by L. B. Simon
Mélisande stood by the bed staring into the shopping bag, that Sasha had left there earlier.
"Can I come in?"
"What? Oh, yes…" She blinked at him, confusion clouding her features.
"I am sorry about yesterday!" Aidan closed the door.
Mélisande hid the bag behind her back.
"I… It’s hard for me to trust… On a former insurance case, I got burned really bad…" His gaze roamed the room. After a moment of silence, he turned back to Mélisande, finally registering the discomfort that plagued the young woman. "Are you okay?"
"Oh! Yes! Yesterday; no problems." She grinned forcefully. "I am tired, could we do this another time?" She clutched the bag tighter, trying to make it disappear.
"What do you have there?" Aidan’s brow furrowed.
"Nothing!" Her voice became slightly shrill. "So, how about later?"
"How about you give that bag to me?" He demanded.
"What bag? This? It is nothing. You mind leaving now?" She blushed vividly.
"Actually, I do! Whatever is in there, it is troubling you. Give it to me. Now." He held out his hand.
"This is my room, my bag; you are trespassing. Please go!" She stepped to the side, still facing him.
"Give it to me!" Aidan caught her hand, pulled her to him, wrapping one arm around her and took the bag.
"No Aidan! It is personal!" She cried, but it was too late; Aidan let her go and peeked into the bag.
Mélisande blushed again, as he smiled mischievously and raised an eyebrow.
"What do we have here?" He pulled out a tiny pair of G-string and a lacy bra with a front clasp that had a gauzy trail cascading down all around it like a robe.
"This is not happening…" Mélisande mumbled as she buried her flushed face into her palms. "I am going to kill Sasha!"
"Oh! Please don’t!" Aidan said playfully. "She sure has exquisite taste."
Mélisande gazed up, to see his appreciative glance run down her body as if picturing her wearing the flimsy outfit. Her already burning cheeks heated up even more.
"It will look ravishing on you…"
"Oh God!" She groaned, stepping away from him. "Please stop!"
"Why?" Aidan frowned. "You are beautiful; you know that. You are mesmerizing, magnetic, drive a man insane attractive. Why do you think Savy is so testy with you? She knows I am drawn to you." Aidan took her hand. "The moment I saw you, I knew I was in trouble…" He hesitated, wanting to say more, watched her lips, wanting to kiss her, but instead exhaled noisily and let go of her hand. "I got involved with a client before. I fought tooth and nail to get her the insurance money, just to find out that she had her gentleman friend cover for her and did the robbery herself, then accused me of stealing her last remaining necklace. I almost ended up back in jail. I can’t take another chance! I owe that much to my sister; I am all the family she has left." Aidan turned away. "Besides, what would you see in me? You are rich, sophisticated, highly educated, an heiress. I am just a thief; a nobody…" Aidan stiffened as Mélisande touched his shoulder.
"Do not sell yourself short," she whispered. "You stand by me, even if you are unsure of my innocence and that says a lot about you."
Aidan faced her and she placed her hand on his heart.
"I am grateful for your kindness, and I…" She hesitated, but before she could finish her thought, Aidan’s phone rang, breaking the moment.
"Aidan Carver. Hi, Hans! How are you, my friend? Yes, I am looking for some stolen jewelry. You have forty pieces? Varying from circa 1800 to 1980’s? Yes, that sounds correct. Can you send me a photo for confirmation? Yes, still the same email. Who sold them to you? A woman named Fifi? Really?"
Mélisande tensed, listening to the conversation with eager interest. Aidan wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.
"That is great, Hans. How much did you give for them? In cash? Thank you. Let me check the items, and I will let you know if this is the load I am searching for. Talk to you later!" Aidan disconnected the call.
"Hans has the jewelry?" Mélisande was all excited.
"I think so!"
"This is good? Is it not?" She studied his face.
"Maybe." Aidan placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hans is a really good friend and source, but I can’t give his name to the police, so there is a limit to what we can do with this. Let’s get Lachance here, and discuss our options."
"Why do I feel like this is not going to clear my name?" She whispered.
