He stood her up, setting her on her feet, and walked her to the bathroom or she'd have fallen flat on her face. While she stood there dazed, he stepped away and returned with her underwear and some clothes on hangers.
When she took them, he caught her chin and said, "So don't get in a huff this time when I tell you not to come out until you're dressed." He kissed her quickly and closed the door.
She stood there, her heart breaking. How could she leave this man? He embodied everything she'd wanted in a man she could care about.
Hooking the hanger on the towel rack, she chuckled sadly. In what alternative universe would she be able to be with someone like Carlos? His first responsibility was to his duty, which meant handing her back to Joe as soon as this was done.
If that was to happen, better to keep her feelings private and not let Carlos know how much he was coming to mean to her. He was only doing his duty, protecting the world. He wouldn't have met her if she hadn't put herself at risk.
Gabrielle managed to put on clothes and straighten her hair, but she was nothing more than a dressed linguine noodle that had been overcooked by the time she emerged from the bedroom to find Carlos in the living area.
"Your sister called," Carlos told her. "She's fine, just wants to talk to you." Carlos pressed a button and handed her the phone. "It's dialing her and I've got the bug jammer working right now so no one can hear what you say."
Gabrielle lifted the phone to her ear.
"Fauteur de Trouble," her sister sang out upon answering.
"I hope you are not being a troublemaker."
"Who, me?" Her sister laughed, then turned serious. "Amelia's back."
"When?"
"Late last night. I saw her at breakfast. She said she'd left with Mandy Massey on a trip, but Mandy pretended to be friends so she could use Amelia to get out of school because Mandy said her dad wouldn't have let her go to South America alone. After Mandy and Amelia hit the airport, Mandy said she had tickets to meet some guy in South America so she bugged out on Amelia. Amelia says she heard Mandy got sick and her parents pulled her out of school. Is that any help on your student list?"
"Yes, that's a great help," Gabrielle said, cursing herself for having to lie to her sister and involve her in this. "Was Amelia upset?"
"Not really. She was more interested in showing off her new haircut and clothes. I admit she looks different, maybe even a little more with it, but nothing I'd call a press conference for."
Gabrielle smiled at her sister. Babette was such a spotlight queen and considered few bright enough to shine in her presence.
"She's leaving again in two days," Babette added.
"Why?"
"I'm not sure. Amelia is prattling on worse than ever from her latest soapbox on the fuel crisis and being physically challenged. I get that and know having a prosthetic leg is not easy to deal with, but she can be so obnoxious. And the only other thing she talks about is how important her father is and how only important people come to Columbia to see him and important meetings happen there. Come on. The girl needs to expand her vocabulary. How important can a man be who grows coffee beans?"
"I don't know, but I'm glad you called. Thanks for helping me. I'm running late. We'll talk later, okay?" Gabrielle hung up the phone and handed it back to Carlos, then told him everything Babette had shared.
"Your sister's got a point," he admitted. "How big a deal can be going on at a coffee plantation? But we'll pass that along for Retter and his team, and that's probably more than you or I would have gotten from Amelia."
"Do you think Joshua and Evelyn would talk to us?" Gabrielle asked.
"If I spoke to a student and LaCrosse heard about it, he'd be suspicious. I'm wondering how physically challenged teens play into all this. Are they a threat or will they be a threat? That's hard to imagine. I'm not sure there's anything more to be gotten from trying to talk to the kids. The Fratelli operate too abstractly to guess at what they are doing. Maybe the teens are just a diversion."
If Carlos thought nothing else was to be gained by staying, then he would have to take her back to the States. Gabrielle wasn't ready to face whatever Joe had in mind. Her best chance at freedom lay in staying as far from the States as possible.
A knock at the door made her jump. She looked at Carlos for direction. He lifted his hand in a palm-out "be calm" signal, then strode to the door and opened it.
"What?" Carlos snapped at someone.
Gabrielle stepped closer and heard Pierre say, "Monsieur LaCrosse assumes Mademoiselle Saxe is waiting for breakfast, but we've had no order placed for her meal."
