by Mel Comley
‘Forgive me, but how did he escape?’
‘By submarine.’
‘By what?’
‘I’m sorry I don’t know how else to say it, a boat that travels underwater.’
‘Yes, yes, sorry I understand the meaning of the word I just could not believe it. That must have been some yacht.’ He let out a long whistle.
‘It was worth £250 million.’
He whistled again. ‘You could feed a whole country on that. Sorry, please continue.’
‘The next day my whole world collapsed, and no, that is not an exaggeration. Pete was buried, my whole family was in hospital, I won’t go into detail there, and then I had to listen to my Superintendent and DCI take credit for the case. I resigned, and then Jacques was stolen from me before …’ She gazed down at the patterned royal blue carpet as tears cascaded down her cheeks.
Without uttering a word Michel rose from the bed, covered the short distance between them and knelt before her. He placed a tentative hand on either side of her face, and raised her head to look at him. His thumbs swept across her cheeks, under her eyes, to wipe the tears away. Lorne stared at him, long and hard looking into his soul through his eyes. Then, before either of them realised what was happening they were locked in each other’s arms, their lips softly parting, inviting each other’s tongues to delve into pastures new. His hands stroked her back and sought out every contour of her body. She heard a distant moan of satisfaction and realised the noise had come from her own throat.
Taking her moan as an invitation to continue, Michel swept up her lightweight frame and carried her over to the bed. With their lips still connected, his hands moved swiftly to remove her robe they parted briefly so he could pull the t-shirt over her head, then his lips returned to hers. As their breath grew ragged with urgency, Lorne’s hands went in search of the buttons on his shirt, but her hands were trembling too much, and her mission became fraught with frustration. Michel took over, he straddled her, sitting upright he seductively removed his own clothes, tossing them to the floor like old rags.
When they were both finally naked, he gathered her in his arms and whispered. ‘Let me help the pain disappear, Lorne.’ She melted into his arms, feeling wanted and desired for the first time in twelve months.
Chapter Thirteen
Something tickled her face, Lorne pulled away and hit her head on the wall. ‘What the— ’
‘Ssshh, little one.C’estmoi.’
Her cheeks turned a deep pink when she realised she’d slept with a stranger, but seconds later, she stretched, and smiled, feeling relaxed for the first time in months. Michel reached out and gathered her in his arms, she suspected he was looking for a morning encore. His lips touched hers just as someone knocked on the door.
Lorne shot out of bed, feeling like a naughty teenager caught with her first boyfriend in her bedroom. Michel chuckled as he watched her throw on her robe and try to straighten her hair at the same time. ‘Shut up. Get in there.’ She ordered, grabbing Michel and shoving him towards the bathroom. ‘Just a minute.’ She called out as she ran around, picking up their discarded clothes, which she threw in the bathroom after Michel. ‘Stay there, if I hear one single noise coming from this room, you’ll be minced meat, buddy.’ She started to close the door, but noticed the glint in his eye as he grabbed her arm, to pull her into the room with him.
‘Mais, cherie, I am not finished with you.’
Lorne smiled, then kissed him, hard. ‘Believe me, Michel, when I tell you, I’m far from finished with you, too.’ She felt a tinge of regret rattle her insides as she wriggled away from him.
‘Jeez, Lorne, what kept you?’ Tony asked, barging past her the second the door opened.
‘Hey, isn’t a lady entitled to some privacy, I was taking a shower. What time is it anyway?’
One of his eyebrows lifted, ‘Sure you were, hon. What happened last night? I seem to remember we were about to talk strategies, before you had another "girly" moment and ran out of the dining room’ He glanced sideways at the dishevelled bed, and added, ‘Did we have a restless night?’
She fought hard to stay composed but her flushing cheeks gave her away. ‘Every night is restless for me, Tony as I’m sure you can imagine. I don’t wish to appear rude but couldn’t this discussion wait, over breakfast would be ideal. Give me half an hour and I’ll be down.’