"Mélisande, I honestly don’t know yet!" He leaned his forehead against hers. "Don’t give up just yet. There might be other things that can be done…" He hesitated and then brushed his lips against hers.
Mélisande’s eyes widened in surprise, and he leaned in for another kiss. She placed her hands on his chest, pushing slightly. He pulled back and scrutinized her.
"I am sorry, but I do not want this robbery to stand between us." Mélisande shook her head, her features drawn. "If there is a chance for us, we should wait until this is all over, so you will never wonder if all this was just another elaborate scam to get you to clear my name."
"It wouldn’t be like that…" Aidan protested weakly, but he loosened his hold on her, anyway.
"But it already is! Remember your words in the vault? Whoever hurt you will stand between us as long as there is a chance that I am guilty, and I do not want that for either one of us." She touched his face. "I like you, Aidan, I really do! It is not about us being from different worlds, I want you to understand that! It is about trust and right now we both have trust issues; I mean for all I know you too might be working for the same person who hired the Germans…"
"Touché!" He straightened, tension seeping back into his shoulders. "Well then, there is only one thing we can do; let’s get this mess untangled!" He pulled her to the door. "And maybe when this is all over, you might wear that for me…" His eyes twinkled with mirth as his gaze fell on the lingerie on the bed.
"You!" Mélisande groaned, swatting his arm playfully.
They left the room to find Isa and Savy staring at them. Self-consciously, they let go of each other’s hands.
"Isa get Phil in here, please!" Aidan said while he took out his cell. "Lachance, you busy? Drop it all. We just hit the jackpot!" He grinned at the stunned faces of Isa and Savy. "He’s on his way, will be here in fifteen minutes." Aidan placed another call. "Vlad! Come up, please and thank you."
"What is going on?" Savy questioned, but Aidan remained tight-lipped. "You are going to make me wait for it, won’t you?" She glowered and her brother winked at her.
Chapter 38
The crew and Lachance sat in the living room, a sense of excitement filling the air. Aidan returned, wearing fresh clothes. He was smiling at everyone, enjoying the state of suspense in which the room was shrouded.
"All right! Any updates? Lachance, what is going on with Belmont?"
"He has the entire household vouching for him that he was at home at the time of the bank incident." The detective was openly disappointed.
"Did you think my father might have had something to do with the items left in my safe deposit box?" Mélisande’s brow furrowed.
"Seeing how there is an offshore account with his name on it, and our mystery man has a similar body type, I had to consider him."
"The fact that the staff said he was home, doesn’t mean that it’s true," Savy remarked. "He could have easily bought them or they are afraid to lose their jobs."
"I know, but there is no way to prove that they were pressured into covering for him or that they had been bribed; unless someone comes forward," Lachance sighed. "I am sorry, I had hoped to come here with better news. I’ll keep digging, I promise you!"
Mélisande nodded gratefully.
"What about Samuel? Bugs working yet?" Noticing Lachance’s baffled gaze, Aidan turned to the man. "Samuel came here this morning looking for Mélisande, so I recruited him to help us while he is still employed at the house. Who knows, he just might find
something useful."
"They are in place," Savy informed them. "There is one in Belmont’s bedroom, office, and Fifi’s room. And he is planning on checking the office this evening."
"How do you know all this?" Aidan raised a questioning brow at his sister.
"Samuel whispered the locations as he installed the bugs, then in the office, he added ‘party tonight’. I am assuming that it’s code for breaking in," Savy smirked.
"Good! Mélisande mentioned that there is a locked cabinet in Belmont’s private office and Samuel will see what he can find in there. Okay, anyone else?" There was silence. Aidan nodded. "Then I guess I am up next. Lachance, Savy hacked Ward’s online database. Céline Blanche has a rather large safe in her house. It was installed two weeks before work on the vault began at the mansion. I got a call about 20 minutes ago from one of my acquaintances in Amsterdam. He bought forty pieces of jewelry from a woman named Fifi." Aidan held up his phone, showing a picture. "Mélisande’s jewels to be exact. We need to decide what we are going to do next; recover them or not."
