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Africa- Dressed in second hand fancy suits, Hugo and Hooft waited impatiently for La and Jane to step out of the backroom hoping they were done. But La’s screams and fighting and Jane’s constant reassurances showed they weren’t.
“Sounds like she’s being tortured in there,” Hugo said.
“Which one?” Hooft grinned.
“Think we should go in there?,” Hugo asked.
Hooft stuck out the cigarette from his mouth. “What are you saying Junior? We oughta go in there and watch what could result in a huge catfight with two women dressed in nothing, but their corsets and lingerie?” Hooft then smiled. “On the other hand, let’s do it!” They were about to enter the dressing room when Jane emerged from the room. Her hair was down from its usual pins and she look frustrated, but otherwise she was okay.
“Here she is,” she said breathlessly.
She opened the curtain as La stepped from behind reluctantly. Her white hair was in a bun and she wore a lavender ankle leangth skirt and a white doily-like blouse with a lavender jacket to cover it. On her feet she had white and black shoes and she carried a small lavender purse. She also held a lavender parasol closed in and a matching ladies hat with violets was on her head. She had a tortured look on her face. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said.
Hugo and Hooft were at first silent. “Wow, you look great La,” Hooft said softly.
Hugo nodded as usual oblivious unless someone spelt it out for him. “Yeah, a much less scary version of your usual self.”
La dropped the parasol infuriated. “Why you!” She ran up to the small man intending to punch the daylights out of him, but Hooft and Jane held her back.
“La, let him go we have a ferry to catch.” La then calmed down and picked up her parasol. “Let’s go gentlemen,” she said as though she were a commander leading the troops.
Paris,
La, Hugo, and Hooft stepped out of the ferry with their tickets and luggage. La looked around the city. People, carriages, and the occasional motorcars filled the air. Everywhere was the sound of laughter, arguments, and chattering in French and English mostly. Buskers and food carts surrounded the dock and also the smell of fish was present. It was La’s first time in a major city, and privately she was overwhelmed. But publicly she turned to the boys. “So where is this Adi person anyway?”
Hugo and Hooft exchanged glances at La’s obvious disgust with Adi’s name.
“I don’t know we didn’t receive her message, maybe she will find us,” Hooft said.
“Mr. Jackson,” called a deep male voice. Hooft didn’t respond, but then remembered that whoever it was called him! Hooft turned around to see a tall broad muscular red haired man. He withered his glance down at them so much, that Hugo and Hooft’s knees involuntarily shook. “Are you Hugo Wheeler and Hooft Jackson attorneys,” he asked with a distinct American New York accent.
Hugo was about to speak when Hooft spoke for him, “Yes we are Hugo and Hooft, you know our law firm, Hugo and Hooft?” He then shook the man’s hand. The man growled and Hooft sneaked away.
“And you are Mrs. Renard Dumont,” he turned to La. La once again was about to speak, when once again Hooft interjected. “Yes, she is!” He then turned to La. “Aren’t you?”
La noticed the “play along” look that Hooft gave her and she took a deep breath. “Yes sir he is my husband, we are very much in love,” she said through clenched teeth, “And I demand that you take me to my husband!”
“Sorry ma’am,” the man answered. “I’m requested to take you somewhere else.”
La, Hugo, and Hooft noticed several big tough men watching them. Hugo looked around and gulped then pulled the other two to the side. “What do you think?”
Hooft shook his head. “Not French and not feminine, definitely not Adi and definitely not looking good.”
“I agree,” La said. “Be ready.”
La then turned and faced the tall man, “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t quite get your name.”
“Nick Stanford,” the man answered matter of factly. “And I’m supposed to take you to my boss.” He grabbed her arm, but Hooft grabbed her and pulled her back. Nick fixed him a look like “nice move dumbass” then he snapped his fingers.
“Nick is it?” La flirted with him moving her hand up and down his biceps. “I think that you are a very strong man, and I am lost in an unknown country. I’m sure a man with your intelligence could lead me to my husband who I only wish to say hello to.” She put her fingers on his mouth, but he pulled them off.
