by Mia Caldwell
“I better get back to work,” Alain said, gesturing for Rafe to carry the rocking horse for me. “Fais attention.”
Rafe gave him a stiff nod and the two of us walked back up to the château.
“Où dois-je dire? Ah, where . . . ?” Rafe began, holding up the rocking horse.
“Oh! Um, how about in the nursery? Um . . .” I replied, realizing he didn’t know what I was saying. I beckoned for him to follow me, heading down to the main foyer so that we could go up to the second level.
Rafe placed the rocking horse gently down beside the crib, standing back to take a good look at it. “Parfait,” he grinned at me, giving me the okay symbol with his fingers.
“Parfait,” I agreed.
The rest of the day was less eventful. I was just glad that it was over, even if I couldn’t sleep… It wasn’t the nightmares anymore, it was this belly of mine.
I groaned when I rolled over to my side in bed, still not able to get comfortable. If there was one thing I would be thankful for after this was all said and done, it would be to lay down however way I wanted to. Usually I was a stomach-sleeper, so pregnancy had taken that away from me the last couple of months. As I shifted the baby shifted too, giving me a nice jab in the bladder just for good measure.
“You are a naughty boy to your mama,” I mused, shaking my head at him. He wasn’t even born yet and here he was already giving me grief.
My stomach growled in response. “Yeah . . . I guess you’re pretty hungry too, aren’t you baby boy? Let’s go see what we can get into.”
I heaved myself off the edge of the bed, pulling myself by holding on to the giant bedpost. Everything was harder now, even getting out of bed!
As I looked down the hallway I groaned to myself. Maybe I should invest in an electric wheelchair or something. Surely anything would be better than all these hallways and stairs.
When I did finally make it back to the kitchen, I was almost completely out of breath.
Gervaise shook his head at me slowly, as if I were small child. “Use phone,” he chided me.
He did have a good point though. You would think after months of living here I would remember that there was convenient room service for me, courtesy of the chef himself. But I hated being such a bother to him as it was, and let’s face it, pregnancy brain does not make for good remembering. Or much else, for that matter.
I winced as I took a seat at the table, giving him an apologetic smile in return. “Would it be too much to ask if you could make me some of that yummy mashed potato and beef pie stuff? What’s it called again?”
He snorted to himself. “Hachis parmentier. Like English shepherd’s pie.”
I clapped my hands and pointed to him “That would be the one.”
It took no time at all to begin preparing my delicious lunch, and all I could do was sit there and try to hold back the drool as he began cooking the beef in the pan.
I went back to the book I had been carrying around with me everywhere—What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I had just made it to the third trimester portion of the book when I heard voices carrying down the hallway. I looked up at Gervaise before I closed my book and set it back down on the table.
We both stared at each other for a moment, clearly trying to understand who was yelling up and down the hall. My eyes widened as I heard heavy footsteps running down the hall towards us in the kitchen. I froze, paralyzed.
Alain burst through the kitchen door, his face drained of all the color. But more importantly was the vivid red that was blooming through the center of his crisp white shirt. It was slashed across his chest in an ugly way.
I jumped up immediately and ran over to him while Gervaise grabbed two huge kitchen knives from his collection. He tried to pull me away from Alain.
Alain waved away my help, trying to say something in between his gasps for breath.
“You have to go. Two men are here for you. Je ne sais pas . . . où. . . Rafe est mort,” he wheezed, blinking at Gervaise who was right at his side.
Rafe est mort. My blood ran cold right there in my veins. Rafe is dead.
“Suivez Alain—follow him. Go now, ma chere,”
“I can’t just leave you here!” I whispered hysterically. I tried to crouch down to put pressure over his wound but both he and Gervaise smacked my hands away. What the hell was wrong with them?
Alain shook his head at me. “No, no. You go—now! Take care of the baby. I wish I could have seen him. He will be beautiful part of the family,” Alan whispered back, eyeing my round belly. I glanced down, watching as the baby’s foot grazed across the underside of my belly. He could tell something was wrong, I just knew it.
Gervaise grabbed my upper arm, hard. “They coming. We go now!”
I let out a sob as Alain slumped against the wall away from us, slowly sliding down it until his body hit the floor with a loud thump. He looked up at me one last time before his eyes went out of focus, the hand that he was trying to push up with falling limp at his side.
I shook my head. There was no way this was really happening. All the times that I had imagined things going south like this, it never involved the rest of the people around me. It was always the Mafia coming for me, just me. But now that they were here… I saw what the real problem was.
All the people that cared about me and this child. The people I loved… They were in danger.
I wanted to reach over and give him one last hug, but Gervaise stopped me yet again, pulling me back. He took my hand and wrapped it around one of the large knives he had grabbed.
