Chapter 7
Kristine dropped her head into her hands while Jayce walked around the couch, settled next to her, and pulled her into his arms. Jayce tried to lend her his strength, hoping it would seep through his skin and into her.
“Are you all right, hon?”
Kristine shook her head. “Of course I’m not all right. Did you hear what he wants me to do?”
Jayce caressed her arm, trying to calm her. “I did. I can’t help wondering when this is going to stop. He could keep having you do more and more dangerous things.”
Her posture sagged. “I know.”
Jayce had heard things in the background when Skype was open and wondered if she had too. “I heard waves lapping and seagulls crying in the distance. And someone mentioned a ship.”
“Over the phone?” Kristine looked thoughtful and then raised her eyes to look straight at him. “Now that you mention it, I did too. How did you hear those things but I didn’t register them?”
“You’re stressed,” Jayce said. “I imagine tunnel vision happens when you’re anxious…just like it does sometimes when we’re fighting fires. If there’s a life-and-death mission to accomplish, the world around us can disappear while we’re doing what’s necessary.”
“You’re right. I don’t know why I wasn’t paying more attention to clues. I was so worried about my mother, seeing her alive and supposedly well was all I could think of at the time.”
“That’s understandable. Where do you think she might be—if you had to hazard a guess? If it’s near lapping water and a ship, that sounds like the ocean. Or it could be one of the great lakes, if you think there’s any reason she might be up that way.”
Kristine rose and paced again. “The only place I can think of that might hold a possibility is Long Island. I was born there. If a ship was being boarded, maybe the Coast Guard has a record of it.”
“Hey, that’s a start…”
“I don’t know… We’ve never had a summer home there or any relatives that I know of. I guess my mother lived there for a while, but she wouldn’t tell me anything about it.” Kristine heaved a giant sigh. “Of course.”
“You had to provide a birth certificate for some of your IDs. What does your birth certificate say?”
“The certified copy showed my name at birth as Kristine Adaria Scott and my date of birth, and place of birth was listed as Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, New York. But where it said parents’ names, only my mother was listed. That’s when I found out her real name was Ainslee. She changed it to Amy Scott. Supposedly so it would be easier for Americans to remember and she needed a stage name. The only other items were a file date and certificate number.”
“So no home address?”
“Nope. I had high hopes until I actually saw the certified copy. An address wasn’t listed.”
“Did you ever try to findherbirth certificate?”
“I looked a few years ago. Since I knew her real name, I thought I might be able to find relatives, and maybe one of them could tell me who my father was. But I don’t know her birthplace. All I know is she’s eight hundred years old—not that she’d admit to being a day over forty.”
Jayce said, “It’s still worth a try. You might find something if you use one of those ancestry websites.”
Kristine snorted. A tiny curl of smoke reminded Jayce of what they were really dealing with.Dragons.His sister-in-law Chloe had told his family she was ancient and her grandparents had survived St. Patrick’s purge by hiding in caves. Maybe Ainslee was born in a cave.
She’d also said she wasn’t able to have children with Ryan. Perhaps dragons could only breed with other dragons.Shit.He hadn’t thought about that yet. If he and Kristine wound up together, his mother would be disappointed. She wanted grandchildren.Badly.
He quickly decided he didn’t care. He loved this woman—dragon or not. “If we can find your mother and free her, they’ll have no more leverage. You can have your life back.”
“Do you think there’s any chance of that before the new mission I have for tonight?” Kristine finally sat in the armchair across from him.
“What else can you think of that might help us find her? Did you try calling the hospital? Maybe there’s a nurse still working who worked there when you were born,” Jayce said.
“I tried that. Apparently nurses don’t stay in one job for long periods of time.”
He was grasping at straws. “Maybe it’s worth a trip to Long Island, along the coast?”
She rolled her eyes. “And do what? Drive around calling her name?”
“I can fly above, and you can drive below. If I see something, I’ll signal to you.”