"If we get them back, there is a chance that they will go to Céline or end up in the possession of whoever is behind all this." Mélisande’s eyes flashed thunderously. "Let me see the photo."
Aidan handed his cellphone to her.
"My mother’s sapphires and matching earrings are not here." She tightened her jaw. "Honestly, I rather your contact keeps these!"
"Okay. Lachance, do we need these to make the case?" Aidan consulted the detective.
"The sapphires would be enough, especially if we find them in the suspect's possession."
"All right. Let’s see what we know so far." Aidan pulled out a marker and flipped to a new page. "Fifi is involved, we know that for a fact. She had informed Kárpáti about the bracelet’s location, had called the bank to pay the Germans, and you said, Mélisande, that you suspected her of spying on you."
"And that fence of yours says that Fifi made the sale." Lachance reminded.
"Yes, but I doubt it that it was actually her, it’s too big of a responsibility to trust a maid to negotiate with the likes of him."
"But this ties her to the robbery." Philip chimed in.
"Yes. She had been also seen on several occasions to be leaving Belmont’s quarters." Aidan tapped the marker against his leg.
"We also know that Céline communicates with Belmont regularly, and with the timing of the safe and vault installations, I think we can assume that there are at least three pieces of the missing jewelry in Céline’s possession," Isa added.
"Possibly, as well as sixteen bricks of one-kilo gold."
Gasps and even a whistle sounded through the room in response to Aidan’s statement.
"Wow, sixteen bricks?" Philip asked, his eyebrows high.
"My contact gave them one million in gold for the jewels and it’s worth at least the double."
"But why Céline?" Savy was frowning.
"She will be the one taking over the house and the estate. Mathilde, according to my sources, had run away at eighteen and severed all contact with her family. She wants nothing to do with the Belmonts or their wealth." Isa played with her hair, her expression thoughtful. "She had been heard saying that she will never submit to the Belmont dictatorship, ever again."
"Could you find out when Céline had started communicating with Belmont?" Aidan asked Savy, who gave a curt nod and begun working on her laptop. "What else?"
"Father moved the jewelry into the house…" Mélisande offered shyly.
"Yes! Instead of leaving them at the bank where they would have been someone else’s responsibility. Good point!" Aidan smiled approvingly. "This is the part that makes no sense to me; why move them?"
"Because he wanted to steal them?" Lachance suggested. "They uncovered that François is married, and they will not be able to follow-up on their original plan, so they get rid of Mélisande and put a new puppet on stage who could be easily manipulated?"
"Now, that makes more sense!" Aidan studied his notes.
"So, if we are looking at it this way, it could have been either Belmont or Renaud at the bank," Vlad offered.
"Not Renaud. He is bulkier and shorter." Lachance shook his head.
"Well, we can easily find out who was at the bank. Élodie said that it was her boyfriend; all we need to do is to follow her to uncover who she is seeing."
"Thank you, Phil! That is the next thing we will look at." Aidan prepared a new sheet.
"But father being involved… It’s just so… Unbelievable…" Mélisande whispered.
"I know…" Lachance said, his eyes heavy with sadness. "I have no children of my own, but I cannot imagine how a father can turn his back on his own flesh and blood. Yet, seeing all that information Ace has up there; the one person at the center, who seems to have a connection to most of the players, is your father."
"Yeah, but a father? Isn’t that a bit far fetched? I mean my old man was a mean drunk and treated us like trash, but he would defend us fiercely."
"Your old man just couldn’t pass a chance to punch someone, Isa," Aidan remarked and Isa smiled.
"Well, that is true! But still…"
"I don’t know…" Mélisande too stared at the notes. "I… It’s all just too much… And let’s say they had planned the whole thing; how did they know that I will break into the vault?"
Chapter 39
"Maybe they thought that if they pushed you hard enough, you will do something reckless?" Aidan suggested, looking at Mélisande thoughtfully. "You do have a strong personality."