There were more loud noises coming from down the hall, and I could tell someone was struggling while someone else was quickly heading towards us.
With one last look at our fallen friend, Gervaise pulled me along after him out the barely-used utility room entrance from the kitchen, to where the large deliveries were usually handled for the château.
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Chapter 37
It was hard to hear anything past the blood that was wanting to rush to my head, my ears feeling as though they were filled with cotton. I still hadn’t fully processed the fact that Alain was dead, and that possibly we might be next.
In my head I sort of separated the incident back home from my real life, trying to compartmentalize everything in my head and make it easier for me to deal with everything. This though… There was no separating this. The men had come to my home, and now it was personal.
Even with the fear that was invading my every thought, there was also a tinge of rage flooding my vision. I was angry as hell, and I knew that there was no way I was going down without a fight this time. I was tired of running, tired of living a lie, and it only took one of my close friends dying for me to realize that.
I shook my head as Gervaise and I crept up against the wall, ducking under the windowsills as we passed each one, hoping to God no one would see us.
“This way,” he hissed under his breath, pulling me along. I didn’t know where we were going, but I hoped that everyone else inside the château had found a similar place to hide as well.
We rounded the back corner of the château’s east wing when I realized there was a small metal door in the ground not too far from our feet. How had I not noticed this before?
Gervaise looked around, scoping out our surroundings before hunching over and yanking at the door. Before he had a chance to open it up, however, we heard more yelling from alongside the front of the château. Someone was coming our way again, and even though we were around the corner, Gervaise peeked his head around to see if he could see who it was.
A gunshot ricocheted off the wall only a few feet shy of him, and he whipped back around, pure terror in his eyes, before yanking the door open with all of his might, this time finally succeeding. One of them had spotted us.
“In!” he demanded, gesturing for me to quickly go in front of him.
I could feel anxiety creeping in on me once more. I had no idea what was down there, bu
t I could only hope that it was safe enough for us both.
I descended the steps as quickly yet carefully as I could, trying to make sure that I did not slip on each small ladder rung. It was a short way down, and it smelled musty and dank. Once Gervaise had lowered himself down to the floor next to me, he reached around a wall before flipping on a small light switch that lit up the room.
There were six wide aisles filled of empty wine cellar racks, the cobwebs creeping down each aisle, and mold clearly setting in on the wood itself. It wasn’t exactly healthy for me to be breathing in the air down here, but it was damn sure healthier than getting kidnapped and killed.
Gervaise quietly reached up to pull the door shut over top of us, making me feel as if we were walking ourselves into a prison cell.
Even in the dim light I could see his fear, carving out the features on his face. His eyes were wide, and his pupils were dilated. He held the knife close to him, and tried to breathe in deep breaths. It did not make me feel much better to know that this man was just as scared as I was.
From outside we could hear people yelling to each other, including what sounded like Marie, but I couldn’t be sure. I didn’t want to go down that road, and I knew Gervaise would be adamant against us opening the door to check on her. I was actually surprised no one had tried the door yet, and wondered if maybe it was hidden well enough that nobody would see us. I had a bad feeling though that I wasn’t quite that lucky.
All of a sudden more shots rang out, and I clutched my belly, wishing I could shield my baby from all the noise. Even though we were down in the Earth, away from everything, it was still so loud. I began to shake violently, my mind reeling and trying to take me back into the clutches of another nightmare. I couldn’t handle it, and had to steady my breath before I started to hyperventilate.
“Merde,” Gervaise mumbled to himself, keeping a tight hand on the doors’ latch. I wasn’t sure if him holding onto it would work if there was somebody on the other side of it trying to get in, but I certainly hoped it would.
My breathing was so erratic that it started to freak me out, making me worry not for myself but for my son’s sake. I had to make sure that I calmed down, and had to keep quiet. I needed to go to that place in my head that I didn’t want to go. That place that I was always worried I would never come back from.
In my mind’s eye I saw myself from the outside looking in, noticing the tension in my face, and the way I repeatedly squeezed my arms around my belly, as if I were offering extra safety that way.
Part of me wanted to scream at myself, part of me wanted to leave this place and make sure everybody else was okay. And still another part of me wished I could crawl up into a ball and forget any of this ever happened.
I was torn emotionally and had no words of encouragement to offer Gervaise who looked just as terrified as I felt. I wanted to thank him somehow, but no words would come.
It was quiet now outside, and dread was starting to settle down even deeper in my heart. Why is it so quiet?
