Page 38 of Fatal Thrill

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The fireplace generated heat,but it didn’t reach far into the bedroom. Jaya sat on a chair near the hearth, Shelby at a desk under the archedwindow.

“Not only treasure hunters have been searching for the O’Sullivan cross all these years,” Shelby said. “Interpol hastoo.”

Jaya heard footsteps coming down the hall. She knew their cadence.Jon.

They still hadn’t talked about the baby yet. When she’d blurted out about being pregnant in front of Colton and Shelby, his face had been neutral, like he’d known it all along but didn’t want to show what he wasthinking.

Shelby, of course, had grilled Jaya with a million questions, none of which Jaya had really answered. She and Jon needed to talk before she went down all the rabbit holes Shelby wanted to, so she’d told her friend they weren’t discussing it for now. “Why?”

Jon appeared in the doorway, his hands full. He smiled at her and she returned it, accepting the cup he handedher.

“Ginger tea,” he said. The plate in his other hand was loaded with bread and crackers and he set it on a low, wooden table next to Jaya. “Beatrice ordered it up. Not sure you’ll likethem.”

Shelby jumped up from her chair and screwed up her nose as she snitched a cracker. “Is that wheatbread?”

“Yep, with raisins, and these are brown bread crackers, Iguess.”

Shelby made a face. “This tastes likenothing.”

“I can get some marmalade for you,” Jon said to Jaya. “There’s also honey andcheese.”

Bread and flavored water. This was what her world had been reduced to. “I’m actually kind ofhungry.”

Jon’s eyes lit up like he’d won the lottery. “How about soup? There are cans of tomato and chicken rice with vegetables. I can heatsome.”

Her heart melted a little. This man. “No tomato, but maybe some chicken rice in a bit.” She held out a hand to him. “Right now, I just needyou.”

His smile grew. He grabbed a stool and plunked down in front of her. “How’s thetea?”

She sipped and it was pretty good. “Did you put honey inthis?”

He shrugged. “Thought it might help with thenausea.”

“Are we discussing it now?” Shelby asked without missing a beat. “Thebaby?”

Jon shot her a look, and Jaya squeezed his hand. “Not yet. Why is Interpol looking for thecross?”

Shelby huffed slightly and returned to her chair. She’d set up a hotspot and had her notes on Sean spread out around her laptop. “Interpol believes the emeralds in the cross were stolen in the mid-1500s from a French countess who was a descendant of the Plantagenets. They might even be from the royaljewels.”

Jon wasn’t the only one who snapped his head around. Jaya’s mouth hung open. “Are you kiddingme?”

Shelby turned the screen toward her. “I kid you not, girlfriend. It’s possible the emeralds were removed from a piece of the royal jewels and placed in the cross to conceal them in order to get them out of France. And that’s not the half ofit.”

Jaya grasped the mug tighter. “Tellme.”

“The countess was the mistress of an Italian Cardinal who made a hard run at becoming Pope. It’s also possible the emeralds are some he removed from the Church and gave to her as a gift. No one’s exactlysure.”

Jaya’s voice came out a squeak. “So they could belong to the Holy CatholicChurch?”

Shelby nodded. “Either way, the value of that cross could be even more than your dadimagined.”

“Holy shit,” Jonsaid.

Jaya mentally dittoed that. “Do you think he found out? Mydad?”

“If he did, and was able to finally locate that cross, it could explain why your brother is in so much trouble at themoment.”