Irish Eyes (Stolen Hearts Romance) by Annie Jones Read Free Book Online Page A

stumbled onto the gold. After reburying the coins, Cameron had to find a better spot to call for police backup. Shaughnessy had been posing as a police officer all over the city to keep tabs on O’Dea and had apparently intercepted the dispatch request on a police scanner.
    Julia cleared her throat and managed to speak a little louder. “He knows I’m a witness to kidnapping, even if he doesn’t realize I found the gold.”
    “As I explained, Shaughnessy didn’t know we’d actually found the gold. I just asked for assistance of the police. I intended to get my nephew out of there, then post a guard as I dug the gold up again.”
    “But—"Julia scraped her teeth over her bottom lip. “What if Shaughnessy makes your nephew tell him?”
    Pain and guilt flashed in Cameron’s green eyes at that suggestion. “He wouldn’t dare harm the boy.”
    “But he might dare harm Julia,” Craig argued like a dog with a bone.
    “Especially if he puts two and two together and concludes that I unearthed the coins.” She was thinking aloud more than giving voice to any fears. “It wouldn’t take a genius to figure that out.”
    “Yeah. You did,” Craig muttered to the tall man dominating the room.
    “Shaughnessy won’t get to Miss Reed.” Cameron’s voice rose with authority
    “How can you be so sure?” Craig raised an eyebrow.
    “Because I won’t let him.”
    The hard, no-nonsense phrase hung in the air like the ring warning gunshot.
    The three waited, each eyeing the other. No one wanted to break the brittle silence. The tension around them charged the dry air so that it felt as if one sound might set off a spark that could ignite an explosion of emotion.
    Julia’s heartbeat throbbed in her temples and thudded in her ears. Her hands tangled in her lap, winding tighter and tighter together until her skin burned and her knuckles ached.
    Cameron’s gaze held steady, unyielding.
    Finally, she had to say something. “I have lived my life asking people to trust in my help, Mr. O’Dea. I think it’s time I show I can do what I ask of others.” She stood and faced him, her arms folding over her chest as if that could still her pounding heart. “Tell me what we have to do to get your nephew back safely.”
     
    *
     
    Shortly before noon, Cameron pulled his car up to the shelter again. Once he had obtained Julia’s cooperation in this adventure gone awry, he’d had to act fast. First he’d had to spirit away the gold and place it in a place both secret and secure. Only he and his direct supervisor knew the hideaway.
    That made Julia useless to Michael as a guide to the treasure. Nothing he had learned about or sensed from Julia made him think she would reveal anything. But he also could not take the chance that she might give the location away by accident or out of some misplaced idea that her involvement could turn the tables for Devin.
    Then, he’d had to gather all the information and equipment he would need for the mission. He’d already made one slip up going in unprepared. He would not be so careless again. He rubbed his tired eyes with his thumb and forefinger. Sleep had evaded him last night. But then, he doubted he would rest much at all until Devin and that gold were safely where they belonged.
    The car door let out a long metallic creak as he nudged it open with his shoulder. He’d hoped Julia would be waiting for him on the sidewalk outside St. Patrick’s. She’d promised to give him a full hour of her precious time to go over things with him in her office, with Craig Davis lurking about, no doubt.
    That’s why Cameron had insisted they meet outside the shelter over lunch—an invitation he did not extend to her assistant.
    Julia’s reticence to spend time alone with him had prompted him to include Devin’s mother in the meeting. It would be good for Fiona to get out instead of waiting and worrying on her own. It also saved him the trouble of repeating his plan separately to both women. Cameron