JACK JUMPED WHEN HIS PHONE BUZZED. “TAYLOR.”
“I don’t know where to start.” She sounded out of breath. “Listen, we’re on our way to the lawyer’s office. But, Jack, Damon Crosse is alive.”
“What?” he asked, stunned. “How?”
“He faked his suicide. You’ve got to find someplace safe for us until we figure out where he is. He’s probably watching our every move.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Remember I told you about the priest who authenticated the news about my mother? Well, he’s got the details. I’ll text you his phone number. Call him. In the meantime, please figure out where you can take Evan and be safe. We’ll meet you there as soon as we’re back.”
“I’m on it. Keep me posted. Love you.”
He sat down at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands. Crosse was alive? Jeremy had seen him taken away by the coroner . . . but if anyone would be capable of pulling off something like that, it would be Crosse. Everything was making sense now. Crosse had to be behind this whole meth-induced madness.
His text tone sounded and he saw that Taylor had sent Father Basil’s contact info. He dialed right away.
“Hello.” The voice on the other end was somber.
“Father Basil?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“Jack Logan, Taylor’s husband.”
“I’ve been expecting your call. Eva is in trouble. It’s imperative that your wife get those coins out of the country before they fall into the wrong hands.”
“You mean Damon Crosse’s hands.”
“You’ve heard, then.”
“Do you know where Crosse is?” Jack demanded.
“No, but we’ll need to find him somehow and get the ten coins he has. When your wife and Jeremy return, we need to create a plan to bring all the coins together and destroy them.”
“Why do we need to bring them all together?” Jack asked, skeptical.
“That’s the only way their power can be eradicated.”
Jack paused for a moment. “And why should I trust you?”
“I’m as involved in all of this as you are. And I’m a man of the cloth.”
Jack laughed bitterly. “Sorry, Father. That doesn’t mean much to me.” He ended the call without another word, then looked around the room.
“Damon Crosse, where are you?” he shouted aloud. It was beginning to make perfect sense. Crosse was behind all these murder-suicides. Jack would bet his life on it.
Before doing anything else, though, he needed to find a safe place for him and Evan to stay. He was just thinking about who he should call when his phone rang.
“Jack Logan.”
“Hi, Jack. I’ve got Dakota’s passport.”
He didn’t have time to deal with this right now. “Sybil, I’m sorry but a situation has just cropped up that I have to take care of. I’m not going to be able to help after all. I’m sorry.”
“Jack, I wouldn’t ask if I had any other choice. I’m going back to the hospital tomorrow for another treatment. Can you please just get the passport from me here in the city, and you can find someone else to get it to Dakota? I’m still in the same apartment—you have the address, right?”
He exhaled a pent-up breath. None of this was Sybil’s fault. He had a sudden flashback to the horrible day when he’d found Dakota in a blood-filled bathtub. Sybil had been the first to arrive at the hospital and she’d taken care of everything for him. He’d been too shattered to think about what to do with the remains of his unborn child and she had arranged it all for him. Even the memorial later that week where he had said good-bye to the daughter that had never had a chance. How could he turn his back on Sybil now that she needed him? He could make the arrangements for the safe house just as easily from the car while he drove the hour into the city. He’d call Dakota first, though, and update her. “Okay. I’ll be by early tonight.”
“Thank you. I’ll leave it with my doorman. I’m really not up to visitors.”
“Of course, I understand. Take care, Sybil.”
“You too, Jack. I’m sorry things turned out the way they did. We loved you.”
After he disconnected, he dialed the number Dakota had left for him.
“Jack. Thank you for calling me back.”
He got right to business. “I’m getting your passport from Sybil tonight. I have a friend who’s willing to meet you. That’s the best I can do.”
“I don’t trust anyone else to know where I am. Can I have someone I trust come to you then? Pick it up from you? I just need a few days to arrange it.”
He hesitated. “I don’t know where I’m going to be.” He wasn’t about to let Dakota know where he was once he secured a safe house.
“You can meet him somewhere public. Please, Jack.”
“I can’t guarantee I’ll be available then, but I’ll hold on to it for a few days. If I’m able to meet him, I will; otherwise, I may have to find a place to leave it for him.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I find someone,” she said.
“No. I won’t have this phone anymore. I’ll call you again in forty-eight hours.”
“Okay. Thanks again.”
He ended the call without another word. Just the sound of her voice brought all his anger and outrage back to the surface. After he did this last thing for her, he never wanted to hear from her or about her again.