Queen of the Masquerade (Rosie Maldonne's World Book 3)

by Alice Quinn

  Kholia clearly couldn’t believe his little eyes, although the way he looked at me was still mournful. Sabrina’s face, on the other hand, showed a spark of joy, but it was as though she were keeping it hidden. She didn’t fight to free herself from his grip.

  She said in a switched-off voice, “Ith that you, Mommy? What are you doing?”

  “Let her go, you asswipe!” I grunted, trying to pry Murrash’s fingers from Sabrina’s.

  I’d almost done it when a powerful hand grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and hauled me up. It was one of the cops, a young one. He politely helped Murrash to his feet. Wrong one!

  “You could have hurt this gentleman! Watch where you’re putting your feet!”

  I was shocked that the cop had taken that motherfucker’s side! What the hell was this? Since when did the bad guys get helped to their feet by the pigs while the heroine of the story is given a good dressing-down?

  Murrash pulled himself together. Now there was a guy who wasn’t even the teeniest bit bothered by the presence of the law. He stood upright and then kept on walking, Sabrina in one hand, the bag of drugs in the other, and the little boy up front. Sabrina turned back to look at me but didn’t make a peep. It was the opposite of what I would have expected her to do.

  The young cop seemed satisfied with the way it had turned out.

  I stood dumbfounded for all of five seconds and then I screamed at the top of my lungs, “Hey! Where the fuck is that dumb fuck going? Don’t let him get away! He’s got my daughter! He’s a notorious drug trafficker! A people smuggler! He trades in children, I’m telling you, and he’s taken my girl!”

  The cop raised his eyebrows at me condescendingly. “What are you talking about, lady? Why are you screaming like that? Give it a rest! Leave the poor man alone! He hasn’t done a thing!”

  “Are you fucking deaf or something? Why aren’t you listening to what I’m saying? He’s a drug pusher! He pimps out young girls!”

  “If you don’t keep the noise down, I’m going to have to call for backup. You can’t go shouting out things like that about passersby!”

  Murrash had acted like he didn’t know who I was . . . like I was a total stranger. And that’s when it became clear. His game was better than mine. He was light years ahead of me.

  He’d walked into the station cool as a cucumber.

  The cop gave me the once-over and shook his head. He took me for a crazo! I couldn’t understand it. Oh well, I didn’t need someone like him on my side. I’d be better going solo! I followed Murrash, but made a big detour so that dimwit boy-child cop couldn’t see what my intentions were.

  Murrash was continuing to act like he was just a normal guy with a normal couple of kiddies. He went and bought tickets at the counter, and then they all sat down quietly in the waiting room. His attitude was ultrarelaxed, but I knew what was really happening.

  He was worried. He was holding it in as best as he could. What he clearly wanted more than anything was to knock me off. He kept sneaking a peek at his watch. He wanted to be on that train. Whichever one he was taking . . .

  I felt a deep sense of desperation. I couldn’t stop the waves of guilt. I’d tried and failed. There was no room for errors, but I’d made one, anyway. And the lives of Sabrina, Kholia, and Erina were on the line.

  I was a shit. Worse than nothing. And now Murrash had seen me.

  I was out of sight for a few minutes, but I could see the worried expression on my little daughter’s face. She was searching the crowds. She seemed more alert, as if she was coming out of her stupor. Maybe he’d told her they were going home, but now that they were at the station, she knew something wasn’t quite right.

  The next train to arrive was expected in ten minutes and it was headed for Italy. Was that where he was going? His escape plan? Had he gotten fake passports for the little ones?

  I kept my eye on the waiting room, but made my way to a corner so I could use my phone without too much background noise.

  “Yes? So?” asked Léo.

  I spoke with gritted teeth, keeping the volume down as much as I could. I told him what I’d tried and how it had all gone so spectacularly wrong.

  “We’ve fucked up!” cried Léo. “He’s going to get away and Erina’s going to die!”

  “Listen up, Léo. This isn’t exactly helping, OK? You have to keep it together. We won’t get anywhere with that attitude.”

