Scorpios and Sapphires

by L. B. Simon

  "Samuel! You are late!" It was Belmont. "Where have you been?"

  "I am sorry, Monsieur!" Samuel stood up.

  "And what in the world are you doing hiding there?" Belmont glared at him suspiciously.

  "I think the tires are wearing off." Samuel dropped his gaze.

  "Since Méli had run off, I am not happy with you! You have been slacking off, you were drunk yesterday, you are late today, not to mention that you failed to keep your own niece safe." This, the despot hissed in a low whisper, gazing over his shoulder to make sure no one was in earshot. "We had an agreement! And you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain."

  Belmont’s mobile chimed.

  "Oui!" He answered gruffly. "Yes, I am still at home. Yes, you may come by." He hung up. "God only knows what that idiot, Lachance, wants now!" The man turned his attention back to Samuel. "You know what? I am sick and tired of your conduct. Pack your things and get the hell out of here! I don’t ever want to see you again in this house!" The man walked to the entrance door. "Erik!" He hollered and a young man appeared. "Make sure Samuel gets his things together and leaves the premises promptly. He takes only what is his!"

  "Oui, Monsieur!" Erik nodded and stepped in line with Samuel.

  "I have been robbed enough as of late!" Belmont whirled around and headed away from the two men.

  "You can’t fire me; I’m not working for you!" Samuel called after him.

  "Well, seeing how the mistress of the house doesn’t deign to show up, it is up to me to make sure that things around here run smoothly and you all are doing the work you are paid for! You being drunk and showing up late, is not acceptable behavior! Get your things and get lost!" The man threw over his shoulder.

  "Sorry, mon ami." Erik walked Samuel to his room.

  "It was expected." Samuel shrugged. Quickly he threw his few belongings into a duffle bag. "I will be seeing you around." They shook hands.

  "Samuel!" Beatrice rushed in, sobbing. "Thank God you are still here! Lachance, he brought horrible news! Mademoiselle is dead! Our little Méli is gone!"

  "What?" Samuel dropped his bag, his heart stopping its beat.

  "They think it’s a kidnapping gone bad."

  "No! It can’t be true!" Samuel groaned. "No!"

  "I just heard it with my own two ears. I’m so sorry, baby!" The woman called after Samuel as he ran to the main floor parlor, where the two men were.

  "I want to see her." Samuel burst into the room.

  Belmont and the detective stared at him as if he was mad.

  "I want to see Mélisande!" Samuel repeated with force.

  "I’m sorry, but she was badly injured at the time of her death and she is not in a state to be seen." Lachance looked somber.

  "Then how the hell do you know it is her?" Samuel challenged.

  "Several things lead us to believe it is her, including body type, height and this…" Lachance raised the diamond ring that sat in an evidence bag. "It is likely that the men who broke into the vault had decided to get some more cash by kidnapping her and for one reason or another, they changed their minds. If it is any consolation, she is in a better place now." Lachance studied the distraught young man.

  "This is bull! I’m out of here! Thanks, Charles for firing me! And go to Hades!"

  Samuel grabbed his bag, which Erik had brought, and left the room slamming the door shut behind him. He headed to the garage, Erik still shadowing him, got on his bike, and left the property.

  He rode for fifteen minutes before pulling over and taking off his helmet. He had just seen Mélisande, how could she be dead? He was breathing hard as if he had been running. There was only one way to find out the truth; he pulled back on the road, and watching the mirrors to make sure he wasn’t followed, he headed straight to the Ruslan.

  Chapter 44

  Samuel banged on Mélisande’s door. He was seeing red again, and all he wanted to do was kill Aidan. To his surprise, the door swung open on the first knock and an older woman pulled him in. Savy was pale, sitting on the couch; her face drawn. Aidan stood by the bedroom door, his hand against the wood. He glanced up; raw pain in his eyes.

  "Thank God you are here," Aidan said, just as a heart-wrenching sob sounded from the room. "She is beside herself with grief!"

  Samuel seemed confused for an instant, then he nodded to Aidan and walked towards the thief. He threw a quick glance at Savy, but she promptly turned away.

