, sparing a moment to glance over her shoulder at the boat still bobbing on the other side of the breaking waves. Then she closed her eyes tight, shook her head, and pushed all thoughts of those blue eyes from her mind as she followed Thad home.