“Ma’am, I am definitely not that type of guy,” he remarked. “Now you three have a choice either come with me willingly or by force.” He stuck out a gun to prove his point.
Hugo, Hooft, and La glanced at each other as La ticked off three on her fingers. Then the two got ready to attack. Hugo danced around the bodyguard trying to get away from him. He then hopped on an ice cream cart and then took the dippers to the man’s eyes. Blinded, Hugo then leaped down and punched him in the stomach and he fell down. Hugo then turned to the ice cream man and held out his wallet. “That will be two for the ice creams I just dropped and a Three Flavor Special for me, please.”
Hooft dodged the second bodyguard when he saw a pretty female sidewalk artist. He winked at her and she smiled back. They blew each other kisses as the bodyguard approached. Hooft picked up one of the artists drawings and then let it smash into the man, he fell over knocking himself out. Hooft then turned to the artist and struck a dramatic pose. “I used to model you know,” he said.
In the confusion La saw her chance to run, but Nick grabbed her by the arm. “Hey, where are you going, lady?” he sneered.
“When you will men learn that no means no,” La demanded she stepped on his foot with her heel and punched him so hard he fell. “Let’s get out of here,” she yelled to her friends.
“Don’t we want to wait for Adi?” Hugo said trying to keep his ice cream from melting.
“No way,” Hooft said reluctantly leaving the artist. “If that commotion didn’t bring her here then she’s not here! Time for Plan B.” He called for a cab and the three jumped into the horse drawn carriage. Hooft looked for the telegram and read the instructions. “Apartmente Deuze Rue St. Martin, sil vous plait.” He called to the driver. Hugo and La both fixed him looks. “Okay, I know a little French,” he said. “I dated a French girl once.”
“Speaking of women,” La said. “What was that about being Renard’s wife.” So, Hooft quickly explained his plan. As he spoke La turned various shades of red. “It was the only way for us to see him. I figure while we are here we are under everyone else’s games the least we can do is a little subterfuge,” he quickly explained. He took great pride in the fact that La didn’t punch his lights out right away.
“All right,” La hissed. “If this is the only way to do this, then so be it.” But she spoke in a tone that indicated she wasn’t happy and the boys were definitely going to hear about it later.
The carriage pulled into Rue St. Martin and stopped at the destination. The trio stepped out into a fine ritzy white immaculate apartment building. They opened the front door and walked upstairs to the apartment which had the name A. Dumont engraved in gold on the door. Hooft tried to open the door, but found it was locked. Then he tried to knock, but no answer.
“Only one thing to do,” Hugo said. And he made a fist through the window. The glass broke and he was able to snap the door open, but he grabbed his bleeding fingers in pain and whimpered like a puppy.
“Come on,” La said severely. The three walked into the flat. The room was very wealthy and unique in appearance and there were some exquisitely designed Indian rugs on the wood floors. The room had deep blue furniture and the walls were white. Flowers dotted on many of the fine tables, in bouquets and separately. There were also Greek style portraits and statues, some with more Renaissance style art with erotic tastes, but mostly with men in various erotic positions. A phonograph from a far off room played light classical music and a bookshelf teamed with books such from authors such as Charlotte Dacre, Marquis De Sade, Rousseau, Moliere, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and others. The pungent odor of opium and cigarettes could be scented all throughout the room.
“Oh my God,” Hooft said. “I think we are in the Brothel of the Damned.”
Just then a small growl emerged. Hugo, Hooft, and La jumped with fright, but then saw that the growling and barking came from a small brown fluffy Pomeranian dog. Hugo then gently pushed the dog away. “Go on, Fido, Rover, Spot, go.” He then pushed the dog far from him. From the corner of her eye, La could see a figure with a part of a statue over his head. She then knocked him over and she, Hugo, Hooft, and the intruder knocked him over.
Suddenly a kerosene light filled the room and a voice called, the one that the trio expected never to hear again. “Hugo, Hooft, La what the devil is going on here?”