"That's because-," Carlos started.
"-I wish to eat in the main dining room," Gabrielle answered, stepping into view.
Carlos moved aside when she did, which allowed her to see yet another appalled expression on Pierre's face.
"Got a problem with that?" Carlos asked in a tone that warned Pierre there was only one correct answer.
"Of course not." Pierre's scolding gaze contradicted his words. He addressed Gabrielle. "I assume you know the route."
"Oui, merci." When Pierre backed up, spun, and walked away, she turned to Carlos and laughed. "I'm afraid Pierre finds me lacking."
"If he's stupid enough to let me know, he'll find his face lacking a nose. Why do you want to eat down there?"
Her eyes twinkled. "You have to see. It's like a fine restaurant and a training ground for chefs. And the students congregate there so we might get a look at Evelyn or Joshua."
"We can do that, then go ahead and finish the programming."
She smiled so he'd assume she was ready to do just that.
Carlos secured the room to his satisfaction, then she guided them down two long hallways to a split stairwell that converged in the central dining area.
"Looks like a place you'd need reservations six months in advance for," he murmured.
She smiled, recalling when she and Linette always sat at one of the white-linen-covered, round tables that seated four, leaving the rectangular ones for eight to the cliques of popular students. Roses in narrow glass vases and silver condiment servers still centered each table. Hand-cut glass sparkled around six massive chandeliers hung from the soaring ceiling.
"My family donated those three framed pieces by fifteenth-century artists." She pointed at each one hung on the stone walls.
"From the smell of bacon, eggs, and breads baking, I'm thinking this was a great idea." Carlos took the last couple steps until he reached the floor. "How is it everyone here isn't overweight?"
"Exercise classes are required." She stopped next to him, scanning the room. She inhaled the aroma of rich sauces billowing in the air, waking her salivary glands. Tonight she would have cassoulet, practically the national meal in France.
"What's protocol here?" he asked.
"We choose a table and they bring us food."
She led the way with Carlos at her side and had almost given up finding one of the teens when she saw a redheaded boy sitting alone at a round table.
"There's Joshua," she said under her breath. "I'll ask if we can share his table." She waited while Carlos considered her suggestion. Would he trust her to make contact with the teen?
"Okay."
She enjoyed a surge from the confidence he was placing in her and moved toward Joshua.
"May we share your table?" she asked the boy.
He lifted his head. Freckles marched across his blunt nose. Eyes too sad to be a child's stared out from under a shock of golden red hair. He ate with perfect manners, only his right hand in sight.
"Sure." Joshua stared fleetingly at her and Carlos. "Are you new teachers?"
"No, we're guests." Gabrielle smiled, hoping he'd warm up to her. "I'm installing a new computer program." She searched for a common interest. "I was a student here once."
Joshua said nothing while they settled and a waiter took their orders, then brought them coffee and tea. Joshua glanced around as though looking for someone
or to see if someone was watching him.
"Have you been here long?" Gabrielle added honey to her tea, keeping her tone casual.
"Not long."
"Where does your family live?"
"America. My dad is a congressman in the United States."
Gabrielle caught herself listening to the inflection in his words. He sounded as though he was reciting information, his answers so quick and automatic.
"Is this your first time in France?" Gabrielle smiled, trying to think of more mundane questions that would not frighten him off. This had seemed simpler when she came up with the idea of trying to find the teens.
"Yes, my first time. I love the country. The school is excellent." He stopped abruptly as though that was the end of the answer. He was clearly nervous.
"I know some people in Congress," Carlos said while buttering a croissant. "Who's your dad?"
Joshua was stark white. He glanced at Gabrielle, who couldn't figure out why he was so nervous.
"I'm going to be late," Joshua muttered. "Please excuse me." He stood up, lifting the still half-full plate, and turned to leave. That's when she saw his left arm. A prosthetic forearm and hand he used awkwardly, favoring his right side.
"Thank you for allowing us to sit with you," she told him, and he said something she couldn't hear, then hurried away.