  Reaching the door, Samuel slowly pushed it open. It was dark; the heavy curtains were drawn. He found Mélisande on the bed, weeping into her pillow. Relief washed over him, and tears of joy streamed down his own face. He moved into the room and touched her shoulder. She glanced up and wrapped her arms around him.

  "They passed a dead girl for me, Samuel!" She moaned into his neck, falling back on her natural French, without accents or modulated tone. "The poor girl! Her family will never know what had happened to her…"

  "Oh, ma petite!" Samuel smiled despite himself. "I thought that you were dead and here you are crying over a stranger." He caressed her hair.

  "But she is no longer a stranger! She is me!" Mélisande sat up, staring at her uncle intensely. "She died unspeakably! Samuel, there is nothing left to help identify her! Can you grasp how brutally she was killed? No DNA, teeth, or fingerprints… Do you understand? And she will never get justice! Her family will never have peace! How could Lachance do that? He knows that I am here! How could he sign off on this!"

  "Lachance is in on this?" Samuel frowned. "He’s working with Carver?"

  Mélisande confirmed with a nod of her head and he went on.

  "Well, that is interesting…" He let out a deep breath. "Méli! I know that it is hard for you and that you have the heart of a saint. But I am sorry, I must admit, I rather an unidentified, Jean Dupont, be buried in your family grave, than you! You get a second chance now! You get to live, while your mother is dead. They would have killed you too, you know that, don’t you? You mean nothing to Belmont!"

  "Don’t say that! You have no proof that Maman was killed; I doubt father could have done that to her! He loved her! He must have…"

  "Yeah, right! Wake up, Méli! He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone but himself! You have no idea who he is and what he is capable of! He is not even your father!" Samuel’s harsh words made Mélisande sit up, pale as a sheet. "I’ll show you in a minute what I have found in your dearest papa’s cabinet. It’s all there; his scams, and the tests he had run after you were born… You might not like what you will see, but the truth is not always pretty. And let’s be honest, if you think of it; it explains a whole lot! Here is your second chance to live the life he would never have let you live! Remember that!"

  He got off the bed, extending his hand to her. After a moment’s hesitation, she slipped her fingers into his palm and followed him out of the room, her tears suddenly gone, too numb to cry or feel anything at all.

  Everyone stood at attention, their faces clouded with worry.

  "Are you okay, dearest?" Veritas hurried forward.

  "Savy, you got the documents I took pictures off last night?" Samuel inquired.

  Savy blinked and composed herself.

  "Yes, of course." She pulled up her laptop and began clicking around. "Any page in particular?" She asked without looking up.

  "Let’s start with the last one." Savy hesitated and Samuel added. "It’s okay, I told her…"

  Savy nodded reluctantly and after an instant spun the laptop to face them. Mélisande sat down and perused the page.

  "Charles Belmont had complications from oreillons as a teenager." Her hands began shaking. "What is it called in English?"

  "Mumps; it can cause infertility in rare cases." Aidan scrutinized the heiress.

  "It must be that then; he is unable to father children. Oh, my God! It is true then; he is not my father!" She glanced up, suddenly lost. "I had been living a lie my whole life! Even my mother had been deceiving me! Why?"

  "There can be many re
asons. I don’t think Adeline ever suspected that your… that Belmont knew. She did love Belmont and believed that he loved you too. I am sure she thought she was doing what was best for you both," Veritas heaved a sigh.

  "What is best for me?" Mélisande clenched her hands. "Why am I surrounded by people who think it is their right and duty to decide what is best for me?" Her voice became louder and stronger. "How long did you know about this?" She whirled on Samuel, her eyes throwing daggers.

  "Since last night."

  "And you weren’t going to tell me if things had not taken the turn they had, am I right?" She stared at her uncle who averted his gaze. "And you, you knew about this too?" She faced Aidan.

  "No, I had no idea, until now. But I think I saw this coming."

  "Oh! He saw it coming!" Mélisande sneered in a most unladylike manner. "Well, I should have seen it coming too when you ran off in the middle of the night to meet Lachance!"