La, Hugo, and Hooft
looked up at the voice! Standing over them with a lamp in one hand, and a confused
look on his face was Renard! The three sighed and
spoke at once giving their versions. Renard held up
his hand. “One at a time, sil vous
plait and what are you doing in
Hugo stood up and quickly pointed at La. “It was her idea!”
La glared at Hugo. “What?” She practically screamed.
But still Hugo went on. “ Oh yeah, we said it was innocent. But she went on and on about this Adi person, and how you two were probably carrying on an affair!”
“I did not,” La objected through gritted teeth.
Renard held up his hand.” How did you know about Adi.”
Hugo looked down slightly embarrassed “Well we read your private telegram, but that is not the point!”
“The point is,” La said. “Now that we are here who is this woman that you felt was so important that you had to travel across an ocean to see.”
Renard bit his lip to keep from chuckling. “Well, you three are on top of “him.” “ The three looked down an jumped off the pile, so the young man at the bottom could stand up.
“Sorry,” Hooft said. “We thought you were a burglar.”
The young man smiled. “It’s all right, I have been in worse positions before. But in future reference, burglars do not live in the homes they steal from.”
“This is Adrien Dumont, my brother. I call him “Adi”,” Renard said pronouncing his name, “Ah-dee”. Hugo, Hooft, and La stuck out their hands and rather than shake them. Adi gave each one of them a warm hug. He was younger than Renard, in his early twenties. Unlike his older brother, who was built and had sly expressions on his face, Adi’s face was more lighthearted, and seemed to possess an inherent romantic weakness. His dark hair was very neatly arranged away from his face and down his neck. His blue eyes seemed to dance around the room excited, but also dilated indicating that he was very distracted easily. Adi was paler and seemed more vulnerable than his stronger older brother, but he still had his brother’s charm and friendliness as he demonstrated in front of his new friends.
Renard then introduced them. “Adi this is Hugo, Hooft, and La.”
Adi nodded. “Oh yes, your attorneys and your wife.”
Renard’s mouth dropped open with surprise and was about to say something when he caught Hugo, Hooft, and La’s expressions. “Yes, my attorneys and my wife, who I specifically told to stay in Africa!”
Adi waved his hand. “Oh Rene, don’t be angry with them. They came all of this way to see you!” Adi said with delight as he hugged them with delight “I can not believe my older brother has found such friends in the middle of nowhere! And Miss La, you are simply divine, ravishing, I believe my dear brother has indeed found the love of his life!”
Before he could get any further, La grabbed Adi by the throat and pushed him so much that his feet were slightly above the floor. “Listen to me, I don’t want you thinking about me the same way your brother does, do you understand?”
“Perfectly,” Adi said through a choked voice “But, I wouldn’t think about you that way anyway madame.”
“You wouldn’t” La asked as Adi shook his head, La made her grip on him tighter. “Well why not?”
Hooft tapped La on the shoulder. “La, he’s light in the loafers.” La stared at him confused, so Hooft tried another prhase. “He’s gay.” Still confused. “He likes men the way that you like them.”
La then removed Adi from her grasp, as the young man fell down catching his breath. “You are?” She asked.
Adi smiled. “Very much so.” He then turned to Hugo and Hooft. “What about you two do you like women?”
Hugo and Hooft nodded, “Very much so,” Hooft said.
“Zut,” Adi cursed and pouted, then a whimpering came up. Adi looked extremely worried and ran to the direction. “Oh, Je suis desolee, mon petite bebe!” He said as he pulled the little Pomeranian from his reclining position. “It’s all right, c’est bien. Papan is here.” He cooed to the little dog, as he kept whimpering and cuddling up to his master taking on an extremely pained expression.
“I barely touched him,” Hugo whispered to the others. Unbeknownst to his fawning master, the little dog fixed Hugo with an angry growl and a big wide mouthed mischievous grin. Adi then held the dog in La, Hooft, and Hugo’s sight. “This is my petite bebe, Charlot. Aren’t you?” Adi said as he petted the top of the dog’s head.
“But-“ Hugo said.