I wished Julien was here holding my hand, rubbing my back and telling me that this was all just a dream I had woken up from in the middle the night again. I could hear him now, whispering to me in my ear that I was safe. That he would make sure nobody was going to get me. It was nice hearing it all those nights, even though it was no longer true anymore.
But then I actually heard him from somewhere, calling out for me. At first I thought it wasn’t real, that it was all in my head. But then Gervaise whipped his head back and looked at me, clearly hearing it as well.
I lurched forward towards him, ready to push him out of the way and look above this hellish hiding hole, to see if I could see Julien. Gervaise pushed me back, clearly not letting me go that easily.
“Amira! Please baby, where are you?”
Gervaise gave me the most solemn look ever, practically begging me not to call out back to him. Tears welled up in my eyes as I clawed at him, trying to move him out of my way so that I could reach Julien somehow. I had to see him, had to know that he was okay.
What if they found him before he did? There was no way he was just standing out there armed and ready for these bastards that had come after me. And why was he here? What had happened to make them come home?
Gervaise slowly shook his head at me again, as if he could hear all of my thoughts in my head.
He climbed back down the step, pulled me in for a hug, patting me awkwardly on the head before climbing up the steps again, very quietly. He looked down at me one last time. “I find him. You stay.”
And with that Gervaise creaked open the cellar door, looking through the slant of light that was flooding in, before peeking his head out above ground. After what felt like forever, he finally stood up through the hole, letting the door go very quietly back into place.
I shivered to myself, trying to keep it together as I realized I was all alone once more. The thoughts that ran through my head scared the shit out of me, and I moaned to myself, trying to think of my baby. I couldn’t go out there, couldn’t risk it. If I got hurt he was hurt, and I wasn’t sure I could take that risk. Gervaise would find Julien. I just knew he would… At least I hoped he would.
A set of new footsteps came running toward my hiding space, and I climbed behind the furthest set of wine racks that I could, crouching down low so that no one would see me in the dark corner. I didn’t know if anyone had seen Gervaise pop up out of the hole, and I didn’t know whether whoever was trying to now open the door was a friend or foe.
The tiny bit of light that backlit the man’s shadow that came in down into the cellar flooded in, making me hunch even more into the corner. I clutched the knife in my hand, ready to strike out if the person got too close to me.
Another man’s figure stood in the doorway, climbing down the ladder carefully. The first man stepped into a patch of light, catching my eye when I saw the way his light brown hair curled slightly around his ears.
It was Julien.
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Chapter 38
I blinked my eyes, wiping at them for good measure. He was really there, it wasn’t just my imagination… And Gervaise followed him into the wine cellar. I couldn’t bring myself to stand up on my own, so I was much relieved when Julien finally found me, pulling me into the tightest hug ever.
“Oh my God, oh my God. Thank God you’re okay,” he said, his breath warm against my neck. “I had no idea… I didn’t know where you were. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe this.”
I cried out for him, desperately grabbing on to his neck as he pulled me up to a stand. “So glad you’re here,” I sobbed, relieved but still shaking.
Julien pulled something out of his long coat pocket, and I heard a click, startling me. I looked down and he was holding out a small handgun. I backed away quickly, not wanting to be anywhere near the damn thing.
He held out his hand to try and call me down. “Amira, you can’t be afraid. I need you to take this and to protect you and the baby. I have to go back out there. I have to make sure everyone else is okay.”
I vehemently shook my head no. “No. You can’t leave me. You just got here.”
He reached out with his free hand and stroked my jawline softly. “I know. But these people are my responsibility and I need to make sure everyone is ok. I’ve already alerted the authorities. I need you to stay here. Gervaise is coming with me again. We need to find Marie.”
I looked over at Gervaise who was standing there solemnly looking away from us. I wondered if Julien knew about Alain.
He carefully placed the gun in my hands, the weight of it making me feel like it was dragging me down. It was so heavy compared to what I thought it would feel like, and holding the very thing that scared the hell out of me… I felt like I was going to lose it at any moment.
“Please don’t leave me,” was all I could say, before the sobs wracked my body again, Julien pulling me close against him for one final squeeze.
“I love you, ma
chérie.” I could hear the wavering his voice. He didn’t want to leave me anymore than I wanted him to leave. But that’s just the man he was.
He wrenched himself for me, wiping his eyes before taking back off with Gervaise. I was alone again.
I didn’t want to contemplate what would happen if Julien and Gervaise ran into the two men that had managed to sneak their way into my home, but it was all I could end up thinking about. After Alain’s death, I knew it would be only too easy for the men to harm anyone else. If it weren’t for the baby I might’ve already given myself up at this point, just to make sure everybody else was safe. But I had to think about our son. I crouched back down into the same corner as before, working on keeping my mind clear and focused.