  "I am sorry!" Aidan grabbed her by the arms. "I should have told you. No. We should have consulted you before Lachance went ahead and signed off on the paperwork." He sighed. "But to be completely honest with you; I knew you would never agree to this. There is a reason for everything in life, and I saw this opportunity as a sign, that it was time for you to break free from the cage where you had been held captive for your entire life. I hope in time you can forgive me." Aidan stepped away from her. "The important thing is that now you understand why you mean so little to this man. And why it was so easy for him to stab his own flesh and blood in the back without a second thought. He is a great actor, you must admit that. I am sure your mom would have never thought it possible that he would treat you like this!" Aidan squeezed her shoulder.

  "Madame, you don’t seem surprised by this news," Samuel noted, studying Veritas.

  "No, I can’t say that I am." The woman fidgeted with her sleeve. "Adeline was very unhappy in her marriage at that time and the family was pressuring her to have an heir, especially as after three years of trying, there were no pregnancies at all. She had done tests and she was in perfect health, so she tried to get pregnant by another man."

  "Is that how you met? She had her trysts here?" Samuel prodded.

  "Yes, but it was not as crude as you make it sound! I can’t tell you more, but it would be best if this information didn’t leave this room." She stared at Mélisande. "I have to go back to work. You take the day off, dorogaya…"

  Mélisande nodded, remembering the meaning of the endearment; dear. Veritas left.

  "Is it just me, or she totally knows who your father is," Savannah murmured.

  "I think so too." Samuel turned to his niece. "Would you like to find out?"

  "I don’t know… It’s all too much…" Mélisande sighed, burying her face in her hands, as anger morphed into despair.

  "I see you have a bag with you. Have you been sacked?" Aidan asked Samuel.

  "Yes, just before Lachance came to the house…"

  "Do you have somewhere to stay?" Aidan frowned in concern.

  "Yes, with a friend. Not too far from here, as a matter of fact."

  "Good. I am short on people. Would you like to do some night surveillance? You are a familiar face, it will be easier for you to hide in the dark."

  "Sure thing. Tell me where and when."

  "All right. Let me call you in a couple of hours. I will know by then how many people I have and where will I need you."

  "That sounds good! I installed the tracker, but I’m not sure if it’s working."

  "Savy?" Aidan glanced at his sister.

  "It’s working perfectly! I called it earlier to activate it, while you were still on the road." Savannah added, glancing at Samuel.

  "There is one more thing I would like to ask you, it’s more of a favor, actually," Aidan hesitated. "Would you like to sue the Belmonts? Seeing how you are the rejected offspring, and Adeline’s immediate next of kin…"

  "I had never thought of it." Samuel seemed startled; then he smiled maliciously. "I won’t get a cent from them that is for sure, but it sounds like fun!"

  Chapter 45

  "Ugh! I have dynamite here and can’t do a thing with it!" Lachance groaned. "Renaud has been embezzling money for years before he filed for bankruptcy. His books are stored in the locked cabinet too. And Belmont, he’s got his hands in several cookie jars right now."

  A few, uneventful days had passed since Mélisande has been pronounced dead.

  "A warrant for the file cabinet would be nice..." Isa sighed.

  "Yes, but on what grounds? There is no legal reason for me to get one." Lachance sat back as if throwing in the towel. "I’m not even supposed to know that these documents exist!"

  "There was a call from a Marius Belmont, Mélisande’s great-uncle today. Belmont was totally angry at him. If I got it correctly, Samuel’s lawsuit puts Belmont on the street. If someone was to contact the man and drop a hint that there are compromising documents in the house, Belmont may be forced to leave them behind." Savy suggested.

  "But there is no guarantee that the books won’t be destroyed." Philip shook his head. "The Belmonts are serious about their reputation."

  "It’s too much of a mess," Lachance said. "What else did you hear?"