Renard held up his hand and whispered in his ear. “Don’t start, that dog is like one of the hounds of hell but don’t ever tell Adi that. As far as he is concerned, he can do no wrong.” He then cleared his throat to return to more important matters. “Now, one thing besides La’s presumed jealousy,” La fixed him a dirty look as he continued. “Why else are you here? I mean I am flattered that you would go all this way thinking that I am with another woman but-“
“-Save your breath I didn’t care that much,” La said, but Renard could tell her tone was otherwise different. “But we did think you were being threatened.”
“Yeah, and after what happened at the ferry port we probably weren’t too far off,” Hooft said.
Renard and Adi exchanged surprised secret glances. “What happened?” Renard asked.
Adi nodded. “Did you not receive my telegram? The one that said that I will meet you at the ferry port at noon?”
Hooft shook his head. “No, we obviously didn’t receive your telegram!” Once again Renard and Adi looked at each other like they knew something.
La glared at her boyfriend ready to explode. “That’s it! Will you please let us know what is going on? What does the telegram say? Who were those men that were following us? Start talking!”
“Winning creature you have there Rene,” Adi said wryly.
Renard nodded. “It is only fair since you are now a part of it. Vincente, the man I mentioned in my telegram is my father! He is dying.” The three friends mouths dropped open in surprise. “And Paul is Paul D’Arnot, his assistant and I suppose one would say surrogate son. I haven’t spoken to my father in almost ten years. But, that is not the most important issue, there are some things up here, some business matters that must be taken care of, before he is dead. However, Paul has been blocking my attempts to meet my father. I presume you three met a gigantic gentleman, who if you two will forgive me, is the epitome of the rude abrasive American. He has been following Adi and I ever since I arrived in Paris. I caught him once at the street, and once in a café watching us, I suspect he works for Paul.”
“I saw him at the club Rene,” Adi added.
Renard looked at his younger brother in surprise. “You didn’t tell me that.”
Adi had a faraway look in his eye. “Didn’t I? It must have slipped my mind.”
La turned to the two brothers. “So why stay here, if your friend has blocked any chance of seeing your father.”
Renard held up his hand. “Well it is rather ironic that you are here, because this morning I received a message from my father’s servants saying to meet him tomorrow at three o’clock. I was supposed to come alone, but since you are here things just might be a lot better for us.”
Hugo, Hooft, and La nodded. “It’s what we came here for,” Hooft said.
“Excellente!” Renard said. “Welcome to Paris! It’s the most beautiful city on earth. Believe me, you will grow to hate it!”
The next morning Renard, La, Hugo, Hooft, Adi, and Charlot rode out of the Paris city limits into the countryside. The motor car drove fast along the roads, seeming to bump into every rock along the way. Charlot bounced up and down on Adi’s lap moaning in illness and only his master’s constant cooing could calm him down. “Papan lives about thirty minutes away from Paris.” Renard said. “It seems like it is far away from any form of civilization, and I have been living in the jungle for over a year!”
Hugo turned to Renard and Adi. “So, you guys are talking rich, I mean how rich? Like super rich?”
Adi smiled.
“Wealth, land, titled. Our family was able to hold onto much of our wealth and
title during the Revolution, because our ancestor fled the country for
Renard cleared his throat to silence his younger brother. “ ‘We’ are not! Some of us don’t care about the title.”
“What’s his problem?” Hooft asked.
“Papan cut him off, after a scandal. You see there was this woman-“
Renard fixed his younger brother a savage look. “I think that is enough family history for one day, ne c’est pas?” Adi finally took the hint and remained silent.
“I think we work for the wrong brother,” Hugo whispered to Hooft.
The driver stopped and the five jumped out. Adi stuck out his hand in an overly friendly expression. “Welcome to Nouvignon Manor.” The four looked out. Nouvignon Manor was creepy gray, and very dull. It seemed to appear in an imposing fashion daring visitors to come and knock on the door. Gargoyles and statues hung from the turrets to warn visitors away. Despite its imperiousness, anyone could see that great wealth once lived there.
Hugo turned to Renard. “Hey boss-“
“-If it is about a bigger raise forget it,” Renard said.