She turned to Carlos. "I feel bad asking him questions. I think we terrified him. He didn't even eat his meal."
"Something was off with him and I don't think it was just us." Carlos leaned forward and spoke low. "Now I understand even less how the kids factor into all this."
"I don't either." She kept an eye on the half of the room she could see behind Carlos and finished her omelet.
She wasn't very good at this investigation thing and had to try harder if she was ever going to find a way to prevent going back to the States yet.
"There's Evelyn three tables away," Carlos said softly, his gaze caught on someone past Gabrielle's shoulder. "She's talking on her cell phone and stacking her food like she's ready to leave."
Swinging around slowly, Gabrielle took in the room from the corner of her eye. "Got her." Another chance to find out something, but she wasn't exactly sure what she needed to ask.
Carlos placed his napkin on the table. "Let's go."
She was up and moving with him. They were ten tables away from where Evelyn sat with two more female students. Evelyn wore narrow, rectangle glasses with tortoiseshell rims, so distinct against her pale skin and light brown hair bobbed short.
Gabrielle's attention was snagged by an attractive woman with short blond hair wearing an aqua-colored pants suit approaching from the other direction. She appeared to be in her midthirties and moved with an athletic grace.
As they neared Evelyn's table, the blonde slowed and stepped behind Evelyn, who swung around and smiled.
But Gabrielle recognized the smile on Evelyn's face as a practiced one they all seemed to have as teens in a school full of strangers. A polite smile taught from the moment she could understand the word protocol and what family duty meant.
Gabrielle slowed her pace so they wouldn't pass the table before Evelyn was ready to leave.
"That confirms her," Carlos murmured when the blonde lifted a sweater draped over the back of Evelyn's chair and helped her put it on.
Evelyn was in a wheelchair. The blonde maneuvered Evelyn's wheelchair between tables, but something on the metal chair caught on a tablecloth and yanked the linen. Glasses tumbled.
Carlos stepped forward and broke out a smile packed full of charm. "Let me give you a hand." He squatted down and unhooked the cloth.
The blond assistant's eyes narrowed in concern then impatient acceptance.
Not the usual female response to Carlos.
When he finished disengaging the chair, the blonde lifted a perfunctory smile and thanked him before Carlos backed out of her way.
Gabrielle looked at Carlos, who moved away as though pulling back. In fact, he turned to walk away from the woman and Evelyn, tilting his head to tell Gabrielle to go, too.
"Hi, I'm Gabrielle Saxe." She ignored Carlos's frown and stepped toward the blonde. "I'm working in the IT department."
A twinge of annoyance creased the woman's forehead before she broke out a practiced smile of her own. "I'm Kathryn Collupy and this is Evelyn. Nice to meet you."
She'd given that with the clipped precision of rank and serial number in a British accent that didn't sound natural.
Mon Dieu, Gabrielle wished she were better at this. She took a wide step and angled her head to speak to Evelyn. "I went to school here a long time ago so I'm enjoying meeting students. Is this your first year?"
"I've been here three months." Evelyn's hands were folded together in her lap, posture perfect. She had a blanket over her legs down to where the toes of brown leather shoes peeked out.
"Where are you from?" Gabrielle asked the teenager.
"Israel," Evelyn answered. No enthusiasm for the conversation whatsoever.
Kathryn pushed her chair in the direction of the elevators.
Now what? Gabrielle mentally raced for something to keep the conversation going as she fell into step with Kathryn.
"Have you chosen an elective to study, something special you enjoy?" Gabrielle angled her head toward the student.
Evelyn didn't answer, studying her hands in her lap.
Kathryn cleared her throat. "She plays the violin." Then added, "Beautifully."
Gabrielle smiled at Kathryn, who ignored it. "Really? I love the violin. When do you have music class, Evelyn? I'd love to come by and hear you play." She was reaching for straws, but didn't know what else to do since Kathryn never slowed her hurried pace.
"Evelyn can't play this week," Kathryn said. "Her violin is being restrung and having a minor repair. She plays only her instrument. Check the school bulletin for her next recital date."
