Authors: D. T. Jones
“Konrad?
Why would you think he had anything to do with this?”
“Because he pulled a gun on me the day of our wedding.”
“What?” If it were possible for anyone to turn paler without passing out, Miriam succeeded. “What the hell would he do something like that for?”
“He said Creighton owed him for the three years he was in prison.”
“Prison? When did that happen?”
“You didn’t know he tried to kill me?” Creighton asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as his brows pulled into a deep frown.
“No! My God, why wasn’t I told of this?” Miriam’s voice raised an octave as she looked to Juliet.
“Your father asked that you not be informed,”
Juliet admitted with a soft coloring of her cheeks. “He was trying to protect you.”
“Bloody damn
hell,” she said, anger quickly replacing the shock. “I had a right to know this. What happened? When did he try to kill you?” Creighton began his story again, explaining how her cousin had asked for a job and how he had fired him when he learned of the thefts. Sandra watched her pale again when Creighton told her how he had come to his office and shot him three times and how he was sent to prison.
“Konrad was mental, that’s for certain, but I would never have assumed he
could do something like that.” Miriam looked sickened as she placed her forehead in her hand and closed her eyes.
“Where was he, Miriam?” Sandra asked gently, almost motherly. Miriam drew a deep breath and looked up, focusing her blue eyes on Sandra, but not really seeing her.
“Konrad had been sent back to Germany a couple of weeks before Mrs. Stone showed up at the house,” she said, blinking as she focused on the woman across from her. “My father caught him in my wardrobe watching me undress. He put him on a plane and sent him back to his mum that same night.”
“Miriam, did your father visit you
ten years ago?” Creighton asked; his tone low but filled with a silent authority that Sandra had never heard before.
“My aunt died ten ye
ars ago,” she said softly. “My Uncle Gustov was my father’s youngest brother. He came here for their funeral. We had an argument about the property; he was angry that it had been left to me; he thought it should have gone to him since he was the last surviving sibling. He left Paris and went back to Germany the night after my aunt’s funeral. We didn’t speak to each other for a couple of years.”
“You said
Mrs. Stone was the first body, how many were found?” Juliet placed a warm hand across her lover’s as she spoke, hoping to bring some calm to Miriam’s racing memories.
“Six total,” Creighton said, looking to Miriam who
seemed to stop breathing again.
“Oh dear God,” she whispered. “
Crey it couldn’t have been father; he was not in England ten years ago.”
“Andrew’s team is still investigating the matter.”
“Konrad,” Miriam said suddenly. “You said he pulled a gun on you, where was that?” she asked Sandra.
“At Creighton’s parents’ house.”
“Why?” Creighton asked.
“I don’t know if this means anything, but he tried to call my office last week. I was in New York so my assistant called and asked if I would call him back. I said no, I didn’t want anything more to do with him. He was so angry with my father for sending him back to Germany, he threatened to kill him. We never took him serious, he was just angry, but after my father moved back to Berlin, he broke into his house and robbed him of everything he could sell. My father had him arrested and he spent nearly a year in jail, but when he got out he disappeared. I have never heard from him until last week.”
“Do you have a contact number for him?” Creighton asked and she nodded, retrieving her phone from her pocket and pressing a button.
“My assistant emailed me his number, but I swear I never
spoke to him. She tried to call him and tell him I was out of country, but the number was a public phone in London.”
“I believe you,” Creighton said though his tone remained stern. Miriam pulled up the email and showed it to him, allowing him to write down the information.
“If you hear from him again, I want you to contact Andrew immediately.” Miriam nodded, putting her phone back in her pocket.
“
Crey, I’m so sorry for all the trouble my family has caused you,” she told him, tears brimming her eyes. “Twice they have tried to kill you; first my father and then my cousin. I can never apologize enough for that.”
“I don’t blame you for either occurrence,” he assured her. “Your father thought he was protecting you and your cousin is a lunatic. You have no control over their actions.”
“I think I need to talk with your brother,” she whispered. “I need to tell him what I know and I’ll do whatever I can to help you put an end to this madness. I’m just sorry this is interrupting your honeymoon.”
“It’s fine, Sandra and I are enjoying ourselves immensely regardless of what’s going on back home. I just want to make certain you’re safe, as well. Is there any possibility that Konrad can come here?” Miriam shook her head.
“I have a very sophisticated security system. He would never be able to get past the front door.”
“Who makes your system?” Creighton asked with a slight frown, watching as Miriam smiled, or tried to.
“New Hope Technologies, of course.” With a sly grin, Creighton stood up and hugged her tightly.
“We have to go,” he said. “But I want to thank you, not just for the tour but for the information.”
“You know, you were the first and the last man I was ever with,” she said softly, causing Sandra to look down at her feet, fighting the jealousy from rising inside her. “I’m glad we knew each other.”
“So am I,” he told her, kissing her lips softly, but briefly and then reaching for Sandra’s hand and pulling her close to his side. “My beautiful wife has benefited from your lessons on many
occasions.” Sandra turned magenta as Miriam and Juliet laughed, then she accepted the hug both offered her.
“Any time you wish to use my facility, please let me know. I will always make special
accommodations for you.” Miriam turned to Julie who walked back out of the door hand-in-hand with her as Creighton followed suit with his wife.
“We have a gift for you,” Juliet said when they reached the front door. She walked into the office across the hall and returned a moment later, a brown wrapped box the size of a small fat pizza box in her hand.
“A gift to the newlyweds,” Miriam said with a wink. Creighton smiled as Sandra blushed again, fighting the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl.