Hugo shook his head. “No, it isn’t about money Sir, it’s about life,” he had a very moved expression. “Will you adopt me?”
Renard playfully pushed his friend away as he and Hooft looked closer at the fine house. Adi put Charlot down, so the dog could run. Renard turned to La. “What do you think?” he asked.
La looked at the manor very carefully. “Big powerful, imposing, probably not a happy place. Reminds me of Opar.” Renard turned away from her comment.
The friends reached the door as Renard knocked smartly. “I am here to see Vincente Dumont,” Renard said. “Tell him his son is here.”
The maid curtseyed. “Yes, he is expecting you, follow me.” They followed the maid into a room filled with fine furnishings. The carpets, sofa, love seats, and chairs were mahogany and gold and the walls were plainly decorated with paintings of men and women in various period clothing. “The Dumont Family,” Renard said putting at the paintings before anyone spoke. “Papan liked to drill family history lessons before either of us could talk.”
“Rene!” A voice announced from behind them. They were greeted by two men, one was a sandy haired man with sharp green eyes in a black tailored suit with a gregarious friendly expression on his face. The other was a tall red haired man, the same tall red- haired man that La, Hugo, and Hooft met at the ferry port. The man stuck out his hand and Renard shook it, in a casual manner.
“It’s so nice to see you again, I was so certain you would get eaten by a lion.”
“Surprised or disappointed,” Renard asked the man warily.
“Now, I would never wish such a thing on my best friend and you know that,” he said.
“Last time I checked, Paul, you and I weren’t friends enough for me to even consider you my best friend,” Renard returned.
Paul grimaced. “I don’t believe I have the pleasure,” Paul said.
Renard waved his hand to greet his friends. “They are Hugo and Hooft my attorneys and this is my wife, La.”
Paul shook their hands and then kissed La’s hand. “Enchante, Madame.”
La took her hand away from his. “No pleasure is all mine, monsieur.”
Renard then turned to Paul. “This is Paul D’Arnot, my father’s assistant.”
Paul turned to his companion. “And this is Nicholas Stanford, my bodyguard and my attaché in shall we say messy complications.”
“We’ve met,” Renard said.
“Oh really,” Paul answered.
Renard nodded. “Yes, my friends met him at the ferryport and I met him at a café.”
Paul turned to his bodyguard. “Is it true?”
Nick nodded and shrugged. “Yeah, I was there.”
“And I met you at the club, the other night,” Adi said giving him a pensive look.
Nick cleared his throat and tried to ignore the slight blush that was creeping up on his cheek and the surprised stare that his boss was giving him. “Uh, yeah, that was me too.”
“Well, M. Stanford, is very dedicated to his job,” Paul said. “Besides the obvious flaw of being an American, he is well worth the money I pay him.” Nick gave no reaction to his employer’s offhanded compliment.
A cane pounding on the floor interrupted their thoughts. “What is the meaning of this racket?” a croaking accented voice asked. The gang turned around as an elderly man appeared at the door. There was no doubt that he was Renard’s father, Vincente. They shared the same brown eyes and hair, though Vincente’s had long since turned gray. He glared at the newcomers with the same austere stare he would give misbehaving servants. His face was very thin and wizened. He took out a handkerchief and coughed into it.
Adi was the first to react. “Papan,” he said running up to his father like a little child. But Vincente fixed him with such a glare that the young man moved away. Charlot hid beneath his master’s legs and whimpered like a frightened child.
Vincente turned to Renard. “Renard,” he said evenly.
“Father,” Renard said.
“You are here,” he said.
“As I have been requested by you,” Renard said.
“Yes, as you have been requested,” Vincente said leaving the rest of the sentence purposely unsaid. “Dinner is just about ready, shall we eat?”
The dinner was noticeably tense. Vincente glared at his two children as though he were a priest and they were the living embodiment of the seven deadly sins. Paul and Nick looked from face to face and seemed to be engaged in a private conversation. Hugo, Hooft, La, and Renard spoke to each other trying to uphold their end of a private talk. Adi tried to remain cheerful, occasionally drinking too much champagne and throwing a few bits of food on the floor for Charlot to eat.
