Devious Minds (10 page)

“That’s great!”

“Yeah. Oliver was here earlier, but I think he left in a hurry.”

“Oh no, that’s not good.”

“Yeah. Maybe he can see the writing on the wall, so I hope he doesn’t go too far. But at least it looks like Victoria’s off the hook. I’ll let you know what happens. When’s your meeting?”

“Uh... tonight, but it should be fine. I’m not even worried about it.”

“That’s good to hear. Well, um... I’ve got to go, but call me after your meeting, okay?”

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Okay. Talk to you then.” He disconnected, and I set my phone down on the bed, a little disappointed that I didn’t get to talk to him longer and tell him about my day and how much fun I’d had. To console myself, I took a chocolate from my stash and let it melt in my mouth.

Feeling better, I ran my fingers through my hair, knowing it would be great to take a shower. I opened my door and glanced into the living room, but saw no sign of Blake. He was probably taking a nap. It seemed like he said the concert was at eight, and it was six now, so I had plenty of time to shower.

Half an hour later, I felt much better. After applying my make-up and drying my hair, it was time to get dressed. Blake had told me to bring a dress to wear to the opera, but now I wasn’t so sure about wearing such a fancy dress to a church.

On a whim, I’d packed my black leggings and a purple and black print skirt. With a solid purple stretch knit top to match, it was a cute outfit. The skirt hit several inches above the knee and looked great with my black leggings and boots. It was a step up from wearing pants without being too dressy. Topped off with my black leather jacket, I looked pretty darn good. Kind of like all those cool private investigators on my favorite TV shows.

I smiled, finished zipping up my boots and stood. Then I found the silver earrings I’d brought to match my silver bracelet watch. I’d charged my phone while I was in the shower, and slipped it into my purse, along with my lipstick. Now all I needed was Blake’s address, and I’d be ready to go.

I glanced around the room. What was I missing? Then it came to me. The metro tickets. I pulled them out of my jeans pocket and unzipped the front pocket of my purse. I dropped them inside where they’d be easy to get to without opening the main zipper.

Now that I was ready, I hoped Blake wasn’t still asleep, since I wanted to go early and do a little exploring. I grabbed my jacket and opened the door. Blake turned from the window and smiled. He was thinking I looked great, and he appreciated the opportunity to be seen in Paris with such a beautiful woman. He also thought it was advantageous to have me by his side because it would make Mason more likely to stick around.

“You look nice,” he said. “We could probably go anytime you’re ready. The concert doesn’t start until eight-thirty, but I thought you’d like to do some more sightseeing.”

“That’s just what I was thinking,” I said. Then I realized how funny that sounded coming from me, and tried not to laugh.

“Great.” He took out a piece of paper and handed it to me. “Here’s the address for the apartment. I have another key here somewhere.”

He felt in his various pockets until finding it and pulling it out. After handing it to me, he was thinking that there were some other things he wanted to tell me, but he wasn’t sure he should. He certainly didn’t want to scare me, and didn’t think it was necessary, but it went against his training to leave me unprepared.

“Is there something you need to tell me?” I asked. “Like what I should do if we get separated, or who I should contact if you’re incapacitated or something?”

His brows drew together. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you could read my mind.”

“Nope,” I said, smiling. “That would probably be lots easier, but it’s just my premonitions kicking in.”

“Well, that’s good to know. But you’re right. It’s always nice to have a back-up plan in every situation. Mind you, I don’t think anything will happen, but in case it does, this is what I want you to do. First, if we get separated, I want you to take a cab back here and wait for me. If you don’t hear from me... let’s say...by morning, then you should probably call my friend.”

He wrote a number on another piece of paper and handed it to me. “Normally, I’d have you memorize that and then eat it... but since you’re not an agent, I’ll let you off the hook.” He caught my gaze and sent me a teasing grin before continuing. “That number is to a good friend with French Intelligence. His name is Gabriel Dumont. But please don’t call him unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“You mean like if you’re dead?” I asked, a little shocked that he was thinking that.

“Uh... yes... exactly... but that won’t happen. We’re just going over the worst case scenarios here.”

“But what about the American Embassy? I would think contacting them would make more sense.” I didn’t add ‘since you work for the government,’ like I wanted, but figured he’d pick up on that.

“Normally, I’d agree, but Gabriel is the better contact. Help would come quicker from him.” He was thinking that Suzette might help too, but Gabriel was his first choice, and he wasn’t sure Suzette was in France. Right now, no one in the American Embassy knew he was here, and he wanted to keep it that way. This meeting wasn’t sanctioned, and he didn’t want to explain his reasons to anyone until he had the outcome he’d been working for. That way, if things didn’t work out, there was no harm done, and no one would find out about it. He owed Mason that much.

“Okay,” I agreed, my chest tightening with dread. Knowing Blake was acting alone kind of freaked me out. I glanced at the paper with Gabriel’s number on it but, with my frazzled nerves, I didn’t think I could memorize a thing. I also caught that Blake had a history with this Suzette person, but not whether it was good or bad, so that didn’t help either.

“Good, then we’re ready to go.”

I slipped the paper with the phone number, along with the key, inside the inner zippered compartment of my purse with all the euros. Then I strapped the purse over my shoulder and slipped my jacket on over that.

I picked up that Blake was beginning to regret telling me anything since my expression was so serious, and that he hoped I would perk up once we left the apartment. He didn’t want to ruin my enjoyment. I felt kind of bad about that, so I tried not to worry.

We took the stairs going down again and, once out on the sidewalk, the excitement of being in Paris rushed over me. After that, it was easy to brush away my fears of the future and enjoy this moment.

“I thought we could take the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and then walk down the Champs-Élysées for a bit. How does that sound?”

“That would be great,” I agreed with a smile.