  He was silent and then said, “Didn’t you say Laroche might be able to help us? He’s got his laptop, right?”

  “Yes, but what do you expect him to do?”

  “I have an idea. I’m going to call him.” And he hung up.

  58

  I waited for Léo to call back, my eyes not moving from my baby. The waiting room was glass paneled, easy enough to see what Murrash and the kids were doing. I watched as he stood and took them out of the room. They went back into the main hall, probably to look at the departures board. Jesus!

  He had zero fear! He smiled and made eye contact with me! The prick! He took something out of his pocket and it shone as the light hit it. A knife. He brought it up to his throat and mimed slitting his throat. His eyes didn’t move from mine. I’d never been so threatened in all my days. He put the knife back in his pocket.

  I shook from head to toe. A knife in his hands was worse than a gun in mine. Plus, I didn’t even have the goddamn gun. There weren’t any metal detectors in the train station. Why not? There were international trains, for chrissake! Shouldn’t there be border control and customs and all the rest of it?

  As I stood helplessly, fretting about the lack of security, there was a massive crash of thunder. I looked up through the stupendous glass roof of the station and saw several forks of lightning. The visuals were quite spectacular. The atmosphere changed. Everything darkened. I can’t believe this! Even the weather is against me!

  Kholia seemed drained. He sat down on a seat. Murrash stood nearby in his expensive white suit. He still hadn’t let go of Sabrina’s hand.

  She was preoccupied (this was a good thing), looking all around, staring into the face of every person who passed. She was searching for me. Bless her! I was hiding behind a newspaper stand only a few feet away. I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself. There were several things I could do at this point, but I needed the element of surprise.

  I looked through the papers, magazines, and books. There was my eldest daughter. Was I about to lose her? In just a few minutes, the train was going to arrive and she’d be headed to the other side of Europe! What could I do? Follow them? Get on the same train? How, with no money?

  An announcement came over the loudspeakers: “Attention. Your attention, please. Mesdames, messieurs, your attention, please. The little boy Kholia and the little girl Sabrina Maldonne-Mendès are asked to present themselves immediately to a member of the staff. Please note that they are to be quarantined by the Department for Infectious Diseases. They are traveling with a gentleman in a white suit. Caution. Caution. These children are in imminent danger and must not be allowed to travel.”

  Murrash looked beyond shocked! He scanned the area around him like a hunted dog (which was exactly what the bastard was). He’d lost his cool way about him, that was for sure.

  My cell made a little ding-dong sound. I had a text message.

  So? Did that work?

  It was from Laroche. How had he done it? The mind boggled! The guy was a whiz! Léo must have told him what to say. In any case, they’d come up with this story—an emergency. It had certainly grabbed the attention of the crowds.

  I replied. Yes. Medikal mesaje brodcast in stayshun!

  Sabrina must have known I was nearby because she’d heard my dinging phone. She was searching for me, turning her head this way and that, but I was still blocked behind the magazine and book racks. She was trying to pull away from Murrash.

  Another text message: That was just the start! A test. Get ready!

  I thought, What can he possibly be doing now?


  Murrash was not letting Sabrina escape his grip. Kholia had heard his name but didn’t know what was happening. He stood up and glanced around. He was starting to look more alert and interested. Sabrina continued to try to pull away from Murrash.

  Two soldiers were making their way toward the three of them. A third one stood a short distance away and spoke into a walkie-talkie. They formed a triangle around Murrash and the little ones. Two police officers approached Murrash and asked him the children’s names. Something was finally happening!

  “Peter and Maria,” said Murrash, barely flinching. “Why are you asking? Oh, the announcement? Nah! Nothing to do with us! Ha! If my kids were ill or infectious, I’d be running down to the hospital with them, not waiting for my train! My children are the picture of health, as you can see!”

  “You’re not my father,” croaked Sabrina.

  But she wasn’t forceful enough. The drugs he’d given her, whatever they were, were still having an effect. She wasn’t her usual sharp self!