Paul cleared his throat. “So tell me Rene, how long have you two been married?”
“Over a year,” Renard answered. Though the four hadn’t been able to rehearse a story with Adi around, they were all trained in the art of deception enough not to make any stupid mistakes like contradict each other. At least make it convincing. Renard just hoped that it would work.
“A year, and you didn’t invite your family,” Paul said. “I’m really upset.”
“Aren’t you?” Renard said.
“Well how did you meet this lovely woman,” Paul asked. “After all Africa is practically barren.”
“Actually it isn’t M. D’Arnot,” La said. “It is quite green, with many plants and wildlife, and thriving villages.”
“I guess you must know quite a bit about the villages don’t you,” Paul said.
La tried to keep her tongue at the thinly disguised racist comment, and spoke again. “You were interested in how we met weren’t you?” She said. “Actually, it was while I was walking in the jungle and I ran into this leopard. It was a rather frightening creature, but Renard took a gun to it and warned him off.”
Renard nodded. “The leopard ran and La fell into my arms, she was so ill. So, I took her back to my trading post and we instantly fell in love.” La smiled and the two then leaned over and kissed.
“Isn’t that lovely, now how about you two,” Paul turned to Hugo and Hooft. “I don’t think Africa is really much an area for lawyers, that is unless people make litigation suits over whose gorilla belongs to whom.”
Hugo and Hooft smiled sarcastically. “I’ll take this one,” Hooft said. “We were in a safari.”
“You know one of those buy one take a friend free deal,” Hugo answered.
“And our practice had kind of dried up in the states,” Hooft said.
“Yeah because of the big money and corporations,” Hugo said feigning a self –righteous pose. “No more room for the little man.”
“So we didn’t have any money and no place to go,” Hooft said. “So Renard asked for us to be his clients.”
Nick and Paul exchanged glances. Paul then turned to Renard. “Seems nice, you have a little family out there, but I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t invite us to your wedding, I mean after all me I can understand, but your father and your brother.”
Renard glared at Vincente. “Well, I didn’t think you would consider it worth attending after all I didn’t leave Paris on the best of terms.”
“Did you really think I would attend?” Vincente glared at his son.
“Did you really think I would ask?” Renard countered.
“And I would have so loved to be your best man,” Paul said.
Renard laughed. “Paul, let’s make this clear, we are not friends nor are we family.”
Vincente threw down his napkin. “Paul has done more to uphold this family name than you have. Rather than going from woman to woman dragging us down with you, he has made sure that my reputation has remained intact!”
Renard glared at his father. “As you have so reminded me.”
Vincente and Renard’s eyes flashed. “Why have you returned? So you can go around begging for more money?”
Renard laughed. “Yes, after all that is what you think of me. I can look after myself thank you, I don’t need you, I only wish to settle a financial arrangement, so save your fatherly impression for someone else. Or maybe you can still be a father to Adi because God knows he still needs it!”
“I’m fine Rene,” Adi said softly, but they both ignored the younger Dumont as Vincente spoke again.
“First, don’t ever tell me how to run my family. Second, there is nothing wrong with Adrien that a little self -control couldn’t cure. And third, you have given away your right to be a part of this family years ago.”
“Thrown away, I prefer,” Renard said.
The two glared at each other in an almost staring contest. The tension between the father and son was so great. “Who wants dessert?” Hugo asked to lighten the mood.
Dinner continued for a few more minutes, but eventually it dissipated. Vincente waved at his visitors with a not particularly warm or cordial expression. “You are welcome to stay here at the manor of course.”
“Oh, they can stay with me, Papan,” Adi said.
Vincente gave his younger son an icy stare. “So you believe that I am so old and decrepit that I cannot exhibit hospitality to my son and his friends.
Adi shook his head quickly. “No, papan, no it is just-“
“They will remain here and that is my final word on the matter,” Vincente said in a grave royal tone. “You are welcome to stay here for the night Adrien.”