“Thank you,” he told her, taking the package and winking to Sandra. “I’m sure we’ll find it interesting.” All three laughed and Sandra smiled, certain her face would never again be normal.
They left the house and stepped into the sleek black Mercedes, waving to the two who watched their departure from the step. Creighton pulled back down the cobblestone path, glancing in the rear-view mirror at the women who returned inside the house and closed the doors.
Their visit left him with more questions than answers and he was quickly becoming irritated with the delay in information. He wanted to start his life with Sandra and wanted this to end so they could move forward without the clouds of his past hanging over them. At least he was granted one piece of information that would help; he learned that Miriam’s security system was one of his. With a few phone calls he would be able to tap into her system and monitor what was happening at the mansion. If she had been telling the truth about not knowing where her cousin was, then they would be able to help protect her if needed; but if she was lying, he would see his old lover in chains that were not as pleasant as she liked.
They returned to Versailles in a car thick with thought. Sandra listened to the one sided conversation as Creighton and Andrew discussed all that Miriam had told them and her reaction to the information of what her cousin had done over the years. After nearly half an hour of discussion with his brother over the many possibilities, he hung up and called Clark. Once again, a one sided conversation commenced as the owner of NHT instructed his head of security to use
the backdoor
and keep an eye on Miriam’s clinic. If there was any sign of an intruder or if she had been lying about not knowing where Konrad Bachmeier was, then he wanted to know about it immediately.
“I have reservations at Trianon Palace,” Creighton said as they stepped out of the car and underneath the umbrella once again. “But we need to pack; we’ll be there for the next three nights.”
“What is Trianon Palace?” Sandra asked, her heart beating at the thought of staying overnight in an actual palace.
“Chateau de Versailles,” he explained as the doorman opened the large glass door for them. “It was originally built as a hunting lodge in the early 1600s, but Louis XIII enlarged it and Louis XIV expanded it into one of the largest palaces in the world. During the mid to late 1600s he began moving into the palace, until he was forced to abandon it during the French Revolution.” Creighton pushed the button for the lift as he continued to play her private tutor, making Sandra smile with amusement.
“The chateau has a great standing in history from Louis XIII to Napoleon Bonaparte. There are over two thousand rooms, a museum, a magnificent garden which we can visit if it ever stops raining and now a luxurious hotel. I thought, since it is our honeymoon and you a true romantic, I would give you something to look back on without all the craziness that has been happening lately.”
“No matter how crazy things get, it’s easy to go through it so long as you’re by my side.” Sandra leaned her head against his shoulder as the lift doors closed, breathing in the scent that was pure Creighton.
“You are a work of art, do you know that?” he asked with a smile, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t know what my life would be like if I didn’t have you in it.”
“It would be a boring combination of perversion and deviance,” she replied then looked up at him with a wide smile. “Oh wait, that’s what it is.”
Creighton narrowed his eyes to her and slapped her bottom, the sound muffled through the fabric of the dress she wore; the gift Sabrina gave her as a thank you for modeling her wedding gown.
“I can show you exactly how perverted and deviant I can be if you’re interested,” he warned.
“You mean you haven’t already?”
“I still have many ideas for you, my love. But right now we haven’t the time to discuss them. We have reservations.”
“And you hate being late,” she rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh. “I think that’s going to be you epitaph someday.” Creighton chuckled as the lift opened and they walked across the foyer to their flat. He unlocked the door and pushed it aside, allowing her to walk through on her own. She giggled as she stepped across the threshold and turned to him.
“Look,” she said in a mocking, childish tone. “I did it all on my own.”
“Funny,” he chided and slapped her bottom again. They sat down the present Miriam and Juliet gave them on the table and began packing their bags, enough for the stay at the palace and not forgetting their black bag pack. Creighton dropped the bags by the door and picked up the package again.
“Shall we?” he asked with an excited grin. Sandra had no choice but to smile in return and nod. They sat down on the sofa and she watched as he ripped the paper off like a child at Christmas. She felt the sting of her blush when he pulled the top of the gift box open. Inside was a set of handcuffs encased in black fur, a riding crop almost identical to the one they already had, a black silk bustier and thong panties and a book entitled
Kama Sutra A Sexual Experience For Lovers by Dr. Miriam Bachmeier.
Creighton laughed as he flipped through the pages.
“Trust Miriam to give a gift like this,” he said, then paused at the beginning of the book which had many photos of lovers in different, perverted positions. He smiled, his brows rising as he turned from one page to another saying, “done that…done that…that’s a good one…tried that…now that looks interesting.” He returned the book to the box and stood up suddenly.
“Time to go,” he insisted with a wicked grin. “And we’re taking this with us.”
The Trianon Palace was an amazing creation with its massive architectural design. The main lobby looked more twentieth century than fifteenth with angled white, black and grey tiles, conversation couch and black and white décor. Creighton stepped up to the counter and once again spoke in French as he gave their names. The young woman’s eyes widened when she glanced up to him; the sudden pink color of her skin faded beneath her blonde hairline and she smiled shyly as she gave him the key card, nodding to a young man waiting to take their bags.
Creighton returned to Sandra who was admiring the surroundings and took her hand in his. They walked a long hallway with glass windows that looked out onto the world, decorated much like the lobby, with the exception of several green settees. The floors were diamond shaped black and white tiles and the rest of the furnishings were white with black accents. They stepped inside the lift beside the dark haired boy
who looked about nineteen and waited as he pressed the button. They were silent for several minutes while the small box moved from one floor to the other then pinged softly at their arrival.