We headed for the metro and found it more crowded than it had been earlier. It looked like lots of people were ready for a night out on the town. I found that, even though I couldn’t understand their words, it was easy to pick up their enthusiasm, which made me even more excited for the night ahead.

Our stop finally came, and we hurried off the train with a bunch of other people. Instead of going up to the street level, Blake guided me to a walkway that went right under the street and came out at the base of the Arc de Triomphe, which was a relief since crossing all those lanes of traffic looked like a death wish.

We found the ticket booth and got our tickets to climb the stairs all the way to the observation deck at the top. After climbing around and around the staircase, I was starting to get dizzy, but at the top, the view was totally worth it.

Even though it was getting dark, lights lit up all of the buildings. From here we could see everywhere, and it took my breath away. It was fun to find the Eiffel Tower on one side, Sacré-Coeur on the other, and a magnificent view of the Champs-Élysées all the way to the Place de la Concorde and the Luxor Obelisk.

The other side of the Arc held another impressive view. Far in the distance, we could see an arch called The Grand Arch and towering new buildings. Blake told me this was the business district of Paris, which I had no idea existed.

After taking lots of pictures, we went back down the stairs and admired the Arc itself with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and all the beautiful statuary around it. Leaving the Arc behind, we once again took the tunnel beneath traffic and came out on the well-known Champs-Élysées.

Starting down this famous street, I tried to take it all in, but with so many shops, and not enough time to go inside, I decided to relax and enjoy the walk. It was okay as long as I could come back and get a birthday present for Savannah tomorrow.

That’s when the smell of perfume hit me. Every once in a while, I’d get a whiff of the most wonderful scents, but I didn’t know where they came from. Was it the women who passed by, or did it come from the shops? All I knew was I couldn’t wait to come back and buy some of that perfume for me.

Further down the street, Blake stopped at a window café and patisserie where we ordered a couple of croissants and some macarons to tide us over until after the concert. I’d never had a macaron before. Made out of whipped egg whites, they were light and chewy and totally delicious, kind of like most everything else here. Then it was time to head back to the Ile-de-la-Cité and Sainte-Chapelle for the concert.

After another ride on the metro, we emerged onto a street near Notre-Dame, and I knew that without Blake, I would be completely turned around. It was nearly eight o’clock and, surrounded by so many buildings, I couldn’t say which direction the sun had set.

A line of people slowly moved into a building, and we took our places, eventually entering a lobby with security guards and a screening metal detector similar to those found at airports. Once we got through security, we then followed the line to the actual entrance of the cathedral.

Entering this beautiful chapel took my breath away. The stained glass windows going all the way to the rounded domes in the ceiling caught the outside lighting, marking the interior with brilliant shades of color. A feeling of reverence came over me as I followed Blake to a chair and sat down. I could hardly believe I was sitting in this amazing place in Paris, ready to listen to a Vivaldi concert. How cool was that?

I took several pictures and glanced around the room, trying to take it all in. With my attention focused on the stained glass windows and architecture of the building, I hardly noticed the people. It wasn’t until I caught a thought from Blake that I changed my focus.

He’d made sure that we sat on the side and near the back so he could watch for Mason but, so far, he hadn’t seen him, and the concert was about to start. He worried that his careful plans had been for nothing, and he sighed with discouragement.

I listened carefully for any thoughts in English and actually picked something up. I concentrated on that one voice as hard as I could until I understood the words. He was thinking that this had better not be a mistake... he didn’t trust him, but what could it hurt to listen? They were old friends, but that didn’t mean a thing in his line of business.

That had to be Mason. I glanced in the direction I’d heard those thoughts. A couple of rows behind us, on the other side of the room, a man cast a curious glance in my direction. I knew I’d hit the jack pot when he thought about me... and how I was looking at him. Who was I? Was I with Blake?

I let out my breath and faced forward, then let a few seconds go by before whispering to Blake. “He’s here. Two rows back on the other side of the room. That’s him, right?”

Blake’s eyes got big, and he swore in his mind before casting a quick glance over his shoulder. “How the hell did you know that?”

I almost answered, but then I realized he hadn’t said a word and I snapped my mouth shut. Oh hell... what was wrong with me? I closed my eyes and swallowed, hoping I hadn’t just given away my secret in any way, shape, or form. Blake wasn’t an idiot, but would he really think someone could read minds?

Blake let out a breath of relief that Mason was here before whispering. “Yeah, that’s him. How did you know?” He was thinking that he’d never shown me a picture, given me a name, or any information that would tell me that the person sitting behind us was Mason. So what the hell was going on?

I shrugged. “Um... just my premonitions.”

He studied me for a moment, thinking my premonitions were seriously bad-ass. I think my eyes widened, but I managed to hold back the sudden need to laugh hysterically. At that moment, the concert began, and I covered the urge by clapping and letting out a chuckle of enthusiasm. Lucky for me, everyone else clapped too.

As the beginning strains of Pachelbel’s Cannon in D floated over me, I let out my breath and relaxed against my chair. What had I done? I’d almost given myself away. From now on, I was not going to be so stupid. I decided not to listen to anyone’s thoughts and just focus on the music, which was kind of easy since most everyone was focused on listening to the music too.

Soon the composition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons filled up the chapel from one end to the other. In that beautiful setting, I enjoyed every minute of it. I even managed to video a portion with my phone so I could show Chris, my kids, and basically all my friends.

Before I was ready, the final notes sounded, ending this pleasant hour. Everyone rose for a standing ovation. Then it was over. As people began to file out the doors, I noticed the sky had gone completely dark, and I looked forward to seeing Paris, or ‘The City of Light,’ as it is most often called, at night. Blake and I joined the crowd and began the trek around the building toward the exit.