Adi smiled grandly and rose from his chair. “Thank you Papan. Oh and by the way, I could use some francs for the weekend.” Vincente cleared his throat. “Of course I will wait to ask you later.” He then floated out of the dining room with Charlot dogging his heels.
“You four may go, Lucille will see you to your rooms,” Vincente said. Renard, La, Hugo, and Hooft followed the small maid up the winding staircase leaving Vincente alone with Nick and Paul.
“Well what do you think Vincente?” Paul asked his employer.
Vincente grunted. “Neither of those two have changed a bit. Renard still lives up to his name, has the charm of a fox with the mind of an adder and Adrien is still a child who likes to rip the wings off of flies. I am sure that the only reason that they are here is nothing more than their inheritance.”
Paul nodded. “That is the way they always were, sir.” Vincente then doubled over into a fit of coughing so powerful that when he returned he was gasping for breath. He swallowed the wine by his table. “I want you to keep an eye on them, Paul. I want to know what they are planning.” He looked very weary. “Why in God’s name did I sire two of the most ungrateful children ever?”
“You need your rest, Vincente,” Paul assured him. Vincente was about to object, but he slowly walked up to his bedroom leaning on his cane for support.
When they were alone, Paul turned to Nick. “So what did you see?”
“Those two are no more married than I am,” Nick said. “Way too rehearsed and their friends are definitely not lawyers.”
Paul cupped his hand to his chin. “There must be something we can find. I got it! Renard ran a Trading Post, didn’t he? I want you to do me a favor and find out what you can about it, customers, merchandise anything we can use. Use whatever contacts possible.”
Nick looked at his employer incredulously. “But that could take months!”
“You have three days,” Paul said. “Don’t forget who is paying you and keeping you out of the American bastille.”
Nick grunted. “Yes sir.”
Paul grinned. “Well done, well done.”
La opened the door to the bedroom
that she and Renard were supposed to share for the night. She had finished
suggesting that Hugo and Hooft better acquaint themselves
with Adi. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she
didn’t trust anyone here in
“Is there something wrong?” she asked.
Renard nodded. “It has been fifteen years since I looked out this window.” He smirked. “The view hasn’t changed any.”
La turned to her boyfriend. “Is it true what they said about your father cutting you off after a scandal.”
Renard nodded. “I was involved with Helene Dubois, a woman who was eight years older than me at the time, and already had two children. She was an actress in the theatre, so she wanted to keep our affair a secret for her children’s sake, but somehow word had gotten around to her husband. He divorced her and took custody of the children. She was so despondent that she hung herself in her dressing room.” He cleared his throat before he could speak again. “When my father found out, he threw me out and cut me out of the family with no money.”
“And you resented him for that,” La guessed.
Renard shook his head. “On the contrary despite the awful nature of it, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before I was a spoiled brat living off of my father. After that, I learned to make my way in the world and rely on myself. I became much more the man than he ever thought I would be. I figured I am much more than the brat that could have still been living off of his money.”
La smiled as Renard continued. “Now I have a question for you? Were you really jealous?”
The former jungle queen turned to her boyfriend. “What? When?”
“When you thought Adi was a woman, were you really jealous of her?” Renard’s smile took on a more wolfish grin.
La glowered at her boyfriend. “I am very tired, good night!”
“No seriously,” Renard egged her.
“Yes seriously, I am very tired good night I do not wish to talk about this.” She then fell into bed and turned away to prove her point.
Renard grinned. He wouldn’t press the issue, but that was okay. He got the answer he was looking for, La’s expression and body gave it away. “I’ll join you in a moment,” Renard said. He looked out the window one last time when he saw a person out of the corner of his eye. He squinted his eyes to get a look at her then rubbed them in confusion. It was a woman with long shoulder length ebony hair and a flowing white dress. She looked up at Renard with sorrowful familiar blue eyes. Renard’s own eyes widened. Could it be Madelaine?
“Renard, are you coming to bed or not,” La asked.
Renard turned to his girlfriend then turned back to the window. The figure was gone. Renard felt a little sick inside. “Yes, I will be right there,” he said hoarsely as he mechanically reached up and pulled on the curtains.