Chapter Sixteen
The streets of Paris were flooded with people. Yuri and I blended in perfectly with the other tourists as we made our way through the lively streets. Once we were far enough away from the hospital, I hailed a cab and the two of us climbed into the back. I gave the cab driver the address to our hotel as he pulled back into the streets. Pulling out my cellphone, I sent a text to Taylor, asking her to get rid of the camera feed for the hospital. I gave her the time we were there and told her I would explain the rest when we saw her.
“Do you think she will get the message in time?” Yuri asked peering over at my phone.
“I don’t know. I hope so. I have no clue if she’s already here or still on the plane.”
“I can’t believe someone tried to poison me. We’ve gone to that restaurant plenty of times and nothing like this has happened before. Not to mention, we know every face that works there.”
“We know every face up front. We only know two people that work in the kitchen. For all we know, they could have hired a new employee.”
“Well I sure as hell am going to find out.” Yuri pulled out her phone and punched in the number for the Mexican restaurant. She held the phone up to her ear for a few moments before pulling it away in anger. “They’re not answering.”
“Don’t worry about it. We know who did this. We’ll find out how he got into the restaurant later.”
“Fine.” Yuri sighed.
The ride to the hotel ended. Yuri paid the driver as I carried the bags out the car. Bellboys rushed forward to take our bags as we went into the hotel. We checked into our room and headed up on the elevator to the top floor. Our room was one large family suite big enough for the four of us. Yuri and I would share rooms while Kerry and Taylor would share rooms. The bellboys placed our bags in our room and I gave them a tip. Closing the door, I made sure to check the hotel room out. Nothing was out of place.
I sent Yuri off to get some rest as I unpacked our bags. Once I was done, I pulled out my laptop to check my email. I had two from my mother. The first one she was reminding me not to make any headlines and the second message she was informing me how hurt my grandmother was that I decided not to spend thanksgiving with her. She advised me to call her and play nice. It was advice that would be ignored. Once again, my mother seemed to bring the anger out of me. The only reason she wanted me to keep out of the spotlight was because she didn’t want anyone to know how dysfunctional her family was. She wanted to portray that we were still close despite my father’s death, but the truth of the matter was, we were never close to begin with. If it wasn’t for this mission, I would have challenged her by doing just exactly what she forbidden.
Sitting back in the chair, I sighed. She could send emails giving out demands but she couldn’t return any of my emails or calls when it came to the journal and letters she’d stolen. I was one hundred percent sure it had been her. Why else would she suddenly up and disappear the next morning? I just didn’t understand why? What would she need with the journal and letters? Maybe she wanted to get rid of anything related to my father’s obsession. But that didn’t really seem like the case either.
Maybe it wasn’t my mother. Maybe it was my father’s attacker. He could have gotten into the house somehow and took the papers. But I found that impossible. Our house was protected by an expensive alarm system that did everything except pick the intruder up and tosses them out on their feet. Plus, James would have noticed someone lurking around our house. But as I thought back to what happened to Yuri and I, my resolve wavered.
The attacker had been more close to us than we could have imagined. He’d been able to track us down to the Mexican restaurant and he even known what flight we were taking to Paris. I began to wonder if we were dealing with more than one person. Just like us, this guy could have a team of people that wouldn’t hesitate to kill over the painting. We needed to be more careful.
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up in the chair and grabbed my phone. I had a new message from Taylor saying that she would take care of the footage. At least that was one problem taken care of. Needing a break from the stress, I scrolled through my contacts until I found Micah’s number. Pressing send, I listened to the music on the line.
“Hello.” He answered.
“Hey. It’s Autumn.”
“Yeah I know. How are you? Have you made it to Atlanta yet?”
I felt a slight twinge of guilt. Micah still believed that I was going to Georgia to see my grandmother. He had no clue that I was in another country. “Yeah I’ve made it. My grandmother hasn’t stopped kissing and hugging on me, and all of my cousins won’t stop talking my ear off, and going on about how I remind them of my daddy.”
Micah laughed. “I’m glad you’re having fun with your family.”
“It’s not fun. More like torture.”
“I’d give anything to be able to visit my family. You’re lucky.”
I bit my lip as I chastised myself for my mouth. How could I forget? “I’m sorry Micah. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No it’s fine. I don’t expect you to silence the annoyance that sometimes comes with family. I know you didn’t mean any harm.”
“How are things going at school? I heard that Heather is planning a bunch of activities to keep you guy’s buys until break is over.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Heather ended up going home for break. Her mom came to sign her out. So we’re stuck with eating greasy foods out the Café.”
“That sucks.” I said feeling sad for not only Micah, but Heather as well. I bet she was crushed. Heather had made it quite clear that she would be on campus for thanksgiving break. I guess her mother had other plans for her.
“Autumn, I have to go.” Micah said suddenly.
“What? Why?”
“I um, I kind of made plans.”
I snickered. “Did you get roped in to one of Blake’s charity schemes? It wouldn’t be like her not to have one for thanksgiving.”
“No. I told Garrett and Simon that I would play a game of soccer with them. I’m already late.”
“Simon?” I questioned softly. “You’re playing with Simon.”
“Yeah. Look I really got to go. I’ll call you back later okay.”
The phone disconnected as I stared at it in shock. I scoffed as I tossed it onto the computer table in front of me. I couldn’t believe Micah. He’d lied to me. There was no way that he was going to play soccer with Simon. Yuri informed me that Simon would be heading home to spend thanksgiving with his family. So why did he lie? Was he really upset with me about the family issue? I hadn’t said anything about his family, only how annoying my family was.
A knock sounded at the door as I froze. Getting up from the chair, I quickly made my way over to the door and peered through the peephole. Recognizing the people on the other side, I relaxed and unlatched the door. Opening the door, I smiled as I stared over at Taylor and Kerry.
“It’s about time you ladies arrived. Boy do I have a lot to tell you.”