A light flickered in his eye and she could tell in her eagerness to get rid of him she’d raised his suspicions, he smiled when he heard her gulp loudly. ‘You wouldn’t be trying to get rid of me by any chance, Lorne, would you?’
She pulled the robe tight, grabbed him by the arm, and half-tugged, half-pushed him towards the door. ‘Some guys just can’t take a hint, I guess you’re one of them, huh, Tony. Now, let me get dressed, will you? In peace.’
‘All right, all right. No more than half an hour though, Lorne, we’ll be on a tight schedule today. How silly of me, I’m sure the, Capitaine has told you that himself already. Isn’t that right, Capitaine?’ he called over his shoulder.
She jettisoned him out of the room into the hallway and snapped, ‘Tony, I haven’t got the faintest idea what you’re going on about.’
‘Oh is that right? Well, last night after our meal the Capitaine was last seen heading in this direction, and judging by the state of your bed this morning, I’d say he stayed around a little longer than either of you had anticipated.’ He had pushed her too far and suffered the consequences when she slapped his face. The action shocked the pair of them, but Tony recovered first, ‘Obviously, my assumption is correct.’
Without admitting, or denying, anything, Lorne looked ashamed and was full of remorse when she stepped back into the room and closed the door behind her.
A fully clothed Michel came out of the bathroom a few minutes later to find her still pressed up against the door with her eyes firmly shut. ‘Lorne?’ He kissed her on the lips.
‘Hmmm…’
He took her in his arms, and she crumpled against his chest as if they’d been lovers for a while rather than just for one night. ‘Are you upset?’
Lorne pushed herself away from him and gazed into his concerned eyes. ‘Not really, let’s just say I’m a little confused right now.’
‘Oh! With us?’
‘Honestly?’
‘It is the best way.’
She laughed, in spite of her topsy-turvy feelings. ‘I don’t know what to think, Michel. About us, about why I’m here, about the direction my life is heading in.’
‘I understand. I should have been more responsible. I am sorry about what happened last night. Please believe me, it was not my intention to come here to seduce you. It was also not my intention to complicate this case unnecessarily. Do you believe me, Lorne?’
Fresh doubts clawed at her; did that mean he regretted the time they’d spent together? The night of passion neither of them had expected. She nodded, not really knowing what to say.
‘Then I must go, let you get dressed. I will see you at breakfast.’ This time he didn’t finish his sentence with a kiss, though a kiss would have suppressed her fears, given the reassurance her heart was crying out to hear.
Chapter Fourteen
When she walked into the dining-room, Lorne found the others deep in conversation, and with butterflies taking flight in her stomach she sat down in the chair opposite to Michel.
On the table, spread out in front of Michel, were the plans for their intended raid of Baldwin’s chateau. He looked up and nodded at her, the smile she’d expected didn’t reach his lips, or his eyes. What was that? Is that it? You spend the night with me, and all I get as a greeting is a curt nod. Maybe if the Lieutenant and Tony hadn’t been here his acknowledgement would have been different.
‘Our teams will be at every exit.’ Michel informed them with authority.
‘How many men?’ Tony asked.
‘Enough.’ Michel replied abruptly.
Lorne sensed an atmosphere around the breakfast tab
le that hadn’t been there the previous evening at dinner. She couldn’t help thinking that what had happened, and what Tony suspected had happened between the Capitaine and herself was to blame. Both men were looking at the plan, talking to each other without either using eye contact or each other’s names.
‘The gendarmerie and the national police will be on the scene as the chateau is located on the border,’ the Capitaine said, he looked up and saw Lorne raise a quizzical eyebrow, and went on to explain his statement. ‘The national police deal with matters in urban areas and the gendarmerie oversee our rural areas. They have their own swat teams RAID, GIPN and GIGN. Usually, these teams work independently but as we are dealing with such a dangerous man, for the safety of the community, it has been decided that this will be a joint operation.’
