Page 67 of Fatal Thrill

He stared into her troubled eyes for a moment, seeing how scared she was but also the determination in them not to give intoit.

Soproud.

Damn he loved that abouther.

He returned her squeeze before resuming pressure on Sean’s wound. The disturbance shook the man from his unconscious stupor. “Ja…ya”

“I’m right here, Dad.” Leaning over him once more, she took his hand. Her voice rose above the siren. “We’re on the way to thehospital.”

“Tre…lawney.” The word was barely more than amutter.

“What?” Jaya leaned in closer. “What did yousay?”

Sean closed hiseyes.

“Cut the siren,” Jon yelled atPercy.

The detective obliged, frowning in hisrearview.

“Sean?” Jon tapped the guy’s arm. “Repeat what you said. Who’sTrelawney?”

Sean’s lips barely moved. “cross…Finn.”

Jaya grasped her father’s hand again. “What about Finn, Dad? Do you know where he is? Who tookhim?”

A flutter of lashes. The man’s skin had paled considerably since he’d sauntered into the castle and his deep green eyes looked nearly black in the fading light. “Finn…”

“He’s been kidnapped,” Jaya told her father. “Do you know who would take him? We think he’s in North Carolina, a place called ThiefRiver.”

Sean’s brow creased. “Kid…napped?”

“Whoever has him wants the O’Sullivan cross,” Jon supplied. “Does this Trelawney have something to do withit?”

“Crypt.” He seemed to fight to keep his eyes cracked open. His breathing was erratic, chest jerking with effort. “In…tunnel.”

“Finn’s in the tunnel?” Jaya’s gaze came up toJon’s.

Jon shook his head. “The cross is.” He leaned forward to catch Sean’s eye. “Right, Sean? You left the cross in thetunnel?”

“Crypt.” The man’s eyelids fluttered closed again. His breath came in gasps. “Trelaw…find…Finn.”

That little bit of information had cost Sean O’Sullivan his last bit of energy. By the time they arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later, his breathing had become more ragged, his pulse skipping around like a jackrabbit, and his skin had a cool tinge toit.

Percy had radioed ahead and a team of nurses and a surgeon waited for them at the emergency entrance. As Jon rattled off what they knew about Sean’s condition—which wasn’t much—the team took him off their hands. He and Jaya ran behind the stretcher, and just as they crossed into the bright lights of the ER, Sean’s body jerked, the monitor on him flatlined, and the doctor startedyelling.

Sean was in full cardiacarrest.