Gabrielle knew when she was being dismissed, but Mirage would never have become so well-known if she hadn't been tenacious about gaining information.
"Where are you from, Kathryn?"
Evelyn's assistant stopped in front of the elevator bank and pressed the button quickly. "I've lived all over Europe. My father's job required we move often."
"Really? What does he do?" Gabrielle smiled brightly in spite of the tension building from Kathryn.
The elevator doors swooshed open and Gabrielle could swear Kathryn released a breath she'd been holding. "Please excuse us. I don't want Evelyn to be late."
Carlos walked up as the doors hushed shut. "What do you think?"
"I need to get to the IT center." Gabrielle couldn't tell him more right now, but both teens had acted withdrawn and nervous. What was Kathryn Collupy's story? Gabrielle wanted to dig into Collupy's file while she still had access with no one bothering her.
Eyes taking in everything around them first, Carlos tilted his head to the left, instructing her silently to go. He didn't say a word while she led the way to the IT center.
Where LaCrosse was waiting for her in the hallway next to the glass observation windows.
TWENTY
BONJOUR, GABRIELLE."
"And good morning to you, Monsieur LaCrosse." She hoped her smile didn't appear as stiff and plastic as it felt. The IT staff moved with purpose, intent on their individual jobs on the other side of the glass window next to where she stood in the hallway.
Aviator sunshades in place and arms crossed, Carlos was doing his tough-guy bodyguard routine.
She wanted to smile when LaCrosse cast a wary gaze at Carlos and murmured, "Monsieur."
Carlos gave him a half nod of acknowledgment. No smile.
She did love how Carlos intimidated this group that had made her quake in her sneakers as a teenager, but LaCrosse was only a threat when it came to falling grades. He expected excellence and cared only about the future of his students.
"I understand you are making good progress." LaCrosse's shoulders were tense, much like
the muscles in his drawn face. More worry creased his forehead than yesterday. Was the chancellor pressing him to get her out of there quicker?
"Yes, I'm pleasantly surprised by how well this is going." She infused that with a casualness she sure as the devil didn't feel. "I think it's a testament to the exceptional job your IT team has been doing. I see many of the suggestions I've made in past resource articles instituted here."
His squared shoulders lifted with pride. The lines in his face relaxed. "That is excellent news. I'll leave you to your work." He dropped a curt nod and backed around, walking away.
As she started to move past Carlos to enter the IT center, he said, "Wait a minute." Several of the staff working on the other side of the glass window behind him had paused a moment ago to watch the exchange between her and LaCrosse.
The students were just as interested in her and Carlos.
He spoke softly, barely moving his lips. "Smile like you're happy to hear what I'm telling you."
She did, keeping her eyes on his face.
"Be very careful today," Carlos warned. "Don't take any chances. LaCrosse is clearly catching heat from someone." Carlos's shaded gaze dropped to her face.
"I will, but something was odd about the teens and that Kathryn Collupy. Evelyn seemed to wait for her assistant to speak for her. I want to see Kathryn's file."
Carlos's mouth tightened. "Like I said, just be careful. I don't trust LaCrosse one bit."
CARLOS HELD THE door for Gabrielle to enter their suite ahead of him. She looked over her shoulder, waiting as he'd instructed. Once he had his psuedo-iPod in place to interfere with the bug, he gave her the nod to start talking.
"I can't find anything new on the teens. But Kathryn Collupy is interesting. I found a memo on her. She was just recently approved as a replacement assistant for Evelyn only because Kathryn was already on the approved list to start here as a physical-therapy instructor later this year. When Evelyn's last assistant quit without notice, the school asked Kathryn to fill in for sixty days."
Carlos scratched his jaw. "Based on what you've said about this group's security clearance, that doesn't seem too odd."
"No, but what does is that Evelyn's last assistant quit so abruptly after four years together. I sent a message to Gotthard so he could research her. He'd left me a message in the data vault to go ahead and finish the installation, which I did. He said Joe sent instructions to you. What do we do next?"