Lorne nodded, grateful for the explanation, and then asked, ‘Do we know how many people are inside the chateau.’
‘We have heard that Baldwin has many men, at least twenty. All heavily armed, and obviously dangerous. The two bodies discovered in a nearby lake by fishermen have been identified as Sergei Osmanov, the Russian Finance Minister, and Chang Foo, the Chinese Finance Minister.’
‘Do we know why they were here, in France?’ Lorne asked.
‘We have suspicions, nothing concrete, but for the moment I’d like to keep them close to my chest. Is that the right saying?’
Annoyed that he was trying to keep them out of the loop, Lorne probed further. ‘If these murders do lead back to The Unicorn, sorry Baldwin, then what in God’s name were two men, both Finance Ministers in their respective governments, doing here? Why come to a sleepy part of France? No disrespect intended Capitaine, but surely these guys are used to holding talks in major cities, such as London, or Paris, etc, not backwaters like this.’ Her eyes scanned the others, before settling on Michel again, she watched as the expression on his face changed several times as her words sunk in.
Finally, after a few minutes silence, Michel looked up at her, a sparkle in his eyes as he said, ‘That’s very astute of you, Lorne. I can see now why Mr Warner insisted on bringing you here.’
His words knocked her sideways; what had he meant by that? As his words didn’t come with a smile attached to them she couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d reprimanded her in some way. ‘That’s as may be, Capitaine, but it doesn’t tell us why, does it?’
Out the corner of her eye she caught Tony smirking, had he been in the seat next to hers she would have kicked him in the shin.
Michel spotted the smirk, too. ‘Something amuses you, Mr Warner?’ the Capitaine asked, through gritted teeth.
‘No. Not really.’
Michel surprised everyone by pushing back his chair. ‘Very well, I’m drawing this meeting to a close, I suggest we pack our bags and get ready to set off. We will meet again in reception in fifteen minutes.’ He folded up the plans, tucked them under his arm, and headed out of the dining-room.
‘So much for going over our strategy,’ Tony said.
When the Lieutenant followed the Capitaine out of the room without speaking to either of them, they were left in no doubt that they had either said, or done, something wrong.
‘Idiot!’ Lorne said tutting.
‘What?’
Lorne shook her head. ‘Maybe it was intentional.’
‘What was?’ Tony asked.
‘Him walking out like that, maybe it’s his way of letting us know he’s in charge, "Solely" in charge of the case.’
‘The man’s a bloody idiot if he thinks that. I ain’t gonna put up with that. What about you, Lorne?’
She had an idea where Tony’s question was leading. ‘What about me what, Tony?’
‘You know, are you willing to put up with that type of shit from this guy?’
She let out a long sigh. ‘Grow up, Tony. We’re on his patch for fuck’s sake. You know how these things work. His territory, his case, end of.’
‘It doesn’t mean we have to like it though, does it? The guy comes across as being very cagey. We’ve had a couple of meetings with him now and what information has he given us? Two men have been found murdered close to a chateau belonging to Baldwin, in my book that doesn’t amount to much. There appears to be too much talk and very little action, and it’s pissing me off.’
She shook her head in frustration. ‘If you don’t agree with how the case is being handled you know what you can do.’
‘Sounds to me like you had too much French baguette during the night!’
Expelling another exasperated breath she said, ‘I thought, we all had the same goal, Tony, to capture Baldwin. We had our chance in England, let’s see if the French prove to be better than us, huh? At least give the guy a chance, if you had your way he would have been sent to the guillotine by now.’
‘I was just saying …’ Lorne cut him off.
‘I know what you were just saying, Tony, but I’m suggesting that for the sake of civilized Anglo-French relationships you learn to bite your tongue and put a leash on that temper of yours.’
Chapter Fifteen
The chateau, situated in rolling green countryside, was less than twenty minutes from their hotel. Arrangements had been made to meet up with the local police and members of the French swat teams at nine that morning. The rendezvous took place half a kilometre from Baldwin’s new residence.