"There is still the fact that Céline contacted Kárpáti; to me, that suggests that she had known about the robbery ahead of time." Vlad changed the subject, patting the heiress’ hand kindly.
"Oh, this is one hell of a messed-up pickle!" Aidan rubbed his face. "I agree with you, Vlad, it does look as if they were preparing to be investigated. And the fact that she got a safe two weeks prior to the vault installation; that bothers me too. It’s just too much of a coincidence!" He sighed and faced his team. "Okay! I think we have covered everything. Any other thoughts?"
"I think we all think the same thing!" Philip answered. "What Lachance said, that is a solid explanation."
"Okay, then; on to surveillance! I want you Savy and Mélisande to be on the bugs; monitor the house. I want pristine and detailed notes! Phil and Isa, I will need you both on the streets and whom else you can spare Vlad. I want Belmont, Renaud, Céline and Élodie followed around the clock. Samuel will be our mole inside the house for the time being. And I will watch Kárpáti during work hours. I need proof to support or to disprove this theory. Make sure to document any and all interaction between these players. I need to know that Belmont is guilty or that he too is the victim here!"
"Yes, Ace!" Everyone said in unison.
"Thank you all!" Aidan faced Savannah. "Sis, you said there was a call from Céline’s phone to Kárpáti. How long was that conversation?"
"It lasted thirty seconds. Then she got a call a minute later from a disposable phone, it lasted fifteen minutes."
"I want that number." Aidan pointed at Savy who glanced at her notes before scribbling something on a sheet. "Phil, take a burner phone, I want you to call that number when I will be with Kárpáti. I will let you know when to do that."
"Sure thing mate!" Philip took the paper from Savy, nodding.
"I can put a team on Élodie, as she had withheld information from us," Lachance offered. "And on the house, in case Mélisande shows up," the detective winked at her.
"That will be greatly appreciated! Thank you, Lachance. Isa, you take first shift on Céline, Phil you watch Renaud, and Vlad let’s have your team take the night shift. Does Fifi ever leave the house?"
Savy’s phone pinged at that moment.
"Ten thousand euros just got transferred to the offshore account," Savannah announced.
"Thank you." Aidan shifted his attention back to Mélisande.
"She is off every other weekend, but s
he is at the house through the day, six days a week. She usually works late, so I am not sure if she does go out after work." Mélisande expression became resigned.
"Does she have a car?" Aidan inquired.
"I believe so, yes, an old, butterscotch yellow Citroën. I remember Samuel complaining that the car was leaking oil. He showed it to me. Yes, it was hers, I am sure! A Citroën DS!" Mélisande brightened as she remembered the details.
"Excellent! We will try to get Samuel to plant a bug on it too if we can. Vlad, do you have a GPS tracker?"
"Yes, I do!"
"Get it ready. We will set up a meeting with Samuel and give it to him. It will be easier to keep track of Fifi that way if she leaves the house."
"In the meantime, I will have my men keep an eye on her too." Lachance offered. "About the money, Savy mentioned earlier; it’s the same amount as missing from the safe deposit box. Any ideas where it is coming from?"
"Still working on it," Savy groaned in exasperation. "Whoever is behind this, sure knows how to cover their tracks. An account owned by a company owned by another company and so forth."
"Keep trying, sis! Vlad, I need you to get started on the new identity for Mélisande. After this is all over, there will be no more Mélisande Belmont to go back to..."
"Wait a minute! I am not going to run." Mélisande rose to her feet.
"You will not be running. You will be starting a new life with a clean slate. Unless you want to spend the best years of your life behind bars."
Tears brightening her eyes, Mélisande sat back down. She stared at her shoes, struggling with her emotions.
"Vlad?" Aidan returned to business.
"I’m on it Ace! We will have a nice new identity for you, little Lioness!" The man said soothingly. "And I will get the night team set-up."
"Savy have you checked out the accountant?" Lachance inquired.
"Working on it, detective. He gets big bonuses like at Christmas, but so far I do not see anything else that is suspicious."
"All the staff and people we work with get a Christmas bonus. There is nothing in that." Mélisande clarified.