  "Samuel really complicated their plans; they did not expect to be locked out of the mansion for weeks, maybe even months. Belmont planned to move Céline into the house without him having to relocate even for a day." Savy brought them up to date. "He had called Céline and they settled on holding the party at her house, as we had hoped. The soirée will be held two weeks from now. She is going to meet the family next week in Marseille, where the patriarch of the family resides currently, and will take over her new inheritance. She is also planning to hire a cleaning crew to help her set up the house and catering for the event."

  "What else? You have more, I can tell." The detective prodded.

  "He claims that Samuel is setting him up," Savy added half-heartedly.

  "Interesting," Lachance nodded. "Well, either that or Belmont is not nearly as bright as he likes to think."

  "You believe that Samuel can be behind all this?" Savy’s eyes widened incredulously.

  "Just as much as I," Lachance shrugged. "You didn’t know Adeline. She was really something else! She could lead a man astray just by smiling at him…" His lip curled up at the corners ever so slightly.

  "But Samuel didn’t hold the press conference, or talk to Céline, or has access to the offshore bank account. How could he be behind this? I don’t understand." Savannah was frowning.

  "A catalyst," the detective hissed.

  "Excuse me?" Savy stared wide eyed at the man.

  "There is a force behind all this, a person, or more that pushed just enough to topple Belmont over the edge he has been teetering on over the past few years. Think of it; don’t you see that some things don’t quite add up; others are just too easy to get your hands on? Is this man really so foolish as to make such stupid moves? Or is he simply a desperate man panicking?" Lachance rose. "I’m off now. Tell Ace I will see what I can do about these, but only after Belmont leaves the house. Hopefully, he will be just cocky enough to leave the books where they are. Good day!"

  Silence fell over the room as the man walked out. Isa and Philip exchanged nervous looks.

  "It’s crazy!" Savannah tightened her jaw. "Samuel couldn’t be behind all this!"

  "Ah! See how liking a person quickly makes them innocent… You are beginning to understand how Ace got blinded by Gia." Isa patted Savy’s hand.

  "I don’t like Samuel!" Savy protested. "He’s way too old. And morose. And he has way too many abandonment issues."

  "Yep… She doesn’t like him at all, mi amor…" Isa winked at her husband.

  "I can’t believe I start liking Mélisande." Savy changed the subject. "You would think that a rich brat, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, would have a perfect little life: all sunshine, rainbows, and lollipops. But take her; the man who raised her threw her under the b
us, she lost her home, her money and had no friend she could trust. Isn’t that weird?"

  "The life of others always seems better than our own, but the truth is that life is tough and we all get hardship thrown at us. Life just deals us a deck of cards and challenges us to make the best we can." Isa bumped Savannah’s shoulder with her own. "See preciosa; I told you she wasn’t all that bad."

  "Lachance has a point!" Aidan came out of his room.

  "You have been hiding in there? Now I see where Savy gets her shamelessness! Tsk-tsk," Isa mock frowned. "Are you into spying now?"

  "Aren’t you?" Aidan challenged, though a smile played on his lips. "What do you call listening to Belmont’s private conversations? I was getting dressed if you need to know, and was not in a presentable state. There are quite a few things that fell into our lap way too easily, he is right about that. I think we have a secret helper, a catalyst as Lachance put it. I mean honestly, how stupid is James Ward; keeping his client list on his computer where it can be hacked anytime?"

  "Bloody hell! What are you saying? That we might be walking into another trap?" Philip took hold of Isa’s hand.

  "I don’t think so. I think that Belmont spent most of his life digging his own grave and now his past is coming back to bite him in the rear."

  "So, mate, you think Samuel is the mastermind with the connections to help Belmont tighten the noose around his neck? Sounds like rubbish to me." Philip scrutinized Aidan doubtfully.

  "No, Phil. I think there is a bigger fish out there, stalking Belmont. And we might be pawns in this game, but we are in the clear. I think we are just helping tip over the dominoes that are still standing." Aidan mused.

  "But who is the big fish?" Savy’s brow furrowed.

  "I’m not sure…" Noticing the tension in the room, Aidan winked at his sister and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don’t worry, we will be careful, I promise you. All right! What did I miss?"

  Savy handed him the note book and gave him a summary of what she had heard from the Belmont residence that day.