  Kholia was looking panicked. He was pale and red-eyed, the most fretful skinny little thing. Surely the cops would notice something was amiss.

  “Are you sure everything is OK here, monsieur? We can take you to the hospital with an escort vehicle, you know? If you want to, of course.”

  I stood up and walked so that I was behind the cops, but the kiddies could see me. I gave them a wave. But they were worried. They were shaken by the uniforms, the noise, the hustle and bustle. I wasn’t even sure they saw me. How could I get their attention?

  Sabrina’s eyes finally reached mine, and within a tenth of a second she got it. She understood that I was trying to go unnoticed and that she was to pretend she hadn’t seen me. She knew we only had one chance at this and it couldn’t go wrong. We were far from safe, despite the cops and the soldiers being right there. Murrash knew what he was doing. He still held all the power.

  And it was at that exact moment that he spotted me. I could sense his fury, but with the cops still in his face he couldn’t do a thing.

  Thunder still growled overhead and the entire station was cast in shadow.

  “Yes, yes! I’m positive everything’s OK! Thank you so much for your concern. You’re very kind, but you’ve made a mistake,” asserted Murrash.

  And just like that, the police and the soldiers all moved away. What the . . . ? Murrash was going to get away with this! I couldn’t think fast enough. How was I going to save Sabrina and Kholia? How was I going to stop Murrash from escaping?

  Rage and desperation flowed through me in equal measure. And those emotions forced me to act. I ran for it! I threw myself on Murrash and pulled Sabrina’s arm, hard. He held on—his grip was incredible! Sabrina was trying to help me, pulling away, but she didn’t have her usual energy. She wasn’t screaming, biting, and kicking like she should have been. She was so weak, she just peeked up at me with hope in her eyes. She needed me to do it for her, to free her from Murrash.

  The plastic bag! I made a grab for it and managed to take it from him. I started hitting him with it, but it was pretty light. Murrash hopped from foot to foot, trying to dodge my moves, but he still didn’t let go of my girl. The young cop from earlier was suddenly back on the scene. Jesus!

  “You again?” he hollered. “What are you doing now? Why don’t you leave this poor man alone?”

  Was I dreaming or what? How could this guy have even passed his pig exams? How could they let a young boy this thick in the head join the nation’s police force? It was ludicrous! Why couldn’t he think this through? See it for what it was? There’d been cops questioning Murrash minutes earlier, an announcement, and now I was attacking him. Why couldn’t he do some goddamn police work? I think it was the suit—Murrash looked rich and cool and classy! He certainly came across as a more reliable character than me in my pink sneakers and neon shorts.

  “I don’t know what this woman wants with me! She’s stolen my sandwiches!” snapped Murrash, pointing to the plastic bag in my hand. “She must be very hungry.”

  “Sandwiches! Now that’s a good one. You’re quick, I’ll give you that!” I yelled.

  “It’th Mommy,” said Sabrina weakly. “She’th here to thave me.”

  They weren’t listening to her. I was, though. I smiled at my baby to reassure her. She gave me a sleepy wink in return.

  How I wanted to scream, “This is my daughter and this bastard has kidnapped her!” But I was too afraid of being taken for a loon again. If I was stopped, or hindered in any way, by the time I proved I wasn’t mental and that Sabrina was my baby, it would be too late. I couldn’t risk being arrested.

  The young officer had really gotten on board with what Murrash had told him. “I want you to give this man his sandwiches back. I’ll have to take you down to the station if you refuse,” he said in a stern tone. It was almost as if he were just out of cop school and trying out different voices.

  He grabbed my wrist, the unbandaged one, and pulled the bag from my hand. He gave it back to Murrash without even looking inside. I tried to speak out, but there was nothing I could do. Murrash trudged away, muttering a few thank-yous to the officer, who held me back.

  Just then, Kholia pulled the bag from Murrash’s hand and threw it to me.

  “This is ridiculous!” snarled the cop. I don’t think he’d ever come across so much trouble over a bag of sandwiches.

  “Do you think you could stop acting up, you little rascal?” Murrash said.