The Capitaine’s car, their car, led the convoy of approximately twenty vehicles, as it meandered its way up the long, narrow, gravelled driveway.
‘This looks too easy,’ Tony whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
Lorne heard his comment but chose to ignore it, more concerned with the hundreds of butterflies that had taken flight in her stomach.
The convoy came to a standstill in front of the large oak doors. She and Tony were ordered to stay in the car, they watched as the Capitaine and the Lieutenant nonchalantly strolled up to the front door as if they were attending a garden fete.
Tony opened the car door. ‘What are you doing? Lorne asked, ‘We were told to stay in the car.’
‘You stay here. I want to see what he says.’
‘He’s French, Tony. You won’t be able to understand …’ She reached over to try and grab his arm, but he’d already shut the door behind him.
Putting aside the fear churning up her insides, Lorne opened her door and got out, she perched on the bonnet of the car alongside Tony.
‘You all right?’
‘A bit nervous I guess, this’ll be the first time I’ve come face to face with him.’ She admitted her eyes still glued to the front door.
‘Hey relax, my guess is the guy isn’t here. Like I said, the drive up here was far too easy. These guys are notorious for shooting first and asking questions later remember. It’s like a graveyard around here.’
The door swung open to reveal a tall, slender man in his late fifties wearing a traditional butler’s outfit. He looked beyond the officers standing at the front door, and a look of disbelief registered on his face. As Lorne and Tony eyed the proceedings, they saw the man shrug then stand aside to let the Capitaine and Lieutenant enter the property.
‘Too easy!’ Tony repeated.
‘Let it go, Tony, it’ll only fester.’
Tony appeared to take umbrage and remained silent for the next ten minutes, until the door to the chateau opened again and the Capitaine and the Lieutenant re-joined them.
They were all settled in the car before Tony spoke. ‘Well?’
‘He was not here.’ Michel stated, refusing to enlighten them further.
Tony opened his mouth to demand a better answer, but Lorne prodded him painfully in the thigh, he turned and gave her a puzzled look. ‘Leave it. Please,’ she mouthed, she watched him slump back in his seat, cross his arms and stare petulantly in front of him, the way Charlie always did when she didn’t get her own way.
The car screeched away, sending the gravel flying in all directions and they headed back to the hotel.
Lorne couldn�
�t help wondering what would have happened, if all this had taken place on her former patch. Well, for a start she wouldn’t have boldly driven up to the criminal’s house and knocked on his front door, like Tony had suggested, it had all been too easy. What the hell just happened here? Was Baldwin up to his old tricks toying with the police again? Did Michel really know what he was up against? If Baldwin wasn’t there, where was he?
Back at the hotel the Capitaine instructed the Lieutenant to make arrangements for them to stay another night.
Lorne grabbed her key and set off towards her room with Tony hot on her heels. ‘What the fuck do you make of that?’
‘Now, Tony, calm down.’
‘Calm down! Don’t you dare tell me to calm down, Lorne! Face it, your froggie boyfriend fucked up big time today.’
‘Right, buster, let’s get a couple of things straight here. To start with, he’s not, I repeat, he’s not, my bloody boyfriend, and for another, your hands are tied here, Tony, this case is out of your jurisdiction. You knew that when you signed up to help track Baldwin down.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong, Lorne. The Capitaine belongs to Interpol, we are all here as a combined force under the Interpol umbrella.’
They reached her room and she opened the door, Tony followed her in, wanting to continue his conversation. Lorne dropped down onto her bed and eyed him with suspicion. She could almost see the cogs working in his mind, and she could tell she wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. ‘Okay, big man, let’s have it, I’m guessing you’ve been planning something during the trip back.’
‘There’s still no flies on you, Lorne, is there? Despite you being out of the field for the past year.’ He sat down on the bed next to her and his leg brushed against hers, but she saw through him.
‘Stop sucking up and get on with it.’ She smiled, but her stomach was in knots.
