Hell Bent

he was, Dylan, which four numbers? The last four? They’re easy enough to separate out. A social security number is three groups of numbers – three, three, and then four.”

“Fourth SS. That has to be it.” Dylan was definitely excited now. “The last four numbers are three-nine-two- four.”

“Mama, my crayon broke. Can you get me another one?”

Trinity hadn’t yet moved from where she’d been sitting beside Cassie, listening in on the conversation. But now, she turned to her daughter and spoke at last. “Sure, baby. Why don’t you go ahead and get it. In my purse. You know where they are.” Her purse was on the floorboards, beside Cassie’s purse and bag, and Annabelle’s backpack.

Emma dug around in the bag for a few seconds and then came out with a box of crayons. She dumped the whole box on the carpet and chose the purple.

“No, I want yellow.”

“It doesn’t show up on the pink paper, though.”

“I know, but it’s my favorite color,” Emma insisted. “Can you highlight with it?”

Highlight? Annabelle was impressed. How many four-year-olds would think of doing that?

“So, so far we have four numbers and a clue that leads to Columbia University,” Dylan said, drawing Annabelle’s attention back to the matter at hand. “We still need to fill in the missing letters.”

“And don’t forget the ‘plus T’ part.”

Annabelle chewed on her lip for a moment, staring at the paper that Cassie now held between them all. And then she blinked. “If the ‘plus T’ is attached to the numbers, then either the ‘T’ represents a number, or the numbers represent letters.”

“Well, heck, that’s easy enough to figure out. What are the third, ninth, second and fourth letters of the alphabet?” Cassie asked.

“C, I, B and N.”

They turned to Trinity, who had instantly supplied them with the letters.

“That’s impressive, Trin. How’d you do that so fast?”

“I’m a kindergarten teacher.” Trinity smiled. It was the same smile that Cassie had given Annabelle earlier. Tired. Scared. But willing to help out, if she could.

Annabelle placed the letters, in order, in the spaces. “Crap, I think we have it. Craig Brand.”

“Plus T,” Dylan reminded her.

“Okay, Craig Brandt. Columbia University Medical Center.”

“Well, I guess I know where we’ll be headed next.” Cassie said as she leaned back in her seat once more and sighed heavily. “That is, after this business with Jack’s daughter.” She cut her gaze to Annabelle. “By the way, what’s going on with that, anyway?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think she’s supposed to be here, though. Jack was really surprised. And not at all happy. He practically barked the order for her to wait for him at the airport. I’m guessing she stopped by to see dad without dad’s permission.”

“Or her mother’s, I’m betting.” Cassie said. “Where does her mother live?”

“In Essex, apparently,” Dylan supplied. He wasn’t one to forget what little information Jack Thane was prepared to give him. “With another of his kids. A twelve-year-old boy.”

“His name is Ian,” Annabelle nodded. “And I’ve never met either of them. Or their mother.” What Annabelle was more interested in, at the moment, was how Jack had found out so quickly that Clara was at the airport. Did he have friends currently staking out the airport? Unless it was needed for some job he was currently working on, she sort of doubted it.

What was far more likely, and what made Annabelle markedly uncomfortable, was the prospect that Jack was having his kids watched. She could see that. They would make easy targets if someone wanted to send him a message.

And that’s what made her uncomfortable. She made an easy target too.

“What’s his ex’s name?” Cassie asked then, breaking the silence that had stolen over the group.

“Beatrice, I think,” Annabelle answered.

“When did they get divorced?”

“The year before we met. So… Ten years ago. He’s been re-married three times since then.”

“Unbelievable,” Dylan shook his head, his expression one of barely hidden disgust. It was readily apparent to everyone in the car what he thought of Jack Thane.

“That is pretty impressive,” Trinity finally offered. “I mean, he’s pretty hot, I’ll admit, so I can see why someone would marry him. And he’s loaded, too. That’s obvious,” she gestured to the car around them. “But why can’t he hang on to a wife?”

“Cass thinks he’s codependent.” Annabelle said, smiling as she leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes. “Getting married for the wrong reasons, maybe. To the wrong people.” The Vicodin was beginning to make her sleepy. That, and the majorly stressful events of the past twenty-four hours. And the rough night of partying she’d had before that. Sheesh, when she really thought about it, she was running a rather hefty sleep deficit.

No one said anything after that. The car’s inhabitants fell into a weary silence. Even Rose and Emma curled up on the soft carpet of the car and Trinity covered them each with one of her sweaters and the Victoria’s Secret hoodie that Annabelle offered.

In a while, the limousine rolled to a smooth stop and everyone looked out the window.

They sat silently and waited while a door opened in the front and Jack got out of the cab. He moved around the car to the door on Annabelle’s side and opened it.

“I would ask you to stay here, but I realize that’s pointless,” Jack said as he leaned in, his arms draped over the door and the top of the car. He looked Annabelle in the eyes. She smiled wearily.

“Yup. Pointless.”

“Hell, I’m coming too. I’ve been looking forward to this.” Cassie leaned over Trinity to open the other door. Trinity took the cue and climbed out of the car to let Cassie out after her.

Annabelle watched and then looked back up at Jack.

“And by the way, luv,” he whispered as he straightened and she climbed out as well. “I am not co- dependent.”

Annabelle’s brows rose. “You heard?”

“Everything. The car is wired. It’s a Business vehicle.”

Annabelle smiled. And then she laughed. That explained a lot. The car didn’t seem like Jack because it wasn’t. It was part of the facade he wore when… working. And it was probably the only vehicle he owned that would comfortably fit eight people.

“Okay. Sorry about that.”

“And, nice job with the puzzle. I’m impressed,” he added, leaning in to whisper the words against her ear. The feel of his breath across her skin made it tingle and his deep accent made her blood sing.

He’s a married man, Annabelle. And you need sleep.

“What’s going on with Clara?” She asked, wanting to turn the subject away from herself as quickly as possible.

Jack didn’t answer right away. He looked over his shoulder at Dylan, who was getting out of the car after them, and then he turned back to face the expansive garage and the doors to the stairs at the other end.

“I haven’t the foggiest.”

Annabelle left it at that and didn’t ask him any more questions. The look on his face told her he was more than a little distracted and had more than his fair share on his mind. She fell in step beside him and the others followed, including Alex, who brought up the rear. Cassie carried one of the sleeping girls and Trinity carried the other. They were out for the night.

Annabelle envied them their peace.

The group of eight made their way through the garage and into terminal. After a tram ride and a long hike down moving walkway after moving walkway, they entered the baggage claim area. It was crawling with late-night business travelers, people visiting their families on vacation, and tourists who flocked to the Twin Cities during its warmer months.

Annabelle was not happy. Airports were some of her least favorite places on the planet. Every time a plane