  This guy was an Oscar winner. He didn’t even shout at Kholia. He kept his cool and played the doting father. Murrash walked over to the bag and picked it up.

  “I can’t do this anymore,” I whispered, meekly.

  He ran toward a tunnel heading to the international platforms, dragging both kids with him.

  I couldn’t even follow them. Babycop was still holding me back. A voice announced the imminent departure of the train to Rome.

  “If you’re hungry, Madame, I could buy you a sandwich,” said the cop.

  I looked at him in anger. I’d almost lost the will to live. I couldn’t stop the tears. “Do you realize what you’ve done? Can’t you see he’s leaving with my daughter? That bastard!”

  More thunder and lightning above. It felt like it was closing in. The atmosphere was heavy.

  “Take it easy, please. If this is a custody issue, there are courts for that. You can get a case against him, if that’s what you want to do.”

  Murrash disappeared down the tunnel. It took every ounce of strength, but I tore myself away from the Muppet officer and ran toward the staircase leading to the same platform as the tunnel.

  As I got to the top of the steps, I just saw the tail end of a white suit disappear onto the train. He was several cars away from me. I wanted to follow him, but there were two railway workers there asking to see my ticket.

  I exploded. “Ticket? My ticket? So this is how it’s going to end, is it? My fucking ticket!” I scanned the horizon, looked left to right, hoping to find a solution in a detail that had escaped me this far.

  Another announcement—this time the voice was so soft, in stark contrast to the violence of the words being spoken.

  “Attention, attention, this is a state of emergency. Suspected terrorist threat. All passengers must leave the station immediately. Please use the nearest exit.”

  The atmosphere changed in an instant. Passengers looked to each other for support. They were in shock. I could smell the fear. It was as if nobody wanted to be the first to move. At the same time, the station became weirdly silent. All conversations stopped. Everyone was listening for further instructions.

  “Passengers aboard trains must depart. I repeat, depart all trains and make your way out of the station using the nearest exit.”

  People instantly started moving, but nobody was leaving their luggage. People were taking everything with them, and it was slowing things down. Others were scrambling to get past them. I was worried there’d be a stampede. Folks were hopping of
f Murrash’s train in a dazed state.

  I couldn’t believe my ears.

  The thunder above was suddenly drowned out by the sound of an engine turning, rotor blades. It sounded like the whole French army was landing at the station from above.

  When I peered up, it wasn’t thousands of helicopters, but just one, circling overhead. Wow, those things can make some racket.

  Hordes of people were now running toward the exit in a wave of panic. Within a few minutes, the platform was practically empty. A few people were still getting off the train. I was the only person not going anywhere.

  Soldiers started running up and down platforms. Then the cops started running. Finally, the remaining members of the public started to run.

  It was as if the whole world had forgotten me.

  But where was Murrash? There was no way he could have gotten past me. I headed to where I thought I’d seen them get on the train and spotted them through the window. They were stuck between two very old women with a lot of bags. Sabrina and Kholia managed to squeeze past the lady in front of them and jump down from the train.

  I ran toward my baby and she jumped up, wrapping her arms around my neck. We didn’t have much time for a big reunion. I put her back down, grabbed each child by the hand, and marched as silently and calmly as I possibly could back toward the main hall. I simply tried to do what everyone else was doing. Numbly get out of harm’s way.

  The tears were falling from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks, and dropping off my chin like two miniwaterfalls. Nobody was taking Sabrina away from me ever again. Murrash couldn’t do anything now that the station was full of officers and soldiers. It was too risky.

  I turned around and, in the distance, saw the most beautiful of sights—Murrash was being arrested. It was like being at the movies.

  I watched as a gang of soldiers dragged him along the floor, dirtying up that pretty white suit of his. Five slow minutes passed. They dragged him around and searched him. I didn’t know how and why they’d stopped him. Had he dropped his drugs? Was it a random ID search? Did they think he was a terrorist? Had Laroche played a part in it? Told them about the suit? I didn’t care. I was just glad I wasn’t in his place. They weren’t treating him too kindly.